Any tips when changing out the electric intercooler pump?

[JPs2013GT500]

Noticed my IAT2 readings being waaaay too high the last one or two times I drove the car (190 to 200 degrees constantly). Today I decided to check into it. I jumped the ICP relay and I have 11.9 volts at the harness that plugs into the pump...but I don't hear/feel the pump doing anything. So the harness is good, but I believe the pump to be dead.

As I search for a new pump I wanted to ask if anyone has replaced theirs before (2013 model) and have any advice/tips to avoid getting bubbles in the system, etc..

Thanks!

 

[Snoopy49]

I would recheck the electrical connector that connects to the pump. Disconnect the plug from the pump and make sure there is no heat damage to the plug or pins. Make sure the pins the plug are fully seated and can't be pulled out. Check for melted wires in the harness.

 

[JPs2013GT500]

Thanks Snoop! I remembered several people here having issues with the harness itself so I spent a lot of time examining that. I'm fairly confident in my diagnosis of it...but I will go over it again tonight (especially the harness) before I order the replacement pump. Just to make certain I'm not wasting money on a pump instead of the harness or relay.

I think it's odd for the pump to go out at only 22,000 miles. Seems like I'm getting a ton of extra heat in the engine bay from the headers. I wonder if that could have played a role in the pumps early demise?

 

[RBB]

If the harness checks out, replacing the pump is easy. The most difficult part is getting all the air out of the system once you have everything buttoned back up.

Rather than squeezing the hoses etc, I found that the quickest way is to just pull the hose off the HE inlet barb. Have a pan underneath it, as soon as the air comes out antifreeze will follow, so get the hose back on fast.

 

[JPs2013GT500]

Thanks for the tip on getting the air out. Harness did indeed check out again last night so the new pump is on order. Went ahead and ordered the VMP triple pass HE as well. Figured if I'm going to open the system anyway I might as well do that install at the same time.

 

[RBB]

Thanks for the tip on getting the air out. Harness did indeed check out again last night so the new pump is on order. Went ahead and ordered the VMP triple pass HE as well. Figured if I'm going to open the system anyway I might as well do that install at the same time.

Good call, I run one of those as well and it's a good upgrade.

 

[biminiLX]

Might be good to rewire with thicker gauge to run 100% not 50% like factory. But then factory is still burning up harnesses so who knows.
HE upgrade is nice.
-J

 

[JPs2013GT500]

Good call, thanks. I didn't know the pump ran @50% by design. I think it would be handy to install a switch to manually control the pump & new heat exchanger fans. Might look into rewiring it so I can work that in.

 

[JPs2013GT500]

New pump arrived today. I went ahead and removed the old pump and installed the new one. Do you guys know if there is a flow switch built into these pumps? I ask because this one is not running either.

I confirmed again tonight that I have 12 volts at the plug that connects directly to the pump when I jumper the ICP relay connection.

 

[RBB]

New pump arrived today. I went ahead and removed the old pump and installed the new one. Do you guys know if there is a flow switch built into these pumps? I ask because this one is not running either.

I confirmed again tonight that I have 12 volts at the plug that connects directly to the pump when I jumper the ICP relay connection.

How are you determining that it’s not running? I ask because if you look at the tank on a 13-14 there’s little to no coolant movement.

 

[JPs2013GT500]

By feel of both the pump & hoses. I know the pumps are super quiet but I could feel the pump itself it when it was working before and get some sense that it was on. That, plus I could pinch the bypass hose in the past and see a bit more flow in the reservoir tank.

I'm not feeling or seeing anything when I do that now.

 

[JPs2013GT500]

Perhaps there was an air pocket in the system before and the pump was fine...just experiencing cavitation or there's a built-in flow switch, etc..

I should probably get one of those vacuum tools to connect to my compressor and pull a vacuum on the intercooler loop to get any trapped air out and refill the system that way too.

 

[RBB]

By feel of both the pump & hoses. I know the pumps are super quiet but I could feel the pump itself it when it was working before and get some sense that it was on. That, plus I could pinch the bypass hose in the past and see a bit more flow in the reservoir tank.

I'm not feeling or seeing anything when I do that now.

I’d start checking the wiring then. I had a similar issue with my fuel pumps last year. The leads at the controller tested hot with 12V with key on, but the pumps would not turn on....couldn’t figure it out. Turned out to be a fuse, it looked fine visually, wasn’t popped, but enough solder at one of the blade ends had melted away to make the connection unstable. As soon as a load was applied to the circuit the voltage dropped.

I’d start tracing the wires back and see if anything is burned up/melted along the way. Check the pins in the connector as well. Make sure they’re fully inserted.

Good luck man, I hate chasing this shit down.

 

[JPs2013GT500]

Oh man, that sounds like it was a nightmare to track down. I'll dig into the wiring further in the morning then. Step one will be creating a temporary wire connection from the battery to the old pump to see what happens with that & checking fuses.

 

[tomshep]

i do recall a different member posting one of his pins in the connector wasn't seated properly and it would move BACK when he would plug the connector in. It tested good, but would move when he did the connection.

Tom

 

[JPs2013GT500]

Alright, making some progress. When I connect the pump (both old & new) directly to the battery with a temp wire connection they run.

Tracing those small harnesses back I found this (attached image):

Looks like I didn't trace the harness(es) back far enough in my initial diagnosis. Now to find this replacement harness.

 

[JPs2013GT500]

Side note, the VMP HE arrives today. I wonder if it has a harness with it that will bypass this issue or if it just splices into this existing harness?

 

[RBB]

Side note, the VMP HE arrives today. I wonder if it has a harness with it that will bypass this issue or if it just splices into this existing harness?

The VMP HE plugs inline with your existing harness, doesn't let you bypass anything.

Hard to tell what's going on in your pic other than the plastic is a little burned. Did you pull that pin out and take a look at it? Was it fully seated in the connector? I bet @Snoopy49 can find you the part # for that connector, he's the man for that kind of stuff.

 

[Robot_trainer]

Side note, the VMP HE arrives today. I wonder if it has a harness with it that will bypass this issue or if it just splices into this existing harness?

That one pin looks brown. looks like a bad connection causing it to heat up and discolor the plastic pin mount

 

[JPs2013GT500]

I'm not sure how to take that plug apart to examine it. I bypassed that one burnt looking pin (cut that green/white wire on both the male & female connectors & connected them with a new piece of wire).

In doing so, the pump now comes on when I jump it at the fuse box relay. However, when I replace the fuse it doesn't seem to automatically come on. Just took it for a small drive and IAT2 ramped up to 180 in a small distance of easy driving.

Drove it back home, popped the hood and the pump is not running. Cut the car off, removed the pump relay & installed a jumper wire, pump came on.