Intercooler refurbishment and replacement pictures

[skyegtb]

Thought I would share some pictures of my recent intercooler replacement. I changed the originals (both leaking) with a spare pair that I refurbished. I fixed up the spares with JB Weld (the pictures should explain the process) then pressure tested them to 30psi. I immersed the fixed spares in a water bath to check for leaks and kept the 30psi in each intercooler for about 15 minutes before concluding the repair was successful. I chose 30psi as my car runs approx 22psi with the MTM568 conversion, and this seemed a sensible margin over the max expected pressure.


Test equipment fitted to fully cleaned and degreased used intercooler.


Blue pen marks area where leaks found, notice that I pushed up the aluminium fins to allow the JB Weld to get all the way around the leaking areas.


JB Weld! TIP: Use a hairdryer or heat gun to make the mixed compound more ‘liquid’ – that way it fills all gaps much quicker!


1 end filled, just got 3 more to do. Each end takes almost a complete JB Weld kit.


Both coolers reconditioned and sprayed silver.


Pressurised to 30psi and immersed in water – no leaks or pressure loss after 15 minutes


The car is on the lift, starting to remove some parts! All 4 wheels are off because I was doing some other work at the same time as the cooler swap.


With the wheel arch lining removed you get a good view of the inside of the old coolers – there were oil stains on both sides, the drivers side more than the passenger side.

This is passenger side. As expected neither cooler would hold pressure after removal and testing.


Bumper removal.


All of this has to come off! It has to be noted though that this is a very simple job, however having a car lift helps immensely.


Passenger side ready for replacing


Drivers side ready for replacing


Everything off, brakes stripped as well as I was going to paint the callipers a brighter colour.


Yellow calipers


Refurbished coolers fitted


Refurbished coolers fitted


All ducting re-fitted


All ducting re-fitted


View from underneath, ready to refit lights, bumper, wheel-arch linings, under-tray etc


Finished – VERY noticeable improvement in performance from car... I always thought the car was fast but after this repair the performance gain astounded me!!!

[paul_23]

Great pics.
How did you know they were leaking when you were driving it?
Did VAGCOM logs show that the ICs were leaking ? I would be interested to know if you logged the requested and actual boost readings before and after the IC refurb and what the difference was.

[skyegtb]

Great pics.
How did you know they were leaking when you were driving it?
Did VAGCOM logs show that the ICs were leaking ? I would be interested to know if you logged the requested and actual boost readings before and after the IC refurb and what the difference was.

I spotted the oil leak on the coolers over a year ago, but time passed and I just got round to the repair recently. Like I said I did not think the car was suffering in any way, but after removing the old coolers and pressure testing them (I could not even get them to take more than 20psi using a 2HP compressor!!! and pressure dropped to zero as soon as the supply was removed) it was obvious that there must have been a big issue with them. Unfortunately I did not run any logs on my VAGCOM prior to doing this fix, however I was getting intermittent errors with my primary O2 sensors. That was the big incentive to get me on to this job as the boost leak must have been messing up the A/F ratio and making the car run very rich. Since doing the fix I have no fault codes in over 1000 miles of spirited driving.

[bam_bam]

Worth a sticky?

[woodlum]

Quality write up, like the black 900 turbo in the background I used to have a left hand drive one!

[skyegtb]

Quality write up, like the black 900 turbo in the background I used to have a left hand drive one!

Cheers! Yep, I am secretly a bit of a Saab nut really - I currently own 3 including a very nice 1990 convertible with some pretty serious modifications.

[bam_bam]

It's no secret now!

[Daveperc]

a bit of a Saab nut really

I had a 99 2Dr Turbo with the factory Water Injection kit added - huge fun! Like a Mini on Steroids!

Also had 9000 Carlsson and then a couple of Aero's - again great fun with superb mid-range power.

Dave

[paul_23]

My ICs have no visible oil residue and my logs show fairly well matched actual and requested boost levels so I think I am ok but I get a very loud air rush noise when I floor it and it is much louder than I have ever heard on any of my previous turbo cars so I keep thinking I have a leak. Not sure how else to check if it is a leak (I have tightened up all the clips and hoses and the logs show ok).

It will be interesting to see how the JB weld stuff copes with the repeated thermal expansion cycles so keep you eye on the logs....

Have you ever considered diverting your headlight washer jets onto the ICs for that added kick in the back?

[skyegtb]

Thought I would post an update here. 15 months since doing this repair I removed and checked the intercoolers again, and did another pressure test. Firstly there was no oil staining on the outside of the coolers and secondly pressure held at 30 psi for 20 minutes with no drop. Seems like JB Weld is definitely the stuff to use here.

[Shoppinit]

Good job. How come you didn't go for Wagners? You could have released more power, especially with your mods.

[skyegtb]

Good job. How come you didn't go for Wagners? You could have released more power, especially with your mods.

I looked at the Wagners option before I did this repair and thought I might as well see if this repair worked before going the Wagner route. Simple as that! Maybe in the future I will get some Wagners but for the moment I have a couple of other car projects on the go and I would rather put the cash in to parts for them.

[Shoppinit]

Fair enough

Why did you spray the IC? I'd be concerned about insulating the fins. Unless you didn't spray the radiator part?

[skyegtb]

Good question, and yes, I sprayed the whole cooler inc fins! The only reason I gave them a spray was to brighten them up and I did not think about thermal insulation at the time, but after almost 18 months driving the car with them like this and doing regular logging and scanning with my Vagcom nothing unusual stands out about the coat of paint I applied.
I actually had a discussion about this on another forum and the concensus was most definitely spread if applying a couple of coats of spray paint would make any difference. If I did the job again I think I would probably still go ahead and give them a spray, but that's just me!

[Shoppinit]

Thinking about it, the wagners are sprayed black, so maybe it's not an issue

The whole car looks very clean anyway. I wish mine did.

I'm loving your workshop by the way. Looks like my ideal playroom I quite fancy a lift like that. Did you have it installed?