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Step-by-step guides Fitting an Airtec snorkel to a Suzuki Jimny By Jimny 4x4 Europe Published: 8th May 2007 Original article: http://www.difflock.com/magazine/Step-by-step_guides/Jimny_Airtec_Snorkel.shtml

 Jimny 4x4 Europe  www.jimny4x4europe.com  Price: £250

The TJM Airtec Snorkel comes in Two Main parts.
•  The Snorkel Body
•  The Air Ram and Hose Clamp

Also supplied:
•  Upper Snorkel Bracket
•  One paper Template.
•  Fastenings, Studs, Nuts and Washers, Screws etc.

First read the TJM instructions supplied with your Snorkel thoroughly then re-read them more thoroughly. They take priority at ALL TIMES. If you follow them you should have no problems fitting the Snorkel even if you have NO engineering knowledge.



Remember: Measure or check everything twice and then again before you start drilling or cutting out any holes. If you don’t then you may finish up with a sieve for a front wing on your Jimny.

TOOLS REQUIRED:
Drills, Socket Sets, Hole Cutter, Spanners, Screw drivers, Sealants, Masking Tape, Centre Punch, Electric Lead, Wheel Brace, Jack, Axle Stand, Touch up Paint, Scissors, Penetrating Oil, Scribe Tool,

Flask of Tea, Cup and, most importantly, a Swear Box.

(It is usual also to have a small supply of sticking plasters just in case of scraping your knuckless in the inaccessible places)

Virgin Front Wing, Right Hand Side (This is a Right Hand Drive Vehicle) Drivers side. Now pour yourself a Cup of Tea/Coffee and re-read the instructions!!

Now its time to Jack up the front Right Hand Side of the Vehicle. For the uninitiated, park on flat ground, in gear (you could put it in low range 4wd for extra security) Apply the handbrake and chock the rear wheels. Loosen the Driving side front wheel nuts then, jack up the front Right Hand wheel until it clears the floor. Place and axle stand under the front Driving Side Axle Beam and lower the axle onto it. Leave the jack there as a precaution. Take the wheel off and put it somewhere safe. Replace the wheel nuts on the wheel studs so you don’t lose them.

TIP: Some may say this care is over the top on the safety side, those who have seen vehicles move when you least expect them to will agree with me! Jimny may be light but, when its sitting on your leg and the jack and your mobile phone are just out of reach you could well be removing yourself from the gene pool in the near future

Look up under the wing and you will see the Black Plastic Inner Wing Liner which is held in place by special plastic retaining fasteners. Gently, using the blade of a suitable screw driver unclip the centre part of each fastener until it pops open and then you should be able to remove the whole fastener - retain all of them for re-fitting later. There may also be the odd plastic screw or similar. You will also have to remove the Mud Flap if fitted, again, retain the fasteners for this.

Once you have all the fasteners out you can carefully remove the inner wingliner. This one is shorter at the front as it has been cut down to match the fitted ARB Bull Bar Unit.

Now look up under the wing and you will see the Vacuum Canister with its tube attached and you will also see the Air Cleaner intake tube (Funny Wiggly Plastic unit) Now the fun starts, better pour another cup of Tea/Coffee and put the Swear Box handy...

Open the Bonnet/Hood (Engine Compartment) Disconnect Battery carefully making sure no loose leads touch. Remove vehicle battery carefully and avoid damage to items close by in the battery well. Place battery in a safe place and protect the terminals so as not to cause a hazard. Remove battery holding plate and the two metal connecting rods. Put the nuts back on the rods so you do not lose them.

TIP: If you have an auxiliary Booster/Car Start 12v Battery Pack you may wish to couple this to your battery leads safely (protected) so that you retain operation of any radios or special equipment fitted to your vehicle that wouldotherwise require resetting with their Codes.

You can now see the three small nuts holding the Vacuum Canister to theEngine Compartment Side. To give you better access to these and so you can also remove the Air Cleaner Intake.

Now its the turn of the Air Cleaner FilterBox . . . Detach the Air Filter Heat sensor from the side of the box nearest to the Engine and if necessary tape it out of the way. Its the wire and plug shown held in the hand in the previous picture. Then, loosen the hose clip on the pipe from the Air Cleaner Box to the Engine Intake, disconnect the pipe and carefully block it with a suitable cloth to stop any foreign objects getting into it. Make sure that you remove this before reconnecting or it will be sucked into the engine.

Unclip the top of the Air filter Box, remove the Filter and place the Box Top and Filter in a safe place. Undo the three retaining bolts holding the Box Baseto the engine Compartment and keep the bolts in a safe place. Carefully remove Box from the Air Cleaner Intake Rubber Connection on side of Engine Bay. If this happens you will need to drill it out and replace the captive nut with a New Bolt, Washer and Nut.

TIP: The bottom bolt may be found to be rusted into its captive nut. If sotry soaking this in penetrating oil while you drink your Tea/Coffee. This may not release it so be careful otherwise you will break it off as you try to undo it.

You can now disconnect and remove the 90 degree rubber intake bend fromthe Intake tube. Undo the three nuts that hold the Vacuum Canister and carefully lower the canister on its tube - if required you can fasten this up with apiece of suitable wire to avoid any strain on the tube. Now undo the two nuts holding the Plastic Intake Tube to the Engine Bay side Wall and lower it out from under the wing. You will now have the 90 degree Rubber Bend and the Plastic Intake tube. Replace the nuts on the tube and retain these two items in your stores. You may never require them again but always think ahead.

TIP: Sometimes you may find that thecaptive stud bolts in the Intake Tube may turn so it may be necessary to hold the stud with a suitable pair of long nosed pliers while you undo the nut (This is where the swear box may come in handy again).

You will also have the Circular Rubber two way connector for the Main AirFilter Box which you retain and refit to the new Snorkel/Air Filter shortly (Do not lose it - keep it safe, if you find you have lost it, the usual safe place was to re-attach it to the Air filter main Box so that is where it will be, I talk from experience here).

By now the flask will be empty, get the Wife, Girlfriend, Boyfriend or Maid to refill it, there is lots of work to do yet. So, delve into the packing box and find the Template for drilling and cutting the fixing holes. (This was attached to the instructions originally, I hope you have not lost it?) You will see it has a dotted line marked around that corresponds with the shape of the front Wing.  So, cut along this with you scissors and in the left top corner cut up the short dotted line as this helps fit the Template to the Wing better.

Try the Template over the Main Snorkel body to make sure that the Holes aremarked correctly - if it is not correct, scratch you head and phone your Supplier and get the correct one otherwise your Front Wing may look like a Swiss Cheese. Assuming all is correct, place the Template over the Wing and line it up with the left corner and along the top edge of the Wing.  The curve at the bottom should follow the wheel arch curve.

TIP: At this point call in the Tea/Coffee maker and ask them to put some strips of masking tape over the Template to fix it to the wing.  You can do it on you rown but put the Swear Box handy first. (Its always Windy !) You are now almost at the point of NO RETURN! so double check the Template is in the correct place.

Take the centre Punch and place it over each hole centre and give it a short sharp tap with a hammer. Not too hard or you will bend the Wing. Just enough to make a small indent into the metal to accept your drill bit.

TIP: It is always wise when drilling vehicle bodywork, to put a few strips of masking tape around where you intend to drill. That way if you slip for any reason you do not scratch other areas.

So, its Hole Drilling Time, better check your pulse and have another cup of Tea/Coffee. As per the instructions that came with the Snorkel, always drill a small pilot hole as this will help you engage the larger size drill bit in the next stage. The instructions say the larger holes for the fixing studs need to be 13mm.  You normally find that your set of drills only runs up to 10 mm. While you can drill 10mm and wiggle it about a bit you are better to use the correct size.

Now for the biggy...Cutting the 81mm Hole for the intake pipe. Try and get the right tool for the job for this, it makes it easier. In my locality apparently you have more chance of finding Rocking Horse manure than finding a metal cutting 81mm cutter. You can buy the hardened toothed Wood/boardcutter and this will do for this once only cut if you have no alternative.

TIP: If a hole cutter is not available, you could scribe the 81 mm and either drill a full circle of small holes and then push it out and clean it up with a file oryou could use a Jig-saw although with the curve of the Wing that would beinteresting. Using these methods keep the Swear Box near to hand again.

If all goes well, you should end up with something resembling this.  If it doesn’t go well I can only suggest either a bigger Swear Box or Whisky in your Tea/Coffee..

Now its time to get messy! Find some locktite and fit the six studs to the main Snorkel Body. Don’t use too much or you will be wiping it off forever. Also loosely fit the top bracket mounting and open the driving door.

Now try the Snorkel into place and keep everything you can cross, crossed inthe hope that it fits. It does? Good.

As per the TJM Instructions mark up the Door pillar where the Top Mounting Bracket goes and scribe for drilling the holes. If you read your instructions correctly you will see you drill the two holes 3.5mm after centre punching where you scribed. This is for the two selftapping screws that fix the bracket. These screws come with a plastic retainer normally so you do not lose the screws. Dont be confused and drill larger holes to take the retainer as you do not use them. When you are happy the bracket is set at the correct angle, tighten up thebolt.

If everything fits as it should, now take the Snorkel Main pipe off again,debur all the holes of sharp edges from the drilling and cutting and then paint the edges of the bare metal for protection. Refit the Snorkel Body and using some suitable sealer under the large flatwashers and pop the nuts on. There is always one isn’t there? Well in this case its the one hidden up towards the door pillar. Unless you have the vehicle on a ramp then you will find just how agile you are, laying on yourback, head resting on the brake calliper stretching hard to reach putting the nut and washer on to the stud. If you are short in the arm or arthritic then, pop a touch of grease on the nut and stick it into a long handled ring spannerand that should do the trick. Keep the Swear Box near as it WILL drop out ofthe ring spanner at least twice before you manage it.

TIP: Use some suitable Silicone Waterproof Sealer on the rubber joint between the Snorkel inlet tube and the Main Filter body and also a touch of the same around the edge of the Filter housing and the filter and the FilterTop cover as well.

Tighten everything up and then you can now refit the Vacuum canister under the wing. Remember, where you put the nuts??? Once you have the Vacuum Canister back in place you can then refit the Air Filter Box.  Remove the cloth from the Filter Box to Intake Tube and refit the tube onto the Filter housing again with the Waterproof Silicone Sealer. Remember, we are trying to keep water out of the system.

Did you remember to re-connect the Air Temperature Sensor Plug back to the Filter Box.  If you forget to do this you will find a ‘CHECKENGINE’ warning light on the instrument panel when you fire up the motor later. If you do, that’s what the problem is, re-connect it and check again, the light should go out. Now its time to refit the battery. Take the tray out first, give it a good clean and the area underneath where it sits. Re-connect everything and refit the battery retaining brackets. Its time now to refit the Under Wing Plastic Liner and Mud Flap (maybe clear out all that dried on Mud that’s around first) and then refit your Wheel. Lift the jack up a bit, remove the Jack Stand, (watch your fingers here when you let the stand drop - if you get it wrong donít forget you have the stickingplasters!) Well, thatís just about it then - or is it.. Somewhere in the box you still have the Air Ram and the large Hose clip. Pop it on top of the Main Snorkel Bodyand tighten up the hose clip and maybe, just maybe you are ready to have a test flight. First things first, Did you tighten up those wheel nuts??? Best double check.. Then check around under the Bonnet/Hood and make sure you have left nothing undone or loose, Re-Check the battery Leads, Put the post cover sover the terminals. Check for any tools lying about. Take the Jack and the Axle stand out of the way and before you do anything else pick up and packup all your tools. Clear up the electric leads, shove the rubbish in the bin and sweep the damn place up..

Well, that’s about it the. Stand back and admire your handy work, remove the chocks, knock it back into 2 wd High. Ignition on, check for that ‘Check Engine’ warning light - If all is OK then Light the Blue Touch Paper!

If all went well then it should look something like this (above) If it doesn’t, then perhaps give Rolf Harris a call and see if he will teach you how to play the New Didgeridoo you have just bought!

The official distributor for TJM products in the UK, including Airtec Snorkels is OEC International. You can view the full range at www.TJMproducts.co.uk. For further information and prices contact them by email: enquiries@tjmproducts.co.uk