Another Plastic Intercooler Bites (the dust)

[GaryCarter]

The title sorta says it all. And naturally in the middle of a cross-country trip.

My advice to anyone who still runs one of these DC cheap excuses for an intercooler is stay close to home or replace it first!



Mine made it to 49k miles before it let go. Probably half of those towing. I don't run with the Juice turned up, either- just level 1 for some timing and better fuel economy.



And a great big THANK YOU to Todd at T&C Diesel and the folks at Banks for getting me something better to replace it with -and fast! That's the kind of service that brings repeat business.



I'll post back in a few days with some comparative numbers on temperatures stock vs. the Banks intercooler.



Gary

 

[GaryCarter]

PS- For sale: intake system pressure test tool, fabricated using Fram inline fuel filter and ductape. Works as well as Mopar equivalent. Only used once.

 

[Bob4x4]

I don't think you will see much difference in temps except under load... ... ... .



Bob

 

[GaryCarter]

We'll see some load right off the bat- the house is with us (fifth wheel). 20 lbs boost all day long... up to 35 on the grades.

I-77 over the Blue Ridge is a good test. 65 mph at around 2600 rpm. EGT's around 1100 and intake air was ambient +40.



With the Attitude monitor I can see both EGT and intake air temp, so it's a great tool for seeing how much compressor heat the intercooler is passing on.



Gary

 

[GaryCarter]

Comparative numbers for the stock cooler vs. the Banks:

This is at a steady 70 mph around 60 ambient, flat ground. Towing with total weight 16k.



EGT stock 925; Banks 850

Boost stock 19; Banks 16

Intake air stock ran between 20 and 50 degrees above ambient depending on load. Banks is between 15 and 30.



After a hard run or hill climb you can pop the hood and lay your hand on the intake elbow and it's cool to the touch. Didn't get to try this stock.



If this had been a planned job, I would have collected more before measurements before doing the swap, but since she picked her own time and place, this is the best I could do.

Have not yet crunched the numbers on fuel mileage, but I figure with temps and boost down, there has to be some (small) mileage gain.

Truck seems to pull the hills a little better than before- I theorize because the boost is lower at a given hp to the crank, it's giving me more fuel before the ECM/Edge decides to defuel to limit boost pressure.



Feels like money well spent at this point.



Gary