Intercooler Placement IDEAs Needed., Need a better option.....Love my water to air, but open Options

[budman5201]

As all you probably know, i have a ej20 turbo subaru in my car. I love it and it runs great, but now i am at the point where i want to streamline how well the system works.......

First matter of attention is the intercooler placement. I have a small water to air intercooler tucked in front of the pulley on my subaru motor. It works great, but i am getting a little too much heat soak on the aluminum tubes leading to it. I was debating an idea of putting it in the rear trunk or in the fender since placement wouldnt be a factor because its a water to air. I do like the one members ORANGE nice turbo car on 914world here with the air/air one in the back and vent in the wing.....

Looking for ideas....

[charliew]

Budman I really think the air to air ic in the front that you converted to water is letting the water move too fast through the awic system. The aaic has a different tube design than a radiator which is what you need. Heatsoak can be a real problem though in the engine compartment. I would like to know the water temp from the front entering the heat exchanger in the engine compartment compared to ambient temps. We know the motor is about 200f. If ambient is 100f and the air entering the intake of the turbo is 150-200f, that should be the easiest place to get the temps down. 150 is 50f over ambient. If the turbo is making 320f at high boost and you give it 50f cooler air that is less work for the ic.

You might buy a cheap electronic cooking thermometer and mount the probe in the air cleaner and check the incoming air temp. Then check the incoming water temp to the ic at the motor.

130f air temps may be the best you can do.

[budman5201]

Thanks guys. Its really been a hot summer so far so my mods to my newly built project subaru are done for a few months. Now My modded SeaDoo now thats a different story!

I am running a safe 7lbs of boost for now and pump 91 octane gas. The air intake location is probably my first mod to be done, along with exhaust wrap on all the intake and charge aluminum tubes...I'll definately post the results.

Oh also, i think i take your advice Charliew and put a regular heat exchanger up front, possible a nice huge A/C condensor. (that should slow down the flow and actually give it time to cool down.) They actually save about 5 lbs of weight off that air/air converted one i did. I thought heat would be a problem when i installed my A/C, but my temps are still 195 Max when freezing inside and 113 degrees here in AZ.

[ghuff]

Thanks guys. Its really been a hot summer so far so my mods to my newly built project subaru are done for a few months. Now My modded SeaDoo now thats a different story!

I am running a safe 7lbs of boost for now and pump 91 octane gas. The air intake location is probably my first mod to be done, along with exhaust wrap on all the intake and charge aluminum tubes...I'll definately post the results.

Oh also, i think i take your advice Charliew and put a regular heat exchanger up front, possible a nice huge A/C condensor. (that should slow down the flow and actually give it time to cool down.) They actually save about 5 lbs of weight off that air/air converted one i did. I thought heat would be a problem when i installed my A/C, but my temps are still 195 Max when freezing inside and 113 degrees here in AZ.

Avoid the exhaust wrap on the intake tubes as it will keep heat in more than reflect. You want something that is reflective moreso than insulating in its properties.

I'm re-reading this thread and a coupla thoughts..

You want efficiency or pretty?

If you want efficiency, hang the sucker on the outside of the car in a direction for airflow to pass through it-ie on the roof, deck lid, in the rear spoiler, etc....

Pretty is hide it like yer doing....

DB, what's stopping you from doing a quick test to solve this top to bottom or bottom to top issue????

Can you hang a coupla pieces of yarn on the top of yer intercooler, drive yer car and look at the tuft movement on the top of the intercooler in the rearview mirror at several different speeds??? If the flow is bottom to top, the yarn goes up, if the flow is top to bottom, the yarn stays down...

A piece of cheap posterboard and some duct tape can also cover yer engine grille and might give a more definitive flow answer through the smaller opening over the intercooler with the yarn test- ie: up or down.

Then again, covering the grille may change the flow....

Ain't testing fun??? Airflow is not always intuitive....

My gut says making a smooth custom top with no openings is a heat bomb. Why? Have a nice hard run, get stuck in stopped traffic, and the extra heat has to go somewhere but can't... Warm air rises, and the engine is stuck in a hotbox......If you do the run and stop test with a stock Subie car, the fan kicks on and forces cooling air through the radiator and out of the front engine compartment....

Ken

Kwales:

That is a logical idea, but the issue is with an intercooler in open air the majority of the air will flow *around* the intercooler core not through it!

I have done extensive IAT testing post intercooler and pre, to determine that without proper chanelling of the air into the I/C core, the air will choose the path of least resistance around it.

This has also been verified by myself and others on honda turbo cars. Lots of them like running around with no front bumper and an intercooler core that is 2ft tall by 4ft wide.

These are street cars making 600whp or so and running around my area on 26" slicks on the weekends. The "honda crew" as I call them were having issues with IAT temps and IC efficiency. That all went away with a modified bumper to direct the flow of air into the core itself.

THe lack of bumper and shrouding to channel the air is a problem. Just like running a radiator fan without a shroud, it nullfiies the effects a bunch.

Make sense?