Do intercoolers ever need cleaning internally?
10 May 2001, 09:48 PM
#1
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Hi folks,
Can any of you tell me if the efficiency of the intercooler fades as a Subaru (Turbo) gets older/more miles?
Does the intercooler suffer from contamination from oil mist from the crankcase breather system (or anything else ) or just general **** in the atmosphere ??
Regards,
John
Can any of you tell me if the efficiency of the intercooler fades as a Subaru (Turbo) gets older/more miles?
Does the intercooler suffer from contamination from oil mist from the crankcase breather system (or anything else ) or just general **** in the atmosphere ??
Regards,
John
10 May 2001, 10:03 PM
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John,
If the crankcase gases are routed back into the intake pre-intercooler on the Scooby (I cannot remember) then yes.
On my GT4 (which is getting on a bit), the crankcase gases return back into the intake just after the airflow meter. So it tends to contaminate the intake hosing, the compressor side of the turbo and then all the way through the chargecooler to the intake.
So once ever few months I clean the whole inlet tract. Cleaning the inter/chargecooler for oil contamination is fairly easy.
I just remove my system, tape up one end, fill with petrol, slosh around a bit, leave to stand, slosh it a bit again then empty. Sometimes use some truck wash to really clean the insides out.
Of course, make sure you really rinse the insides out afterwards and do not use any cleaning product that leaves a residue or attacks ally.
If it hasn't been done for a while, it can have a noticable difference.
In your case, just be careful not to bend the external fins when you are sloshing it about. And while the intercooler is off the car, gives you a chance to straighten out all the external fins while sitting down rather than leaning over the car.
Cheers
Ian
If the crankcase gases are routed back into the intake pre-intercooler on the Scooby (I cannot remember) then yes.
On my GT4 (which is getting on a bit), the crankcase gases return back into the intake just after the airflow meter. So it tends to contaminate the intake hosing, the compressor side of the turbo and then all the way through the chargecooler to the intake.
So once ever few months I clean the whole inlet tract. Cleaning the inter/chargecooler for oil contamination is fairly easy.
I just remove my system, tape up one end, fill with petrol, slosh around a bit, leave to stand, slosh it a bit again then empty. Sometimes use some truck wash to really clean the insides out.
Of course, make sure you really rinse the insides out afterwards and do not use any cleaning product that leaves a residue or attacks ally.
If it hasn't been done for a while, it can have a noticable difference.
In your case, just be careful not to bend the external fins when you are sloshing it about. And while the intercooler is off the car, gives you a chance to straighten out all the external fins while sitting down rather than leaning over the car.
Cheers
Ian
10 May 2001, 10:51 PM
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Ian
Ian
Thanks for your reply. I suspect that owners with older models of scoobies or those with more than average miles would benefit from an intercooler internal clean.It might well be the cheapest performance improvement that money can buy !
Hope this helps folks.
Regards,
John
Ian
Thanks for your reply. I suspect that owners with older models of scoobies or those with more than average miles would benefit from an intercooler internal clean.It might well be the cheapest performance improvement that money can buy !
Hope this helps folks.
Regards,
John
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