mlite

Hello! Perhaps a naive question but..

wondering, would the initial ice-cold water sprayed to the intercooler be bad for the (could be extremely) hot metal? (that is the extreme temperature change on the metal)

Thanks

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

subaru would not of designed it if it were bad

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

Never known it to get 'extremely hot'. Mine gets warm at worst, when left idling for a while with a hot turbo but never caused any damage with ice cold water.


Bob

TonyFlow

Shouldnt be "extremely" hot - it is an intercooler, and if it retains heat it is not doing it's job!

Trems

if it were getting hot enough to glow (i.e exhaust housing on a turbo) you could crack it due to thermal shock and over a long period make it brittle due to the metal tempering itself when quickly cooled, but even a seriously hot intercooler wont get anywhere near turbo heat (1000 degs plus in some cases) even a crap cooler wont get past around 80 degs i wouldnt have thought

silent running

No. What do you think happens every time it rains?

The IC never gets that hot. Try this little experiment yourself, if you ever get round to taking your IC off to clean it. Stick it on a bench, borrow your other half's hairdryer and stick it on full heat setting. Blast it into the biggest hole in the IC and feel the air come out stone cold from the other end. It will carry on pulling heat out of the air for a good long while before the IC fins start to even get mildly warm.

An IC can dump shed loads of heat, so even with the turbo outlet temps which might be 200 degrees at times, the IC can handle it as long as there is enough airflow across its fins. Think of an IC as a giant air cooled heatsink and you'll get a better idea of how it works.