AVC-R Install Step-by-Step:
Take a deep breath. I know it's intimidating, but with some time, patience and good listening skills you should have this done pretty quickly (if you consider 4 hours quick).
==BEGIN INSTALL==
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If your battery and airbox + tubing is already removed, you're basically done with the first step.
First, we're going to start with vacuum line routing and mounting points under the hood. Wiring will come later.
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(If you're running a stock SRT-4)
The very first thing you need to do is remove the GREEN vacuum tube that is attached to the turbo compressor housing (it's attached behind the inlet on the turbo, you have to reach back there and yank it off). Also remove the other end of the GREEN tubing from your solenoid (the thing that sits on top of the airbox). Cap the solenoid off with a vacuum cap (you can get an assortment of them under VACU-TITE at Pepboys, etc).
Now remove the black line coming off of your Wastegate Actuator. Disconnect it from the solenoid as well, then cap off the solenoid port where it was connected. Thus far you have two capped solenoid ports. Once that's done, you can begin with the AVC-R equipment.
Locate the Pressure Sensor that comes with the AVC-R. It's a round thing with a brass connection nipple in the middle. It's VERY IMPORTANT that you mount this as close as possible to the solenoid/vacuum source on the manifold, and it MUST be mounted with the brass nipple facing the ground.
Locate the black vacuum line which is connected to the nipple on the end of the throttle body, between the throttle body and manifold. Unplug it AT THE SOLENOID and connect it to one of the white 'T' connectors which came with your AVC-R. Make sure you connect it to the left side of the 'T', letting the right side run back to the solenoid and the top of the 'T' going to the AVC-R air cleaner, which runs to the pressure sensor. In the pictures you can see exactly where I mounted mine. I also wrapped it in some plastic bagging in order to safeguard against moisture.
Now you need to mount and hook up the solenoid valve from the AVC-R. It's the large rectangular thing. (VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The AVC-R's remote solenoid valve comes with TWO BRASS HOSE NIPPLES already threaded into two ports on the valve: "COM" and "NO". If you are running an aftermarket turbo setup with an external wastegate, you'll need to remove the brass nipple on the "NO" port (leaving it as open atmosphere) and threading it into the port labeled "NC".) It's the large rectangular thing. Find a place to mount it that requires the SHORTEST amount of tubing, but also keeps it safely away from turbo heat.
Next, you need to use some of the thicker included vacuum hose from your turbo's compressor housing (where the green line was originally connected) to the "NO" port on the AVC-R's solenoid valve. Then run another piece of vacuum tubing from the "COM" port to your Wastegate Actuator. (BIG TURBO USERS: Run a vacuum line from the "NC" port instead of the "NO" port to your external wastegate). Use the included hose clamps and zip ties to secure everything nice and neatly.
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NOW FOR THE WIRING HARNESS AND INTERIOR STUFF
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In the very back of the engine bay (driver side, behind the clutch fluid and brake fluid reservoirs) you will see a hole with a rubber gromet where your boost gauge's vacuum tube runs through. You need to pull the rubber gromet out with your hands or some sort of pliers. This will open the hole up a lot more.
Next, run the HARNESS SIDE (the side that connects to the AVC-R's harness) through the hole in the firewall by wrapping the wires around the connector and inserting it horizontally so it fits through the hole. Feed all 3 sets of wires connected to this harness THROUGH the hole until you can't push them any farther.
Open both front doors (driver and passenger) on your car. You will notice two scews on both sides of the dashboard (on the driverside, the screw is above the fusebox cover). Unscrew both on each side with a philips head screwdriver and set them asside. Don't worry about knowing which is which since, except for the screws on TOP of the dash, they're mostly universal.
Next, remove your apillars on both sides by prying at them. They should unclip with a slight amount of force.
Now use a smaller philips head to remove the two screws on each end of the vent on top of your dash (closest to the engine bay). The screws are on the very left and right of the vent, underneith the plastic grill. Set those asside in a safe place.
Now you can remove your dashboard. Lift upwards and pull towards you. You may have to jiggle it around a bit, but it'll come out. DON'T remove it completely yet, as you need to put a screwdriver or something to hold the dash up in order to remove the boost gauge.
Remove boost gauge:
Get a screwdriver into the boostgauge from under the gauge housing. There are two philips head screws. MAKE SURE YOU CATCH THEM WHEN THEY FALL OUT! THEY CAN BECOME FOREVER LOST WITHIN THE DASH/STEERING COLUMN IF YOU DON'T CATCH THEM!
Once the screws are removed, pull the boost gauge directly downward to pull the alignment pins out of the dash. Now reach inside the housing, twist the bulb housing to the right to unclip it. Also remove the vacuum tube. Set the boost gauge asside. Now remove the dash completely. Set it down outside on a towel or something.
Now remove the plastic trim that unclips from around your instrument panel and set it asside.
Now you need to unscrew all 4 screws at each corner of your instrument pannel. They're black screws on white tabs connected to the gauge display. Remove those and pull the entire gauge face out and set it down somewhere.
Removed:
You will now have a clear view of the plastic vent tube that routes air to the air vent closest to the driver side door. By moving your left hand into the fuse box space on the left, and your right hand on the other side, push the vent tube backwards away from the vent. It will disconnect and you should be able to pull the other end off of the large vent tube that's directly behind the steering column.
Here's the tricky part. Reach into the area that was blocked by this vent tube and try to blindly find your AVC-R harness you pushed through the firewall. You should be able to reach it quite easily. Once you do, feed it back through the dash towards you. Pull it down near the OBDIII connector next to the clutch, then replace all your dash components in reverse order.
Now we get to do the wiring.
Go back to your engine bay and remove two of the three wiring harnesses connected to your car's PCM (it's below the driver's side headlight). You will remove the one closest to the ground, and the middle one.
Remove all tape and wireloom from both connectors. Now you're ready to cut away at the insulation on specific wires to tap into from the AVC-R harness. Here's how to do it (props to DJKOMPLEX for this!):
These following wires go to bottom connector that connects to bottom of pcm
C1 module
AVC-R----------Harness
Red wire--------DarkBlue/ red stripe PIN 11
White Wire------White/ Orange stripe PIN 13
Green Wire------Black/ tan stripe PIN 18 - closer to ecu
Black Wire-------Black/ tan strip PIN 18
(make sure black wire solder to different spot as green wire)
C2 Module (middle connector)
AVC-R-----------Harness
Gray Wire--------Orange/ dark blue stripe PIN 21
Off of coil (top of valve cover)
AVC-R------------Coil
Purple Wire--------Black/ Gray stripe
(u getter better signal with tach driver)
w/o tach driver set cyclinders on avc-r to 2
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To clarify the different locations of the green and black wires from the AVC-R harness, these are both ground wires. You need to attach the green wire CLOSER to the connector. Remove insulation a few inches away (farther from the connector) and attach the black wire to the same wire as well.
If you're using the MSD Tach adapter, attach the purple wire from the AVC-R harness to your grey wire coming off the tach adapter. Once you're done, solder all connections up, reloom the wire harnesses and wrap thoroughly in electrical tape.
C1 wired up:
C2 (middle connector) with Grey AVC-R harness wire spliced in:
If you havn't done so already, you can now connect the white and red connectors from the AVC-R solenoid and pressure sensor to the AVC-R harness plugs in the engine bay. Zip tie them neatly to certain points inside the engine bay so they don't rattle/become damaged.
All finished:
That's it folks! Replace everything within the engine bay and clean up. Now all that's left to do is connect the AVC-R to the harness plug which is now in your interior and find a place to mount the AVC-R. If you want to put it somewhere away from the steering colum, you may want to leave the dashboard off during the entire install to route the harness wire to where you want to mount the unit.
Final step: Enjoy your AVC-R!
HOW-TO: A'PEXi AVC-R EBC & MSD Tach Driver Install
So let's start, shall we?
12.8@107
Linear Mode
