Can an intercooler be to big?

[87PONYGT]

Here's the story. I had the car tuned a few months back and it made 22lbs @ 6500 on a 3.33 pulley producing 705rwhp but the IAT sensor was maxed out. I bought a trv259 and some 3" piping and installed the cooler and now it will only make 10lbs on the same dyno. we changed the pulley mid session to a 2.95 and the boost only increased by 0.2lbs.

I spoke to Vortech and they said that the cooler is to big and I'm losing velocity through it. I spoke to Treadstone and they say the cooler isn't to big and I just need to spin the blower harder. With Treadstone saying that I have to spin the blower harder I got the impression that maybe the core is to big.

Let me know what you guys think please, this is driving me nuts

 

[NastyNate420]

are you sure you dont have a boost leak ?

 

[87PONYGT]

I have checked all the couplers and I'm 99% sure there are no leaks.

 

[MOTOWN M]

What type of blow off valve are you running?

 

[87PONYGT]

Turbo smart race port

 

[Wildcard]

There is no way that intercooler is killing 12 lbs of boost. No freaking way. There has to be a leak. First I would take of the intercooler and start from square one back to where you were. If you get your 22 psi then start putting the intercooler kit on again. Step by step. There is a massive leak somewhere in the system. Even check for a cracked weld or a hole in the intercooler. Do your best Scully and mulder imperssionation because your going to have to find the leak.

 

[87PONYGT]

I'm going to do the DIY boost leak test first and if I don't find anything I will go back to square one. I'm trying to avoid taking bumper and fenders of again

 

[svtshadow]

What is boost? Boost is a measure of restriction.

You increased the size of inlets components, hence reducing restriction, thus lower boost which equates to loss of air velocity.

 

[jblood37]

What is boost? Boost is a measure of restriction.

You increased the size of inlets components, hence reducing restriction, thus lower boost which equates to loss of air velocity.

This is true, but I highly doubt he lost 12 psi because of this. More likely, there is a leak somewhere.

 

[KLeech]

I'm with everyone else on this one you have to have a leak somewhere, I can see losing a few pounds of boost due to less restriction but not 12. Does the car feel substantially slower/make less power now?

 

[VenomousMustang]

I have to agree as well. 12 PSI is quite a lot of boost to go 'missing'.

I'm with everyone else on this one you have to have a leak somewhere, I can see losing a few pounds of boost due to less restriction but not 12. Does the car feel substantially slower/make less power now?

I would safely assume, that answer is yes..

 

[87PONYGT]

OK so the consensus is that there is a leak. I did the DIY leak test with 2 pvc caps and a valve stem. I did find a leaking coupler so I thought BINGO, Tightened it up along with a double check on the rest of the T-bolts. I put everything back together thinking that was the problem. Went for a quick rip to datalog and all I gained was 1lbs. Just finished another leak test and didn't find anything.

Back to my original question, can an intercooler be to big?

 

[87PONYGT]

I'm with everyone else on this one you have to have a leak somewhere, I can see losing a few pounds of boost due to less restriction but not 12. Does the car feel substantially slower/make less power now?

Honestly I couldn't tell you. I had it tuned and just didn't feel comfortable with IAT's over 254F so I bought the intercooler.

 

[NastyNate420]

To big of an intercooler will cause lag and take longer to get to PEAK boost as there is more volume that has to get filled with air. I could see a drop in boost of 3 psi but 12 psi is way too much there is something else going on here ...belt slip? bov not seating fully? opening early?

 

[87PONYGT]

To big of an intercooler will cause lag and take longer to get to PEAK boost as there is more volume that has to get filled with air. [/COLOR]

So with that ^ being said it may take a longer pull at full rpm to generate max pressure?

I could see a drop in boost of 3 psi but 12 psi is way too much there is something else going on here ...belt slip? bov not seating fully? opening early?

Well I did recover 1lb so I am only down 11lb now lol. My logs didn't look like the belt was slipping but I will try tighten it more. My buddy actually has the same BOV am me (still BNIB) that he's going to let me try tomorrow.

 

[MOTOWN M]

You need to pressure test your intercooler, and make sure your bov is adjusted and working properly, you definetly have boost loss somewhere!

 

[Wildcard]

I built intercooler kits for a living. 1-3 psi sure. 12 psi? No way. Check the intercooler, or put it back to normal. Make sure you are at your old boost again and then start adding parts again.

The dimensions of the intercooler that you are running are normal. 3.5" thick... You should have no problem seeing a number that is relative to your old. And when I say 3.5" is normal my intercooler is 5.25" thick. You should not be having a 12 psi drop. Something is really off.

 

[CPRsm]

Whoever told you that at Vortech shouldn't be working the tech lines.

What is boost? Boost is a measure of restriction.

You increased the size of inlets components, hence reducing restriction, thus lower boost which equates to loss of air velocity.

No you're getting things mixed up. The rate an engine consumes air doesn't change, even with boost. The velocity stays the same. Velocity in the intercooler will change only. But less restriction in the intercooler would mean boost goes up in engine.

Wildcard is right. I just don't see a vertical core dropping that kind of boost. A larger intercooler show only slow the initial boost like stated already. From there it will climb at the same rate it did before. We added 400cu/in to our IC and only slower boost down by 300rpm.

 

[Fast?notyet]

I had a vertical row inter cooler just smaller then the trv259 before the trv259 but after install there was very little difference in boost however I don't think my experience will help much because a turbo will boost to pressure desired no matter what because it is controlled by pressure reference not a belt but so hope you find leak bro put I two caps on inter cooler and dunk it in the tub let us know

 

[87PONYGT]

I had a vertical row inter cooler just smaller then the trv259 before the trv259 but after install there was very little difference in boost however I don't think my experience will help much because a turbo will boost to pressure desired no matter what because it is controlled by pressure reference not a belt but so hope you find leak bro put I two caps on inter cooler and dunk it in the tub let us know

^^^ Is what I was trying to avoid lol pulling the car apart. I'm just getting home from work so I'm gonna try the BOV first and if no change then apart comes the car.