Ebay Intercooler Install

[Johnarmymp552]

So recently I just purchased an Ebay intercooler with all parts necessary for install. I saw someone else did this a while back, but there was no data or good install pics.

And I know the comments will come-

"You get what you pay for!", "Why would you spend your money on cheap parts!", blah blah blah-- anyways...

Intercooler cost me $139 with free shipping. Size is 25" x 12" x 3.5".

Clamps were $4.23 for 2 (I forgot to order 4), 2.5" Aluminum couplers were $25.90 for 2, and 2 2.5" x 2.5" 45 degree silicon couplers were $18.00 - All with free shipping.

So total cost involved was $191.36 (If I got 4 clamps like I was supposed to).

Anyways- Install went pretty easy. I drilled two holes on the backside to install the MAF sensor. Used a slightly larger o-ring to seal the sensor.

Had to heat up the silicon couplers to make them stretch over the intercooler.

Now on to testing--

Currently have a 16' performance package, 8,000 miles, JLT intake, and Cobb 91 octane OTS tune.

We all know the stock intercooler sucks. I am in southern Arizona and the temps lately have been in the mid to high 90s. I usually see IATs around 40 degrees above ambient. On a good 3rd, 4th, or 5th gear pull I could see temps easily raise to 60-70 degrees above ambient and take a while to come down. Usually come down about 1-2 degrees every 2-3 seconds. Just piss poor stock intercooler performance.

With the Ebay intercooler I never see temps more than 15-20 degrees over ambient in normal cruising. On a pull the temps will usually be 15-20 above ambient as well. Sometimes hitting 25, but the temps usually lower right away (like I said, depending on the weather, It was 102 in Tucson the other day). I usually see the temps drop 2-3 degrees about every second when I am off boost and cruising.

All said and done. I am very impressed with the performance of the intercooler. The car feels a lot more consistent. With the stock intercooler the car would pull hard at first and gradually taper off. Now it pulls harder throughout the whole rev range. When it comes to quality of the design- it is your typical ebay intercooler. Welds could be better, but I don't expect much better from a 10 year old Chinese kid working 18 hours a day. End tanks are cast aluminum, could be smoother, but doesn't seem to hurt performance.

Also, forgot to mention - on the Cobb 91 OTS tune, car would see no more than 19.4lbs of boost. Now car peak between 20.4 and sometimes 21lbs. Pretty sure has to do with cooler denser air, and probably less pressure drop.

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[Johnarmymp552]

Sorry, forgot to include pics of brackets- I just used some 1.5" aluminum 90 degree angle to make brackets. Sorry, no pics- will get some later.

Next mods are new plugs from Adam and have ordered lifetime tunes. Will be doing a 91 and E30 tunes now. 100 octane tunes as well once the downpipe goes catless- which will be DIY as well.

 

[Skeezin]

Nice write up man! Its always good to have different options. Did you use just the bottom two brackets to hold it in place? and did you weld them on?

 

[Johnarmymp552]

Thanks! Appreciate the nice comments.

Actually, initially I took the lower support bracket and flipped it over. I used the foam padding from the bottom of the a/c condenser and epoxied to the brace. I used that to hold the intercooler there for testing. I removed it and bolted the aluminum afterwards.

 

[neodark]

Ok, so it's not as good as some of the more expensive ICs... But, price is great. Nice to see you're getting great price/performance out of the results. And, bonus points for providing a nice write up for others.

I went with a larger unit, because... Florida.

 

[Cmoney Boostang]

Very good right up...going to be doing the samething in about a week or so, waiting on my piping and BOV.

 

[Johnarmymp552]

Good luck. And from what I have read about other intercoolers, my results are not too far off from a lot of aftermarket intercoolers- atleast ones used in my climate

 

[flying dutchman]

That's pretty cool. How much HP would you guess you've gained?

 

[Johnarmymp552]

I can't even guess on a HP number. I am pretty sure Inam slightly above what Cobb says their OTS 91 octane tune can give you due to having an intake and intercooler upgrade.

I will wait to have a custom tune done by Adam soon, and after I do downpipe, probably run up to get a dynonrun just to see.

 

[JGato]

I made some believers. Looking good. After a couple months I have only had to relocate the cat sensor because it blew out in 100 degree weather at 100 mph on my e30 tune from Torrie. Maybe I can find charge pipes with a flange for the cat sensor. No regrets here.

 

[Johnarmymp552]

Drill out intercooler like I did

 

[BOOSTED-SVO]

If it work it work regardless of where the IC came from. Some cores used by vendors are no better than what you can source yourself sometimes. Some and including myself I prefer pre fabricated ready to install parts but I certainly had my days where lower cost solutions gave me zero issues. We need more options like this. Good job!

 

[Johnarmymp552]

The cores are where the difference is in an intercooler efficiency. I have found over the past week and a half or so this intercooler is working perfectly.

I am consistently averaging 15-20 degrees above ambient when under boost. Typically when just driving around (25-35 mph) off boost I can see 25-30 degrees above ambient, but that cools down very quickly when under boost.

My result may not be typical to others. I do live at a high elevation (average 4,600') and lately the temps here have been 95-105 degrees out.

I was in Tucson the other day where temps were 110 out and the intercooler performed flawlessly.

Was considering making a boost activated intercooler sprayer for when the temps out here are that high. Could help to bring it 5-10 more degrees lower under boost.

 

[Lynx]

How is the set up holding up? Do you have any issues with the set up? How woud you do it differently if you had another chance at it? Thanks, been eyeing a new intercooler for a while much appriciated

 

[Johnarmymp552]

Everything is holding up just fine.

No issues with set up. To do something different would be to find couplers that are larger on one side so I didn't have to hear them to stretch them over, that was a pain.

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