ON A PERSONAL NOTE: Don't buy junk intercoolers....

Ok, so this post (and video) have nothing to do with my day job.
But, this was something I was helping a friend out with,...figured I would share.

Even though I don't see much intercooler swapping going on in the S550 community. It seems to be VERY much out of control on the earlier cars.

Now the back story....

My friend has a 2v mustang...and for a while has been fighting "belt slip" and "tensioner problems" while not really making much rwhp. Even going to the extremes of having his blower upgraded and converting to an 8 rib drive.

So obviously a good amount of money has been spent trying to make more power with this car. Well, finally I get my hands on the car when it comes time to re-tune it....

First thing I noticed, the car doesn't like the "normal" amount of timing I would run.

Second thing I noticed, the car doesn't make near the "expected" boost for the amount of blower speed it has.

So without doing another pull on the dyno, its time to do the easiest check in the world. HOW MUCH BACK PRESSURE is the intercooler creating?

Why is this test easy?
Well because it doesn't involve any fancy sensors, just a simple pressure gauge.

Why is this test important?
Well because let's say for ever psi of boost you make = 10 degrees increase.
So if your intercooler is causing an 11psi restriction. It has now created 110 degrees of temperature that it needs to cool down.

If it's causing MORE temp and load then it's curing, well then whats the point of it? That is the "internet question of the day"


Hope you all enjoy my crude, joke around video....

[ame="[MEDIA=youtube]U0LCbcBDaAI[/MEDIA]"]CLICK HERE![/ame] (cause I suck at embedding)


NOTE: This is not ProChargers dyno (that is a shop called House of Boost) and this is just one of my buddies cars, again, nothing to do with "work"

Informative video. Thank you sir.

Superman15 said:

Informative video. Thank you sir.

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You are very welcome.

I have another video I am about to upload in the next day or so,
Should also be right up the ally of this forum.

Thank you for teaching me something new today. I never thought about the back pressure aspect of an inter-cooler causing additional heat.

yomamma219 said:

Thank you for teaching me something new today. I never thought about the back pressure aspect of an inter-cooler causing additional heat.

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Not a worry man.

It's always a balancing act between flow, pressure, and cooling.

However, this unit is nothing short of terrible garbage.
Unless it was sold for something making ~300hp.
(Which it claims more than 2.5 times that number)

Thank you for the info

ProChargerTECH said:

Not a worry man.

It's always a balancing act between flow, pressure, and cooling.

However, this unit is nothing short of terrible garbage.
Unless it was sold for something making ~300hp.
(Which it claims more than 2.5 times that number)

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Great info, It would be great to see the results after the swap

lucasmelobr said:

Great info, It would be great to see the results after the swap

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Hopefully I get some time after the holiday to do that.
Sadly the only thing he is waiting on is me.

Would the Restriction on the system show higher IAT as well?

Maybe not, but it won't be as cold as it could be with a better intercooler. I also think of this when people complain about pressure drop across an intercooler. To me that just means it flows better than a resctricive core.

Davepurp said:

Would the Restriction on the system show higher IAT as well?

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Absolutely because the intercooler is not working the way its designed to,which means its not cooljng the aircharge and will have higher iat's.

I agree with all intercoolers are not equal but from a price point there's a huge difference between having something that works good & works a little better.
I was rear ended & knocked in to a guardrail, long story short my car was totaled & my Paxton intercooler was damaged. Paxton wanted $1200 for a new one I replaced it with a Treadstone which is a lot bigger so this is not a good apples to apples comparison BUT the point I'm trying to make is the price difference. $1200 for a smaller core vs. $520 for a much bigger core. Same mods, same dyno, different car, different day & most importantly again different car. So again for agruging sake I'm not saying this is better option just a better option for me. Paxton intercooler wastgated at 11.5-12lbs, 93 oct., auto made 678whp/590tq. Stop & go traffic 2 degrees over ambient. Treadstone intercooler wastgated at 11.5-12lbs, 93 oct., auto made 688/598 peak. Stop & go 2 degrees over ambient. The Treadstone picked up 12-15 hp/tq throughout the rpms on a 18 degree hotter day.
P.S. the Treadstone looks so mean behind the bumper.

Davepurp said:

Would the Restriction on the system show higher IAT as well?

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Yes, but that will take a bit more explaining.
I am working on a second follow up video for this car...

Featuring the results of....

- this POS intercooler
- non intercooled
- a ProCharger intercooler he picked up used off craigsist.

Pincushin3819 said:

I agree with all intercoolers are not equal but from a price point there's a huge difference between having something that works good & works a little better.

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So this intercooler shipped is around ~$200

Yet, he has spent $$$$$$ trying to overcome the issues it created.
- upgraded the blower to make more "boost" -- $$$$
- upgraded the tensioner to make belt tighter -- $$$$
- upgraded to 8 rib drive to remove belt slip, due to small pulley -- $$$

Literally, a couple thousand dollars spent (not counting shipping)


Yet, a "real" proven intercooler (from us) runs about $1,100 (new) give or take. Or dirt cheap if you find a used one (like this guy did now)


So if you look at this guys example, he "saved" $900 on the intercooler... to end up spending ~$2000 to solve the issue the cheap intercooler caused.