OK: cleaning the IC can actually improve performance? Can there be so much gunk in there that it obstructs airflow?

 

The IC is a PITA to remove - I just did this in an attempt (unsuccessful) to find the foreign object that blew up my last turbocharger. I shook it out well, but nothing came out (except I did find one dead bug in it). I might pull it again and blow pressurized water through it just to be thorough, but I'm pretty sure it's empty. The way you have to wiggle the thing around the plastic scoop is damn near impossible without mashing your fingers to hell and / or cracking the plastic scoop. I managed to do both. NOT fun.

 

I just took the IC out, its a piece of cake, I degreased it and then steam cleaned it. Literally thousands of particles came free, several tens of thousands and often quite big pieces. I am degreasing again and will clean every surface...

 

How does so much crap get past the air filter or is it just congealed oil?

 

Hi Guys,
How the hell did you guys wiggle the IC out
without breaking the air scoop ?

 

Oil, bits of trees etc etc, they came out with steam cleaning the fins. Only sludge came out of the inlet/outlet. I took the stock duct off ages ago, I made a new one based on the air flow of the 931 vents and made provision for the IC sprayer nozzle...

 

PS throttle response and spool was better and faster also. Weird but it made a very noticable difference resulted in this cleaning session. A LOT of crap was in there...

 

Well the stuff in the fins wouldn't affect anything other than cooling performance - slightly. The stuff I'd be more concerned with is the stuff actually inside the intercooler itself - that is in the induction system (supposed to be sealed) downstream of the air filter. ANYTHING in there other than air and maybe a very small amount of oil film would be bad and could, I suspect, lead to a very nasty turbocharger failure kind of like I just had. I wouldn't even want WATER in that thing. Anyone happen to know the rotational velocity of the turbocharger impeller blade tips at speed (approx. 120,000 to 140,000 RPM)? I bet it's just barely subsonic. Even a small drop of water, oil or other liquid hitting something that thin and flimsy going that fast could certainly cause a failure. I'd clean that thing out good. I intend to run water / Simple Green through mine and then let it dry for quite a while before starting the engine - and even then letting it idle for a while before spooling it up under driving conditions. Call me paranoid, but I do NOT want to do this turbo replacement again any time soon.

 

Yeah I dried mine for a while then let it idle too... however I am not sure of your concerns about the water, some people even inject water on the turbo side of the intercooler...

The particles around the IC fins would have dramatically reduced the cooling efficiency of the IC.

 

I suppose that's true, although H2O injection systems I've seen "mist" the water kind of like a fuel injector - much smaller partcles that way. I'm probably being overly paranoid. A clump of congealed oil / gunk / crud that's been sitting in there getting bigger and harder for a couple of years could certainly pose a problem though. . .

 

I use a similar nozzle on my IC sprayer... recently installed.

 

J Chen: You wiggle the IC while pulling foward and tilting upwards, it's ok to 'bend' the air scoop a bit during this.

NZ951: If you got tiny pieces of junk coming out, i got bird feathers man........i did notice a better throttle repsonse, while on boost, it's MUCH smoother and pulls REALLY strong now. That's why i HIGHLY recommend cleaning parts (such as the IC and Pipes etc) before going for performance.....

schnellfahrer: If there is nothing blocking air flow (even tiny pieces of sand/dirt whatever since the IC is basically a radiatior for for air flow) compressed air (from the turbocharger) gets cooled faster and maybe even more efficiently

I LOVE the way the car boost now, i literally HAVE to boost everytime i drive it now

 

Just brute force the duct. Its alot tougher than it looks. Thats all I did to mine, just be tough and gentle

 

In addition to cleaning the inside and outside of the IC heat exchanger, it seems we need a better way to exhaust the IC cooling air, rather than just dumping it into the engine compartment where it mixes and gets jammed up with exhaust air from the radiator and AC condensor, plus air heated by the engine.

Any decently designed aircraft cowling acts as a gill to induce cooling air into, then out of, the engine compartment. Seems to me that our stock design sux bigtime in this respect, but with a simple gill we could GREATLY enhance cooling of the whole shebang--IC, radiator, AC condensor, and engine bay all running MUCH cooler. Who has done this? How?

 

Well, the IC is actually mounted slighter or more/less the same as the top of the rad/condenser.

What would be a better gain is to introduce more air for cooling. The actual location doesn't seem like a problem to me. just my thoughts