Intercooler or (Aftercooler) woes

[prototech]

Hey guys,

The sky has fallen (at least in my world), last night I pressure tested the intake side of my engine and found several leaks on the inter-cooler, must just be pin holes though 'cause I'm still showing about 15 psi max boost on the temporary boost gauge I installed.

1. Is it possible to get the IC out without discharging the A/C?

2. what usually fails on an IC? has any one had success repairing their IC?

3. is it possible/recommended to bypass the IC while it is out being fixed so I can still drive the truck?

4. Oh yeah, and how do I get the IC out, steps to take?

any help or insight will be greatly appreciated!

Proto

 

[Philip]

By my 93 manual.



You need to remove the grille.



Remove the front support bracket.



Discharge the air conditioning system.



Remove the bolt from the sealing plate. Upper left corner when viewed from the front of the truck.



Remove the nuts holding the condenser to the charge air cooler (intercooler). Lift the condenser and sealing plate assy away from the carge air cooler (intercooler).



Remove the intake and outlet ducts from the charge air cooler (intercooler).



Remove the charge air cooler (intercooler) bolts. Pivot the charge air cooler (intercooler) forward and up to remove.



After you get it out. Check with a local radito shop and see if they might be able to repair it. A lot of the newer vehicles use alum raditors.

 

[prototech]

thanks Philip,

I was afraid I would have to pull the condensor, that really sucks. are our intercoolers made out of copper? if so that would make the repair easy and very inexpensive, I thought it was made out of aluminum. I found a used IC at a local shop for $250, I may buy it just for a spare.

Proto

 

[Philip]

They are made out of aluminum. But with a lot of the newer cars and trucks using aluminum raditors. If you find one of the better shops. They might be able to fix it.

 

[prototech]

Sorry Philip,

I guess I misunderstood, every radiator shop I have talked to says probably not! but my boss is pretty good at TIG welding aluminum, so when I get it out I'm going to have him look at it.

thanks again for the info.

Proto

 

[dpuckett]

Temporary crossover

If you take your intake horn and turn it to face the turbo, then turn the turbo-to-intercooler elbow toward the fender of the truck, clock the turbo upwards to get the turbo outlet and inlet elbow at about the same height. Get a piece of exhaust or other suitable pipe the same diameter as the boots, then cut it to the length needed, then use the boots to secure it on each end. You will need to make sure the inside of the pipe is CLEAN; I cant stress this enough. You will run a little hotter EGT, but you should be ok for a day or two while getting your IC checked out, esp if you keep your foot out of it, and just need it to run empty.



Daniel

 

[quilbilly]

You don't need to takile e out the A/C condensor

I have been rebuilding my front end after a wreck and among other things I removed the Intercooler from my 93 2wd. As I recall you need to remove the little transmission radiator on the left side and perhaps loosen the A/C condensor from its mounts but I know you don't have to actually discharge it because I took my intercooler out to inspect and I didn't want to discharge the A/C because you can't legally get it refilled. I still don't have the grille replaced and if you like I can look tomorrow and give you more details about how to do it. Todd

 

[Scot]

You can get the i/c out without discharging the a/c if you take the grill off. The hoses will flex enough. After mine was totalled, I had visions of straightning the core support without pulling it and if that plan had worked, I would never have d/c'ed the system.



FWIW there are 2 new and one used first gen i/c on Ebay right now. Search "cummins"

 

[prototech]

thanks for the info guys,

I think I'm going to try to tear into it this week end, I should be getting my tax refund also, so hopefully I will be able to get my gauges too!

Proto

 

[prototech]

Well I finally got my refund from the tax man today, and I went right down and purchsed the used Intercooler ( I pressure tested it before I bought it, one advantage to buying local!) and an autometer pyro and boost gauges. Only thing that sucks is that we got hammered by a snow storm so I won't be able to install them for a couple of days.

Proto