expressfish

for the life of me I could not get that darn snap ring out of that groove !! Unless of course I remove the turbo assembly, but I dont want to go that far. The snap ring "gap" is at the top and I cant get the smallest screwdriver I have to budge it. I give. I tried all the screwdrivers I had including a pick to try and pry it out.

HorseHauler

Certain places make it a pain. Can you try to "slide" it around to a side to maybe get a better angle on it? Hopefully that will help

rico334

expressfish- Mine was located just as yours is. I took a small screwdriver and placed it against/on one of the splitring ends, then used a small mallet and tapped (easily) on the ring. It rotated around to the side where I could finally get a good bite on it and it easily came out then. For what it's worth though, I can tell absolutely no difference with the silencer ring out as I could with it in.......

T398

Look's like you've tried all that most will tell you to try. They can be a bit of a pain, all I can say is a small flathead screwdriver is how I have got a dozen of them out. The slit in the snap ring is cut on an angle and some how you've got to get in there and pop the first inch of it out and then the rest can be pulled out with channel locks or a needle nose.
I have taken a few out while hot, not the most fun I have ever had but can be done. MAybe a little heat will help.

Good Luck,
T398

handymantim

I agree with Rico, I couldn't tell any difference in noise after I removed mine. Then I removed the baffles in the intake tube and that did make a slight difference.

Would a mirror help if you can't rotate it?

mickey5978

you can also just grab the ring with needle nos pliers and pull it out. THen remove the clip. Some are jsut plain sob's. Has to do with how much gap there is on the snap in ring. the ones with less gap are a MF to get out. Hope this helps.

jon05ctd

The silencer inside the black plastic intake tube keeps the turbo pretty quiet.
Cut it out with a long sawzall blade then reinstall it for more turbo whistle.(Be sure and blow all the plastic shavings out before install)

stock03

I used a pair of pliers and pulled my silencer out. I destroyed it, but I got it out. As far as the black plastic intake silencer, I replaced it with a 5" piece of pvc. Worked fine. I had to use sheet metal screws to hold the pvc and the intake tubes together, because they would pop off after a few hundred miles. It's been about 30,000 miles now and no problems. turbo is louder though. And the white pvc looks fine. But I would not cut the original piece.

Clint S.

So what is the point to removong the silencer? Is this a power thing or a sound thing?

Geico266

Sound thing.

rico334

Apparently a "Stupid Thing" on my part for thinking it would be a "sound thing".....

stock03

Use a pair of pliers and pull it out. It will destroy the silencer, but it works. Worked on a 2002 as well as my 2003

HorseHauler

I bought a piece of this 5.5" intake tubing from here and it worked perfect. I just cut it down to size. With it being aluminum, the sound resinates off of it and sounds good.
http://store.airflo.com/al5-5.html

Here is what it looks like

stock03

I only did it for the sound... No performance increase at all

rustyshakelford

a little off topic, but im waiting for my intake to come in the mail and was curious how the removal of the ring will affect the warranty? i know it has no real purpose other than sound and possibly increases how the air flows into the turbo, but will the dealer have any reservations. i understand all are different but has anyone had any problems

thanks

brett