[XutvJet]

Over the weekend I installed my FTP charge pipe. There are tons of install threads regarding charge pipe installs on F series N55 cars so I'm not going to bore you with that. This thread is to only provide pointers, especially for those that would rather not remove their intercooler in the process.

1) Jack up the car and remove the under panel.

2) Roll down windows, flip a rear seat back down. Disconnect the battery. Don't close trunk.

3) Remove the entire air intake system including the upper and lower air boxes and snorkel. This gives you a ton of access to the IC connection and front of the charge pipe. The intake takes minutes to remove.

4) Remove the HVAC hose metal vibration damper. See provided picture of me pointing to it with a magnetic pickup tool. Removing the damper frees up space to pull out the charge pipe. Simply squeeze the prongs of the damper clamp with channel locks to remove the two metal weights. You can let the clamp fall down and rest on the top of the AC compressor.

5) Disconnect and remove the MAP sensor from the charge pipe. No sense in risking breaking it when pulling out the charge pipe.

6) Remove the charge pipe C clip and unseat the pipe from the throttle body.

7) Unseat the middle of the charge pipe from the bracket/grommet.

8) Remove the annoyingly tight fitting black plastic C clip lock on the front of the charge pipe.

9) Remove the front charge pipe C clip.

10) Unseat from charge pipe from the IC.

11) Standing from the top of the car, reach down with your left hand and grab the IC side of the charge pipe and grab the throttle body side of the charge pipe with your right hand. Start pushing the pipe towards the back of the car with your left hand while pulling the pipe up upwards with your right hand. It will take a bit of hard pushing and a bit of twisting, but it will make it's way out. Take care to not damage anything fragile while doing this. If the pipe feels like it's hung up, get under the car and look.

12) Clean the throttle body lip of all debris and residue.

13) Use a thin layer of lightweight oil (cooking oil, sewing machine oil, mineral oil) on the front and rear O rings of the new charge pipe.

14) Use a light amount of car or dishwashing soap on the inside leading edges of the new charge pipe silicone hose. This will make it easier to slide in and move the pipes into position. Once the soap dries, it becomes slightly sticky, helping provide some extra friction to keep things in place.

15) Install front charge pipe section with silicone hose attached but no clamps and seat fully onto IC.

16) Slide the two clamps for the silicone hose onto the front charge pipe.

17) Install the rear charge pipe and seat into silicone hose. Seat charge pipe onto throttle body.

18) Get the silicone hose and pipes oriented to you liking.

19) Install front and rear charge pipe C clips.

20) Seat and secure silicone hose clamps. Don't overtighten. These types of clamps are designed for 8 ft/lbs or less of torque.

21) Reinstall everything else.


I was very surprised at how tightly and securely the FTP charge pipe fit to the stock IC and throttle body. The FTP pipe comes with all new O rings and C clip.