Intercooler Problems..... Maybe??

Lee S

Lee S

Member
Today I had the bonnet off the car to fit some LED sidelights and pop some silica-gel sacs into the light clusters. Whilst I was under there I took the oppurtunity to have a look round and make sure all was well and fluid levels were OK, etc, etc. Then I noticed a dirty black streak running right up the back of the intercooler (engine bay side), so I investigated further. It looks as though the metal at the bottom has swollen and there appears to be a rubber o-ring sticking out a little. This rusty swelling and bulging o-ring coincides with the position of the black streak.

This, to me, looks like my intercooler has "burst" and is leaking air out. Is this possible and what is the remedy? A new one? A repair?

I am going to be taking the car to Stealth in the next couple of weeks, so it would be ideal to get them to sort it out at the same time as a belt change/remap. Is there any better aftermarket cooler available? What cost?

Also, if it is leaking, what kind of performance loss would I have? I have noticed it has been a little sluggish for a fair while now, but just put it down to me getting overly familiar with the car. It still seems to boost and pull reasonably well and the car has never gone into limp mode or anything like that. Could I just be losing a little tiny bit of boost? I have noticed that the car seems to run out of steam quite quickly when accelerating hard and that it doesnt seem to be as exhilirating as I once remembered. Could this be a symptom? I guess this will be expensive.... Help!! :(

Thanks for any advice/help/ideas.

Lee
 
Thanks Spike.

I guess I am lucky in that the car has never cost me anything to run for the last 5 years of ownership, but it all seems to be happening at once. Broken spring, seized strut top bearing, b****red brakes and now the intercooler splitting. Phew... This is gonna cost me a packet. I just spent a load getting the FSDs and brakes fitted, but I guess if the cam belt/water pump is being done at the same time, it may take the sting out of the labour costs a bit.

Hopefully the guys at Stealth can sort the lot out for me in one go. Belts, intercooler, service and remap. Probably the best part of a grand there. Sheesh !!! :(

Still... If the car lasts me another 5 years and 90,000 miles I shouldn't complain.

Thanks for the info.

Lee
 
I am now booked into Stealth Racing in a couple of weeks time. I am having a Forge inter-cooler fitted along with K&N filter, longlife oil change, cambelt and alternator belt, tensioners and water pump change, performance remap and a four wheel alignment following some final brake and suspension checks/work. That should be a good drive home afterwards. ;)

I will report back on my findings and power/torque figures.

Cheers,

Lee
 
My inter-cooler must be leaking quite badly now. The car feels gutless as though the turbo is hardly working at all. Lots of lag and whistling noises. Still no "limp" mode yet though.
 
Sounds exactly like an air leak related to the plumbing in your intercooler - good luck with the Stealth work I think that'll be exactly what you need!
 
Just had a mail from Vince saying that the Forge intercooler is ready and he has it, so it's all systems go for Tuesday next week. :D
 
Are they replacing the rubber hoses/ connectors/ o-rings too or just the i/c? I've seen (on other cars) those split as well which can be another frustrating source of leakage.
 
No idea Dan. I guess they will replace the inter-cooler first as that has definitely split. I would assume that whilst it is all apart, they will replace anything else that looks suspect. Not sure, but I will tell Vince to change anything that looks like it may be a problem anytime soon.

Lee
 
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