Best way to clean Intercooler...
 

...one of the last internal system I need to go through and clean up, so as stated what is the best way to clean the intercooler. Appreciate your suggestions as always.
Thanks

Scurubee, scrubee, scrubee...

Sorry...

I used copious amounts of carb cleaner and degreaser, other here have written they used just under 1 gallon of gasoline to strip the inside.... I don't really feel ok about this.. so I used the carb cleanener method...Let it soak, pour some out, swish swhish, empty the rest and rinse... repeat if necessary to make the intercooler shinny and clean, and scrub the hell out of the outside... reinstall and enjoy while waiting for the next part to break...

you might be shocked how cheap your local radiator shop will boil it out for

Damn, I didn't think about that, but then I have no idea if there are any radiator shops near me... not that I would walk into with a part.... but a good idea... a damn good idea....

Sear....oh...wait.... that's right our search function is always F'd UP!!!

There's been a few threads on this in the past couple of months. From what I've read, most guys prefer the gallon of gasoline method. Pour some gas in, swish it around dump, pour some more, swish dump, repeat til you're out of gas. Then pour in hot soapy water, swish, dump, repeat several times, then just hot water several times. If you can still smell gas, go back to suds and water then more hot water until you can't smell gas anymore and you're sure you got it all out of your intercooler! Pretty much anything you use that will clean it out is gonna be flammable so no matter what you choose, make sure you use plenty of rinsing!

Bridges I like the idea of checking out local radiator shops too. They might be able to dunk the whole thing which would clean up the inside and the outside?

Damn he got me thinking, anyone ever try to find an ultrasonic bath? or how about having a machine shop hot tank the IC?

Oh and I use search, you just gotta talk to it nice, like a woman, but without the backtalk...

i used a acid wash that Ac and refigertion guys use. it fomes up and you wash it away. it will melt paint off aluminum. when it starts to smoke wash off the acid and it looks beautiful.

Thanks for the suggestions guys...I'm leaning toward taking it in to a radiator. Great idea!:thumbup:

varsol: let it soak for a few minutes, shake it back and forth, drain and dry.

How was the car running?

Hey Bret, thanks for the "varsol" suggestion. The intercooler clean up is this weekends project.
The car is running close to perfect right now...the A/F range is still bouncing around + - .4 either side of 14.7, but having a absolute blast driving the car. I replaced 4 lifters that were completely shot one of which the piston literally was floating...no tention on it at all!! I'm sure it was the noise I was searching for...quieted things down nicely.
Have completed 2 DE's...so far my lap times running about 8-10 seconds slower than the fastest times on the course. Room for improvement....:) I'm spinning the tires waaay too much coming out of the turns (open dif) too much power for stock sized rubber on the ground. Mo money, Mo money!
Thanks for asking!!

It is suppose to bounce around 14.7 in closed loop, sounds like it is working correctly to me.

I cleaned my intercooler in a dishwasher, pot and pan setting. A friend had one at his shop to clean up parts.

I thought that once the engine was warmed up it would hold closer to 14:7. Mine seems to bounce from 14:3 to 15:1. Even cruising around at steady speed same thing...maybe a little tighter +- .3. That's normal?

Not to be a Martha Stewart, but has anyone ever considered Tide and some hot water?

Tide is what the EPA uses to clean up oil spills. I dislike working with gasoline, not because of the danger aspect, but because of the smell. Ive gotten very tiny amounts of gas on my hands, and then taken my hands through hell and back to try and get the smell off and it never seems to go away.

Most of the stuff in the intercooler is oil anyway, so I think im gonna go with tide for cleaning my intercooler. Plus it keeps my colors safe and bright.

Mine is the same. I don't sweat it.

That range sounds right. It needs to oxidized and the reduce the exhaust gas so it swings + then - of 14.7. If it didn't do this, the cat would not work correctly.

Look at pages 3-5 in the link to the pdf.
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h64.pdf