Air to water intercooler

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Lotus907efi
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Air to water intercooler

Post by Lotus907efi »

So I am in the process of trying to duplicate the air to water intercooler setup that is on my other XR4Ti.

Here is a photo of the old setup

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The setup consists of this style of intercooler:

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On the outlet of the cold side of the turbo there is a 2.25 inch OD 90 degree elbow that gets welded to the outlet of the turbo to turn the exiting compressed air so it faces forward to enter the intercooler. The elbow looks like:

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After passing through the intercooler, the now cooled air enters a 3 inch OD thin wall aluminum tube that routes the air into a large 65mm throttle body. This tube before it is modified to fit the application looks like:

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In the side of this 3 inch diameter thin wall tube leading to the throttle body is a 1.5 inch outlet for an aluminum bypass or diverter valve like this:

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The outlet of this turbo bypass valve connects to a similar 1.5 inch connector on the tube leading to the compressor side inlet.

The system needs a pump to push the water around in the system. This Bosch intercooler pump is readily available on Ebay and pumps around 5.3 liters per minute.

Image

The approximate cost for these pieces is:

Intercooler: $124
90 deg cast alum elbow: $20
Bypass valve: $20
3 inch OD thin wall alum tube w/90deg bend: $25
Bosch 0-392-022-002 pump: $100 - $110
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Iowaxr
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Re: Air to water intercooler

Post by Iowaxr »

I actually think I have that intercooler sitting in my garage.
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my8950
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Re: Air to water intercooler

Post by my8950 »

While it is a cool setup, I can't say that it would cool better than an Air to Air.
Is this a street car/daily driver? What heat exchanger are you pushing the water through to drop the temp?

Just saying this because of my past experience with a Vortech Aftercooler on a Mustang.
If 1/4mile car we would stuff the cold water tank with ice and it would drop the temp good.
Once that melted though, it didn't really do much as far as an intercooler.

Good write up though, I'm really curious about how you have it setup.
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Lotus907efi
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Re: Air to water intercooler

Post by Lotus907efi »

To me the big benefit to an air-to-water setup is the short intake track. An air to air is such a long addition to the intake track. My other car was always very responsive to throttle movements and having almost instant boost response.

You are correct that the heat exchanger to cool the water back down is a critical thing. For the new car I have one I got off of Ebay that was for a Rouch Mustang. It is a pretty big core so I think it will do the job.

BTW, One of the critical things I have found is this huge aluminum intercooler has to be properly bolted down so it cannot move around since the forces generated due to the boost pressure flowing through it will try to push it around. If it's not properly bolted down it will try to move around and as a result the various connection hoses will blow off. Since it is sitting there on top of the motor the best way is to make a good bracket to support it and secure it to the motor itself. There are some bolt holes on the right front corner of the cylinder head that I will be using for this bracket.
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John Brennan
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Re: Air to water intercooler

Post by John Brennan »

Here was Roush's solution to intercooling and low-volume:
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my8950
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Re: Air to water intercooler

Post by my8950 »

I knew I had seen your setup before.
Check this link...

http://www.merkurxr4ti.com/thesystem.html
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John Brennan
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Re: Air to water intercooler

Post by John Brennan »

my8950 wrote: Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:26 am I knew I had seen your setup before.
Check this link...

http://www.merkurxr4ti.com/thesystem.html
Very similar, except that Richard Thompson uses a jacketed TCIC vs. the Spearco core.
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