Intercooler leak?

[TaskForce]

Hi everyone,

Hoping to get some pointers and advice from you guys. I did search the forums first btw.

I’ll try to make this short but I want to give everyone the full picture.

The other week I was driving and noticed my car bogging under boost and idling rough. I figured it was maybe the plugs. No biggie. Went to the store bought some new plugs, gapped them and put them in.

Car runs way smoother now.

However, a few days ago after a single WOT pull my car was pulling a ton of timing. I was down a ton of power. More than normal. I noticed I had really high charge temps 180+. I got home and noticed there wasn’t any coolant in my intercooler reservoir.

At this point I’m wondering if the plugs went bad from the intercooler leaking into the manifold? I’m assuming that’s why the car was bogging down and idling rough? There’s definitely a leak because the reservoir is completely empty.

I will test the I/C pump tomorrow with the car off.

Anybody have an idea what the issue could be? I’m not an expert on cooling issues by any means.

Thanks for any input,

Mark

D

 

[FleeMan]

Your intercooler popped. Happend to me in my first Lightning. As soon as you pull the blower all your fluid will be in the lower intake.

 

[MG0h3]

Aftermarket tank?

I noticed mine offgassing a bit after shutting down through the little breather in the cap. Never thought anything of it.

Had really high charge temps one day and found it almost empty. No evidence of leaks anywhere.

The orings at the IC can leak and allow boost to pressurize the tank which was probably what was happening.


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[TaskForce]

Aftermarket tank?

I noticed mine offgassing a bit after shutting down through the little breather in the cap. Never thought anything of it.

Had really high charge temps one day and found it almost empty. No evidence of leaks anywhere.

The orings at the IC can leak and allow boost to pressurize the tank which was probably what was happening.


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It has a killer chiller on it and Moroso tank. I forgot to mention the reservoir tank released pressure and blew coolant up on the hood as well.

I’m guessing I’ll need to take the supercharger off to check the O rings on the inter cooler. Was really hoping it was just the I/C pump since thats an easy fix

 

[TaskForce]

Your intercooler popped. Happend to me in my first Lightning. As soon as you pull the blower all your fluid will be in the lower intake.

I’m hoping that’s not the case but it’s sure looking like that’s the problem.

 

[FleeMan]

Well it’s a different story now that you mentioned you have a Moroso tank and coolant shot up on the hood. Tighten down the bolts around the lid. If that doesn’t help you can just replace the seal/lid assembly. I bought it on EBay last year for around $80.

Always start with the simple/cheap stuff and work your way towards the expensive/difficult.

 

[hotcobra03]

Could still be pump..
I've had a couple go bad and the last new pump was lazy,

Some have had connection issue,

I've had orings blow out also ,
Took tube and housing to parts store to fit oring from master kit,,iirc 1115 was the number.

I did replace them without pulling blower ,

Hope you don't have this

1501514074.jpg

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[TaskForce]

Update - I just went and tested the I/C pump and it’s working. I can hear it kick on when I jump it.

Should I try and fill the reservoir with some distilled water to see if it’s leaking?

 

[TaskForce]

Could still be pump..
I've had a couple go bad and the last new pump was lazy,

Some have had connection issue,

I've had orings blow out also ,
Took tube and housing to parts store to fit oring from master kit,,iirc 1115 was the number.

I did replace them without pulling blower ,

Hope you don't have this

1501514074.jpg

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

I wonder if it’s the O rings then. Are the O rings on the front side of the intercooler where the hoses hook to? If I don’t have the pull the blower that would be great.

I’ve tried looking for some videos on YouTube but can’t find any relating to this issue.

 

[MG0h3]

I’ve never had a blower off one of these cars so I don’t know coolant from the IC can get pulled into the heads.

It would seem like it should be able to but I swear someone said it can’t.

That would be my only concern.

When I found mine empty, I hadn’t had any signs of burning coolant so I assumed it was just loss over time since it’s not a truly sealed system with the Moroso tank/cap setup.

Filled it up and been good to go for years.


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[hotcobra03]

I wonder if it’s the O rings then. Are the O rings on the front side of the intercooler where the hoses hook to? If I don’t have the pull the blower that would be great.

I’ve tried looking for some videos on YouTube but can’t find any relating to this issue.

There are 4 orings,

The intercooler under blower has 2, 4 inch tubes .

Tubes connects to housing that hoses go to using orings,

That housing has to come off or
Option 2 is lift intake.

when mine blew it sucked in all the fluid and squeezed the plastic tank and whistled loud enough to pull over ,

 

[01yellercobra]

I’ve never had a blower off one of these cars so I don’t know coolant from the IC can get pulled into the heads.

It would seem like it should be able to but I swear someone said it can’t.

That would be my only concern.

When I found mine empty, I hadn’t had any signs of burning coolant so I assumed it was just loss over time since it’s not a truly sealed system with the Moroso tank/cap setup.

Filled it up and been good to go for years.


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Oh it can. I pinched an o-ring one of the times I was swapping blowers and all my fluid ended up in lower intake. It's really easy to get to the intake port from there. Judging by the white cloud that I saw behind me.

 

[TaskForce]

Another update **

So I filed up the reservoir with some distilled water and turned the car on to see if I could pinpoint where the leak was coming from and turns out it isn’t leaking at all. I’m not sure if the I/C pump just wasn’t working before or what.

I took the car for a spin and it ran fine. Charge temps were back to normal and the car felt like it had twice as much power again. I let the car sit for a bit, checked the coolant level again and it took it for a spin once more just to be sure. No issues, ran perfect.

Not sure what the issue was. I ordered a new I/C pump just in case. Anyone have this happen before? Do I/C pumps stop working and need to be manually jumped sometimes?


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[DSG2003Mach1]

Usually if they quit, they quit.

If one of the mentioned orings is a problem it may not reveal itself on anything less than a WOT pull

 

[01yellercobra]

The pump can start to stick. Smacking it will usually get it working for a bit again. But to do it right it needs to be replaced. I saw a thread somewhere that someone actually took one apart and found the issue was all the dust from the brushes caused the armature to stick. But it was a pain to get there.

As mentioned usually the o-rings only really leak during boost. So keep an eye on your intercooler level for a while.

 

[TaskForce]

Thanks everyone. I did do a couple of WOT pulls to see if any problems arise. No issues (knock on wood). I’ll definitely keep an eye on the intercooler level for a while.

 

[hotcobra03]

These pumps take a beating.

Once on I believe they run non stop till you shut engine off and it cools.


I've read threads where the pump runs but fluid doesn't.