HOW TO: Installing protegegarage's TMIC

TOOLS NEEDED:

3/8" Ratchet
10mm socket
12mm socket

12mm Wrench (Gearwrenchs would be awesome)

#2 philips/10mm socket

Here is the ETS/protegegarage TMIC. Its so purrty.




OK! Lets get to it. First off, remove the black plastic cover. (2)two 10 MM bolts



Then, using either a #2 philips with a short handle or a 10mm socket, loosen the clamp on the upper ic hose.




then take off the three 12mm bolts holding the ic down. One up top and two on the bottom.




then, take off the two 10mm bolts holding the bpv down. With that out of the way, you can get to the lower IC hose. Loosen that the same way as the top one.





Now you should be able to pull the IC straight up and out of the car. Turn it over and put it down one something that wont smash your fins (If you are planning on reusing it later) I rested it on a flat surface on top of some rags.


There are 4 10mm bolts holding down the _______ whatever pipe that the bpv mounts onto. Take those 4 out. 3 short bolts and one long one. Becareful not to break the black gasket, you will need to reuse it.





now, put the gasket the new IC and bolt down the ________pipe.



Now grab off the three rubber grommets from the old IC and put them onto the new one. This part is kinda hard as the holes arent completly round on the new ic.





Now you are ready to put it back in the car. YAY!

flip it back over and carefully line it up with the mounting bolts. push the top and lower hoses onto the ic first, then guide it down onto the mounting bolts.

tighten up the clamps on the hoses first, then re-connect the BPV with the two 10mm bolts.

now this next part is really tricky as the new IC has a wide plate/cover running aroudn it. The mounting bolts are all covered now so you have to maneuver the nuts onto the bolts with your fingers and carefully get it started. I dropped all three nuts many times before getting them on there.






I had to use a 12mm wrench to tighten them all down.

There, thats it! you should be all done. Now to take a spin and enjoy the ride!



Write up will come after this.


Comparison Shots

Old VS New

Installation:
Installation was really easy. About 30 minutes total. Simple hand tools only. almost ZERO fitment issues. I ordered the larger core (3.5") and it is just barely rubbing the black plastic venting on the hood. I am going to double check that everything is tightened down today and see if I still have that issue.



Test drive:
First test drive felt the same. I guess it had to take a little while to 'learn' that it could breath better.

After about 10 minutes of driving, I noticed that the boost comes up much faster. Acceleration from 50-100 is about twice as fast now. She totally feels like a new car.

I'd say that these two mods together(motor mount and TMIC) made more of a difference for the money than all the mods I did on my p5, which was more than $3000.

Definatly worth it for all mazdaspeed 3 owners.

Plus, you can switch it out in about 45 minutes if you are worried about warrenty work. (first) (first)

I'm going outside right now to wash her and put on her new badging.

excellent job there mate.
I am curious, how long did it take? can't wait for you to tell us what a difference it made....

hows she feel with the TMIC on?

(bump) for write up

i'm buying one!!!!

good info. give yourself a pat on the back.

meha11 said:

i'm buying one!!!!

good info. give yourself a pat on the back.

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Its an AWESOME mod. first time I have bought something for a car and been REALLY happy with it.

Last thing I could rememeber buying for my p5 and actually being happy with it was the rims.. and thats just for looks. Performance wise, nothing I did to the p5 compared to just this mod alone.

i was being sincere, i am gona buy one. thanks.

thats thihng is massive compared to the stock one.

peanutsparts said:

thats thihng is massive compared to the stock one.

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yes it is. Until ken can work out the slight clearance problem (very MINOR rubbing on one corner) I would go with the slightly smaller core. I got the 3.5" core. There is an option for the 3" core.

nice write up man... sounds like your first impression is very good too. I am very interested in you're final assessment after having it for a few days.

Also, i may sound like a bit of newb here, but why the large plate around core of the IC, is this some sort of heat shielding?

jbiird317 said:

nice write up man... sounds like your first impression is very good too. I am very interested in you're final assessment after having it for a few days.

Also, i may sound like a bit of newb here, but why the large plate around core of the IC, is this some sort of heat shielding?

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it takes the place of the black plastic cover and shields the wires from water and such.

Nutari said:

yes it is. Until ken can work out the slight clearance problem (very MINOR rubbing on one corner) I would go with the slightly smaller core. I got the 3.5" core. There is an option for the 3" core.

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there is virtually no performance difference we have assessed between the two sized cores, so from this point on all that is being offered is the 3 inch core.

Captain KRM P5 said:

there is virtually no performance difference we have assessed between the two sized cores, so from this point on all that is being offered is the 3 inch core.

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Ok, sounds good.

I need to get my hands on a dremel and cut a small groove into the ducting. I took all the ducting off and its pretty thick. It could stand to lose some weight..

nice write up... uber jealous of a mod that added that much power. really want to trade in my 04 3 but i don't want to have to undo all the crap i have done... ugh

Man, this is a tough decision. Like elderlycoffee, I have an extended warranty. Hmm, is there any way to get the stock engine cover to fit on this?

Ehehe, so you can cover up the new TMIC? If that's the case then I doubt that the plastic cover would stop them from knowing it isn't the OEM.

RPI-Speed3 said:

Man, this is a tough decision. Like elderlycoffee, I have an extended warranty. Hmm, is there any way to get the stock engine cover to fit on this?

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no way will the stock cover fit its like.. twice the size!. Its a 30 minute install and you can take it off SUPER fast if you have to take it in.. no worries.

NICE! Now get spray paint and put 'ARC' on the top! hahhaa

L8R said:

NICE! Now get spray paint and put 'ARC' on the top! hahhaa

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heh..

or like..

GREDDY

yeah..