I did some research and discovered there was a red retaining clip on the end of the intake plenum where the vacuum line is fitted. It was missing. Called my local dealer Part Dept. and one of the staff who loves a challenge looked into it for me. The reason he did this is I could find no reference to the clip either on the intake plenum parts drawing, or the vacuum line for the brake booster.
The reason I could not find it is you CAN'T buy it as a part, nor the O'-ring that sits inside it! You have to buy the whole intake plenum at a cost of over $300 CDN + taxes (shipping is free from the supplier I use).
However, my parts dept. friend did some digging and found a thread on SwedeSpeed for some guys who had found a quick connect plumbing fitment that uses an clip that is identical except white over the OE red.
I could not find either option they listed (it was an old thread), so I phoned the Canadian supplier and a helpful lady their tracked the parts down and said Home Depot carry the part! Cost?? $7 CDN for the part, but the bonus is it is double ended so you get 2 clips!!
Here are some pictures to help:
- P1 intake plenum
Above is the intake plenum. It is the ribbed elongated rectangular item with the Throttle body on the lower end in the picture.
- Vacuum line as was when car dropped off
Above you can see how the car was when I got it to look at. From what I can see, neither of the zip-ties serve any purpose unless at some point there were perhaps sip-ties perpendicular running between them both pulling them together? What the purpose of the 2 extra O-rings are for I have no idea. The only one required is internal to the plenum end.
- Internal O-ring
You can see the internal O-ring in this picture in the end of the plenum.
- Plumbing quick connect part
This is the part the supplier helped me to identify. It is current as of now. The white end clip can be removed using a long straight pick to lift the internal tabs from the opposite end to prevent damage.
- Can you tell the difference in value?
2 of the above clips are over $300 each CDN. The other one is $3.50 CDN or $7.00 for 2!
- Plumbing fitting installed
Naturally, a week after being helped to find the part and installing it, 2 turbo P1's came into one of the local junkyards. So I went and salvaged the clips, if for no other reason to see what the differences were. You can see above, none!
I did use a little plumbers silicon grease to ensure there weas a good seal.
Hope this is of help to others including P3 cars like the 5 cylinder S60's that I believe use the same part.
Neil.