I was driving up a hill on Highway 1 just outside of the tiny town of Rockport California when I completely lost power.
I heard no sound, no change in the handling of the car, I just couldn't accelerate any more. I had just gotten into the passing lane to pass this really slow Prius, and got some weird looks from the driver as well as the cars behind me when I suddenly slowed down to 50mph, and then 45, and then 40...
I pulled over to see what was wrong with my engine and found a crack in the air intake hose, also called the intercooler outer hose. All I had on me at the time was some gorilla tape, so I wrapped it around the hose and decided to try and limp back to Santa Cruz (200+ miles away). I was supposed to be at a wedding the very next day, so I really needed to get back to town. It ended up being a pretty easy fix, this is how I did it.
Really simple to fix actually. And when I spoke to the AutoZone guy he said they sell a lot of these for the Sprinter vans, so it seems like a pretty common problem. Here's how it works.
Materials Used
Instal Instructions
Step 1: Open the hood and locate the Intercooler Outer Hose.
There is still nothing gorilla tape can't fix
Step 2: Remove the single hose clamp and the clip at the head of the hose. You'll need a flat head screw driver for this.
Single hose clamp!
Weird clippy thingie
Step 3: Put the new hose in, and ya done!
Final Thoughts
This is the second thing I've replaced on my van so far on my own. I'm enjoying the process of learning how my vans engine works and seeing that it's possible for me to do it myself. As I learn more I'll make more of these videos so others can follow along!
