>>>about turbo intercoolers and the RAIN

tCing_U · Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Posts: 257 Location: schofield, hawaii

Im thinking of getting a turbo, but worried about the rain/water the intercooler might suck into the engine(it rains anytime here in Hawaii on 4 seasons). Has anyone had experience with this before?? Did anyone actually have problems with this?? Does intercoolers suck water at all into the engine when it rains or ran on puddles of water??

reagulator · Joined: 04 Mar 2005 Posts: 945 Location: garden grove,ca

the intercooler isnt where the air gets sucked into. the air goes THROUGH an intercooler. The air intake is where the airfilter is. all the kits ive seen has the air intake in the engine bay. so in conclusion the engine is just as safe from water as a stock engine

crayonBOX · Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 1163 Location: the Godfather

^ what he he said

the intercooler is like a big "radiator" for air - it's a sealed box that alows a large volume of air to cool down away from the motor.

tCing_U · Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Posts: 257 Location: schofield, hawaii

reagulator wrote: the air goes THROUGH an intercooler

^^yeah, so as the water when you're driving and its pouring rain. Cuz one pipe is connected to the intercooler and runs through the intake manifold-->and thats where the air is sucked into the engine, or COULD be water. So, my question now is...that pipe is not sucking air at all?? -->where does air go through??

>>somebody enlighten me, lol

...sorry, Ive been an N/A for years. yeah im stupid about F/I :P

retrodrive · Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 709 Location: San Diego

air comes from intake, goes into turbo compressor, goes through big radiator (intercooler) to cool down and then goes into intake manifold (engine). The only way air can get into intercooler is if it gets sucked through the intake which is under your hood. There is little possibility water getting in your intercooler.

tCing_U · Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Posts: 257 Location: schofield, hawaii

there you go! thats what i wanted to know, LOL...thanks :clap:

ERIC-TC · Joined: 24 Jan 2006 Posts: 584

Note: intercoolers are isolated heatexchangers. This means that the hot air coming from the compressor is not actually mixing with the cold air coming from outside the car. The hot air goes inside extruded aluminum plates. Cold air goes over the plates, and heat is tranfered through the aluminum. So unless you have a leak in the heat exchanger there is nothing to worry about. Good thing about water is that it raises the efficiency of the heat exchanger. That's why a spray system is uses to achieve max performance for a short duration.

zer0 · Joined: 04 Nov 2005 Posts: 4666 Location: Central PA

TheQuietThings · Posted: 3/14/06 6:16AM Post subject:

you would need some HUGE leaks near the intercooler if water is going to enter the engine. But at the point, you would know that you have a boost leak and you wouldn't br driving the car.

cdubber9 · Joined: 16 Jan 2006 Posts: 137

zer0 wrote:
Howthingswork.com Great website for general questions

sensay · Joined: 01 Mar 2005 Posts: 1006 Location: St.louis

even if there was a leak in the intercooler, or anywere around it, water would never get in because the air is pressurized. The air would be rushing out the leak too fast to let anything get through.

turbot2 · Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 89

Just an interesting side note... water is actually the very best thing that you can spray on the intercooler to improve its cooling efficiency. The water evaporates as it moves through the fins of the core and dramatically drops the intake charge temps. Even more so than using CO2 or nitrous. Plus waters basically free and can be setup in numerous ways such as using your windshield washer pump and reservoir.

I am not bashing here but it is funny to hear of guys saying that they have seen big power jumps when using a nitrous intercooler spray bar on the dyno but never mention the fact that that nitrous has to go somewhere... like into the intake.

peteyd · Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 2793 Location: Houston

^^^werd thats what i was gonna say but shorter. lol

rhythmnsmoke · Joined: 20 Jun 2005 Posts: 11184 Location: TN

There was a time where "I too" thought "what happens when it rains, and you have a FMIC". Then I researched and realize that the IC is a closed unit, that allows air to pass over fins to cool the heat traveling through it.

Kinda like boiling a pot of water, taking the pot off the stove, and sitting the pot in some cold water. The Hot water is on the inside of the pot, and the cold water is on the outside. The cold water will cool the hot water, but it's not passing into the pot.

In Lamans terms....heeheee..