Does your Intercooler leak?

[Buick Beginner]

Gentlemen,
I recently purchased a used ATR FMIC from a reputable member of this board. I went to have it presure tested to 20 lbs and found it had 3 small leaks in it. Of course with 20 lbs of pressure those small holes blow plenty of air through them! Anyhow, the seller was more than understanding about having the leaks repaired and the IC is at the welders right now. Now, that brings me to this question: What percentage of aftermarket IC's do you think have some small leaks in them right from the day they are born? Maybe 20% ? Maybe 30%? How many of you buy a new IC and don't have it pressure tested before bolting it on? This IC wasn't dropped or abused to my knowledge, and the leaks appear to be in the welded seems from the maker. In other words it looks like it's been leaking from day one. Any thoughts or comments on this? - BB

 

[325DR]

Im pretty sure I read that CAS and PTE pressure test their I/C's before selling.

 

[bandwidthpolice]

$4.00 worth of JB Weld works wonders also. There's a little dab on my IC right now.

 

[jdodman]

I purchased a used CAS 21 row stretch stock location IC (and paid top dollar). Had it pressure tested and it blew a hole on the bend of the intake elbow, of all places. Crap in the metal.
Cost me another 100 to have it welded, sanded and re touched.
Also - Careful with the paint. Most IC's (I was told) are powdercoated, you need to go light on the paint, assuming you want to hide the repair.

 

[Buick Beginner]

Very Interesting

Very Interesting indeed. - BB

 

[jshilli1]

Testing

That is interesting. Did you take yours to a radiator shop to have it tested or what procedure did you use? I have a stock type IC and because of the age it may be something to look into.

 

[cmokem]

I have air tested a stock i/c and a cas stock mount that was pressure tested and found leaks in both units. The stock i/c leaked where the tanks met the coils and the cas had leaks at the welds....as was stated JB Weld works wonders.


HTH's
Bob

 

[jdodman]

YES - Had the leak test done at the radiator shop.. 30 lbs blew it open.. A cheaper way to get this accomplished (but not as intrusive) is to fill the IC with Gas and let it sit for a few nights with white paper under the IC. If there are leaks, the gas finds it way out. If not, drain the IC after the 2 days, and you now have a clean IC with most/all oil removed, assuming you may have had some oil in there to begin with...

 

[MSDGN]

I tested mine a little different...totally sealed one end of the intercooler with duct tape...then inserted a piece of garden hose into the other end...sealed around the hose with tape...put the intercooler into a bath tub filled with water...made sure the core was submerged then blew through the hose and looked for bubbles...

 

[Buick Beginner]

Leaks

I had mine done at a local radiator shop, they put 20 lbs of pressure to it and it leaked pretty good. When they submerged it in the tank the bubbles were going strong. - BB

 

[jshilli1]

What's the usual rate for the radiator shop to do this? I called a local guy that has treated me well on a radiator (Eddie's in B.A.) and he said $40-$50, which sounds entirely reasonable.

 

[jdodman]

I paid $ 100 for the test, flush (clean) and repair at my local radiator shop...When you consider the role this part plays in the performance of our cars, I would say 40-50 is well worth it. Have him flush/clean it while he has it in the shop, since this is also is a good thing to do with any IC on a regular basis anyway...

 

[strikeeagle]

One of CAS's sales pitches is that many stock intercoolers, being as they're 16 years old, give or take, leak like sieves.

 

[jdodman]

I would agree and would be willing to bet if I gave my stock IC the gas test, it probably would have leaked big time !!! Now it is sitting in my attic getting leaked on....

 

[325DR]

I just dropped my V4 off at the local radiator shop to have it pressure tested. He said the test would be $15. He said if he found any leaks that he would call me and let me know the details and price. I told him to test it up to 32psi.

He called and found 2 small leaks where the core meets the end tanks. He said that he only needed to put 20psi through it before he found 'em.

Cost to be repaired, flushed out, and then re-tested: $65.

 

[darkfa8]

pressure testing...

It is a bad idea to go testing your IC's anything beyond 20psi static pressure... like using your air compressor to test them.

Testing to 25+ psi is a BAD idea. The IC will NEVER see that kind of pressure level in a static situation and if you do test it to that much psi or higher you do risk damaging the IC. If there is a leak in the IC, you'll hear it with a minimum amount of pressure.

Boost pressure and static pressure are two different things... the boost pressure actually moves through the IC, whereas static pressure applies constant pressure to the internals. With the Mease stretch ICs with the sheet-aluminum end-tanks you can actually see them bulge slightly when you test them.

At Mease Performance we pressure test every IC to 15psi static.

I've worked on tons of stock GN cores and quite a few had pin-hole leaks. We just fill them with quick-set epoxy and be done with it.

 

[OKTurbo]

Dan,

I have to respectfully disagree with your pressure statement. It may very well be a bad idea to test up to 25 psig, but pressure is pressure and whether or not a fluid is flowing through it (air) the stresses will be the same (or less) when the pressure is static.

When you run 25 psi of boost during a run it has the same effect as putting 25 psi of air in it during a test(static). The main difference is that during a run it will only see the 25 psi for a minimum amount of time....hopefully 11 seconds or less

John

 

[jdodman]

I agree...Pressure testing anything like say new plumbing has minimum requirements, but why not go slightly over the minimum.
Besides, if it will hold at 30, it should stand the test of time, and hopefully many 1/4 mile runs...with no need for expoxy !!

 

[darkfa8]

The difference between boost pressure and static perssure, is the boost pressure does not remain a constant and moves through the IC.

If you really want to know the right way to test a core, call Griffen, BeCool, Spearco or any other core manufacturer and ask them.

By you pressurizing a IC to 25psi+ static you are exposing it to stresses it will NEVER see unless you put a brick on your throttle, have your boost turned upto 30psi and let the car go down the road... it is NOT needed to adaquately and SAFELY test a core.

If it leaks at 15psi static it WILL leak above that... if it leaks at 25, 30, 32psi, then either it had a leak to begin with or you damaged it.

Suit yourselfs, make sure you wear protective eyeware if you're gonna go testing IC's at high pressures... there have been a few cases were the end-tanks cracked and/or ruptured because people thought more is better.

Don't believe me, get the facts from the manufacturer and do it right.

 

[JDEstill]

Dan, your concept of "static" pressure and "dynamic" pressure is wrong. Pressure is pressure. If it can't hold 30 psi pressured up by an air compressor then it can't hold 30 psi boost in the car.

That being said, I will agree with you that a pressure test at 15 psi should be suitable. If it isn't leaking at 15 psi, then I wouldn't worry about it leaking at 30.

I'll also agree that safety should be of primary importance. Pressure vessels are typically pressure tested with water rather than air. If it ruptures with water the pressure drops so fast that the vessel doesn't "explode", whereas a rupture with air can send shrapnel everywhere.

Pressure vessels are usually tested with water at 1.5X the pressure they are designed for. If you wanted to test an intercooler that way, you would pressure it up full of water to 45 psi for half an hour; if it didn't leak or rupture it would then be officially good to operate it at 30 psi, and it would be illegal to intentionally operate it higher than that. But then these aren't pressure vessels...

John