white01ss

iTrader: (37)

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!

ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

that sucks .at least its fixed .

stevieturbo

With cracks that big, surely you heard them ? It's bound to have been making some noise !

ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

eh if the car is loud thats iffy

white01ss

iTrader: (37)

Seems like it would, but it's hard to tell because the big red open blow off valve is super loud at idle and dumps air everywhere. Cracks were located in front of twin intercoolers that tucks up into front bumper cover.

Haven't put the car back together yet, but I'm sure it will be nice to have the power back!

white01ss

iTrader: (37)

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.

stevieturbo

Nice use of DIY bits and pieces, and the cup !

1 man...1 cup lol

conan

iTrader: (5)

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.

MY_2K_Z

iTrader: (1)

That's not possible.
The bypass not working doesn't make any difference.

conan

iTrader: (5)

Not following you on this ???

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 ???

MY_2K_Z

iTrader: (1)

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.

stevieturbo

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

Corner Worker

That's exactly what happened. The weld cracked, not the base metal. Poor penetration, the welder focused on a pretty lil weld, not a quality one. Im not expert, just a guy who has been TIG welding for 19yrs.

stevieturbo

Should see some of my welds !!! I'm amazed the hold anything, and they ain't pretty lol

Nathaninwa

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

white01ss

iTrader: (37)

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.

white01ss

iTrader: (37)

That's a damn good idea. Procharger didn't do any welds on the inside of these tanks, I checked.

Bob@BruteSpeed

iTrader: (16)

I'm glad to see you got the problem figured out! Bob

white01ss

iTrader: (37)

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.

Bob@BruteSpeed

iTrader: (16)

That's good to see!! I'll bet it does feel much better! Bob