Procharger twin intercoolers - CRACKED!
Procharger twin intercoolers - CRACKED! Here's some pics of my Procharger twin intercoolers before and after being repaired. Had been experiencing low boost for a while and always thought it was belt slip or BOV issues. After much troubleshooting I finally decided to pressure test the intake system.
Made a pressure regulator gauge rig to go between the air compressor and the intake system. Plugged up the outlet coupling from the supercharger and put an air fitting on the intake to the motor. Also put a fitting to the Big Red blow-off valve so it can stay shut under simulated boost.
Set the pressure regulator to 20 psi and open the valve and heard A LOT of air moving. Turns out both my intercoolers had cracked welds on the inlet side. System couldn't hold more that 10 psi.
Who knows how long this has been going on!
Made a pressure regulator gauge rig to go between the air compressor and the intake system. Plugged up the outlet coupling from the supercharger and put an air fitting on the intake to the motor. Also put a fitting to the Big Red blow-off valve so it can stay shut under simulated boost.
Set the pressure regulator to 20 psi and open the valve and heard A LOT of air moving. Turns out both my intercoolers had cracked welds on the inlet side. System couldn't hold more that 10 psi.
Who knows how long this has been going on!
Haven't put the car back together yet, but I'm sure it will be nice to have the power back!
Last edited by white01ss; Apr 24, 2017 at 09:29 PM.
Some pictures of the pressure test tools...
Had a hard time finding a 3" to 3 1/8" plug for the rubber coupling that attaches to the D1SC outlet so I had to use a $2 plastic cup they sold at the local hardware store. I thought it would get destroyed, but it held very well and then found its way into the family cup rotation!
While pressure testing the welded up intercoolers the next leak that presented itself was the oval'ed inlet to the Y pipe that feeds the front intercoolers. No matter how tight that t-clamp was it just wouldn't seal. Why would procharger put an oval'd pipe in a pressurized system?
It wasn't a showstopper kind of leak and the system held 20 psi fairly well. It's incredible how hard all the rubber hoses got under 20 psi.
Next comes the driving test.
Had a hard time finding a 3" to 3 1/8" plug for the rubber coupling that attaches to the D1SC outlet so I had to use a $2 plastic cup they sold at the local hardware store. I thought it would get destroyed, but it held very well and then found its way into the family cup rotation!
While pressure testing the welded up intercoolers the next leak that presented itself was the oval'ed inlet to the Y pipe that feeds the front intercoolers. No matter how tight that t-clamp was it just wouldn't seal. Why would procharger put an oval'd pipe in a pressurized system?
It wasn't a showstopper kind of leak and the system held 20 psi fairly well. It's incredible how hard all the rubber hoses got under 20 psi.
Next comes the driving test.
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Originally Posted by conan
Have you checked to see if Big Red is functioning properly ? As in the bypass valve isn't opening enough to break pressure and caused the cooler to crack.
The bypass not working doesn't make any difference.
If I pull the vacuum hose off my bypass the valve closes and stays that way until vacuum is reapplied. So the bypass not working would make a big difference in letting off the pressure in the system when the throttle blade closes ???
Same as running a turbo car without a bov. The pressure isn't enough to blow up the intercooler. I guess I can't say it's not possible but your intercooler would have to be the biggest piece of **** for that to happen. I think this is just a case of a bad weld that got fatigued and blew out under boost.
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Joined: Nov 2003
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From: Norn Iron
A turbo car without a BOV is nothing remotely like a blower car. When you lift the throttle, the blower is still pumping shitloads of air and that air must go somewhere or it risks damaging things, usually the blower.
The intercooler maybe just broke from poor welding
The intercooler maybe just broke from poor welding
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Joined: Jul 2007
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From: Largo, Fl
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 431
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From: Washington
The weld quality looks like it's there. It comes down to choice of filler material and plate thickness. Pressure is trying to make that tank round under boost, and more so if the bov isn't working well. The weld just work hardened is all. On most tanks I do, I'll tack them all up on the tank and in the car, and then pull the tanks off and do some welding on the inside to help prevent this
Thanks!
Pretty sure the Big Red is doing it's job. I can hear the pressure release when I let off and it blows out a ton of air at idle. Would be cool to rig up a camera to record it working while driving.
Back in 2008 when the kit was first put on I got the car back and it didn't feel much faster at all. With no boost gauge I had no idea what was wrong. Took it back to the shop and it turned out the vacuum line they spliced the BOV into had a check valve on it so the BOV stayed open all the time. That was back when I didn't know squat about superchargers.
My guess would be a combination of weld quality and fatigue over 8 years of use. That aluminum plate is pretty darn thin too so there isn't much to weld together.
Back in 2008 when the kit was first put on I got the car back and it didn't feel much faster at all. With no boost gauge I had no idea what was wrong. Took it back to the shop and it turned out the vacuum line they spliced the BOV into had a check valve on it so the BOV stayed open all the time. That was back when I didn't know squat about superchargers.
My guess would be a combination of weld quality and fatigue over 8 years of use. That aluminum plate is pretty darn thin too so there isn't much to weld together.
I'm glad to see you got the problem figured out! Bob
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ATI ProCharger and Moser Sales 260 672-2076
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E-mail: brutespeed@gmail.comob@brutespeed.com
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ATI ProCharger and Moser Sales 260 672-2076
PM's disabled, please e-mail me
E-mail: brutespeed@gmail.comob@brutespeed.com
https://brutespeed.com/ Link to website
Driving update Thanks Bob!
Little driving and update. Pictures below show data log before and after fixing the intercoolers. The pulley combo is 8.65/3.85 so the blower is spinning around 62k at 6800 RPM. This is with an air filter as well.
The car was making 10.9 psi with the leaking intercoolers and 16.7 psi after being fixed. Gained back almost 6 psi ! 16.7 is the most I've ever seen with this combo. Needless to say, the car feels so much better now.
Little driving and update. Pictures below show data log before and after fixing the intercoolers. The pulley combo is 8.65/3.85 so the blower is spinning around 62k at 6800 RPM. This is with an air filter as well.
The car was making 10.9 psi with the leaking intercoolers and 16.7 psi after being fixed. Gained back almost 6 psi ! 16.7 is the most I've ever seen with this combo. Needless to say, the car feels so much better now.
Thanks Bob!
Little driving and update. Pictures below show data log before and after fixing the intercoolers. The pulley combo is 8.65/3.85 so the blower is spinning around 62k at 6800 RPM. This is with an air filter as well.
The car was making 10.9 psi with the leaking intercoolers and 16.7 psi after being fixed. Gained back almost 6 psi ! 16.7 is the most I've ever seen with this combo. Needless to say, the car feels so much better now.
Little driving and update. Pictures below show data log before and after fixing the intercoolers. The pulley combo is 8.65/3.85 so the blower is spinning around 62k at 6800 RPM. This is with an air filter as well.
The car was making 10.9 psi with the leaking intercoolers and 16.7 psi after being fixed. Gained back almost 6 psi ! 16.7 is the most I've ever seen with this combo. Needless to say, the car feels so much better now.
__________________
ATI ProCharger and Moser Sales 260 672-2076
PM's disabled, please e-mail me
E-mail: brutespeed@gmail.comob@brutespeed.com
https://brutespeed.com/ Link to website
ATI ProCharger and Moser Sales 260 672-2076
PM's disabled, please e-mail me
E-mail: brutespeed@gmail.comob@brutespeed.com
https://brutespeed.com/ Link to website