Air to water intercooler revival!

buldozr

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
362
0
0
North Texas
Alright guys, sorry to revive a 2 year old thread, but I wanted to see if porter and IJ ever got their efficiency numbers on their intercooler setups. I have been playing with the idea myself, I like the idea of the sleeper look, reduced piping, slightly reduced lag yet I have yet to see a direct comparison over a conventional Air to Air intercooler vs Water intercooler setups. I just read Corky Bells' section on water intercoolers but it was... short(but sweet) to say the least. Old School guys, show me the way!
 

buldozr

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
362
0
0
North Texas
IJ. said:
Once you get over 500rwhp the hardware becomes so large it's not practical in a Mk3.

so, hypothetically, under 400rwhp would still be a feasible option for a DD? I think I have a good setup of ideas, I found a brand new water pump from a lightning pickup that should work pretty reliably, a nice front radiator for the intercooler thats large in surface area but extremely thin, I might consider using precisionturbo.net intercooler although I am unsure which unit to get(debating 2.5" in/out or 3"in/out) Water resevoir will most likely be junk yarded but will be big enough to carry ice(will also have a screen so not to damage the water pump). I was also thinking of an idea to route coolant around the a/c receiver drier when the ac is on for extra cooling of the water.... neat idea, probably wouldnt help that much though. Anyways, anything I need to watch out for?
 

IJ.

Grumpy Old Man
Mar 30, 2005
38,728
0
0
61
I come from a land down under
I have the complete PWR 600hp/crank barrel setup here sitting doing nothing but shipping would kill any savings I could offer you on it...

Yep 400rwhp is doable no probs at all and nothing comes close to it in low speed stop start on off boost situations as you can force cool it in between hits of boost even when stopped.
 

buldozr

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
362
0
0
North Texas
IJ. said:

is their advantages over the 'bullet' style cooler versus the generic coolers I see on the net? Plus I dont have a FFIM, although for a setup like that, totally worth it! Yeah, corkys' book kinda enlightened me(although short on the subject), like you said, cool off boost at stop or near stop conditions(good for lowend torque which would be wanted for my dd). Corky does mention more parts for failure(pump, leaky water pipes/radiator, weight due to extra fluid and res.) but I think I can live with failure, I mean, I have lived with my 7m so far.... :icon_bigg . J/k, could you explain the pump setup to me, I see alot of people using all kinds of different pumps but I dont see any particular favorites or benefits for that matter for one vs another. I just thought the lightning pump would be good because of its oem reliability, any thoughts?
 

IJ.

Grumpy Old Man
Mar 30, 2005
38,728
0
0
61
I come from a land down under
The pump supplied can be seen on the left side of the bumper it's a 24 hour rated Bosch unit.

Never had a leak or any downside other than it ran out of flow after 500rwhp, There's no real advantage to the barrel shape that I know of.

I liked mine as it was total stealth and couldn't be seen from the front of the car and didn't inhibit airflow.
 

buldozr

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
362
0
0
North Texas
I liked mine as it was total stealth and couldn't be seen from the front of the car and didn't inhibit airflow.

You sleeper you! I think that would be pretty cool(pardon the pun) to show a water cool system at the local car meets. In fact, I have never really seen anyone in person have that system(although I hear the subbie sti guys love the water cooled systems). I just thought it would be different and beneficial at the same time. By any chance have a link or part number on that bosch pump? I thought I would compare.
 

buldozr

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
362
0
0
North Texas
it appears that the lightning pump is actually boschs' pump with a factory ford part number on it..... bosch pump it is. that link is great, but I wish I knew what "1200 dm3 h–1" means.
 

buldozr

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
362
0
0
North Texas
IJ. said:
Delivery volume at 1 bar

Roughly 9gpm

p/n 0392022002
175+13 shipping in the states via ebay. Pretty expensive but it has a 10K hour lifespan(actually better than most electric cooling fans and fuel pumps). Thats the shit, your the man IJ.
 

buldozr

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
362
0
0
North Texas
wow, actually, Mercedes uses two different pumps in their intercooler setups. but I get two part numbers, 0392 022 003 and 0392 022 002, they mention a recall on one(not cool). I dont know which pump is the current MB recall though, but I will certainly find out.
 

buldozr

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
362
0
0
North Texas
sweet, Mercedes has posted a technical service bulletin for the 0 392 022 003 pump, which the only difference I see in the 0 392 022 002 pump is that the `002 pump has smaller inlet and outlet diameters(same electronics). This `002 pump is the exact one used in the lightning(compare prices on ebay, lightning pump vs bosch pump although the same bloody part, the lightning pump is 90 vs 175...Nike vs Reebok I guess). the '003 pump has the larger inlets so would (i think)be better for flow... good stuff.
The Mercedes guys mention the pump usually fails around 50-60k miles, very nice to know. Im out.:sleep:
 

hottscennessey

DONT BE A BITCH!
Jun 3, 2005
3,137
0
36
37
Richmond, VA
Check out siliconeintakes.com They sell water to air IC's for great prices as well as heat exchangers (radiators) and pumps.
 
Last edited:

buldozr

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
362
0
0
North Texas
Thanks guys. I just had an unforeseen problem, I know I was bitchin about heat soke.... not a problem now, just cracked my radiator, not just one crack, three cracks.... Dallas North Tollway sucks, I paid a toll to sit idle like I was in a parking lot till temp gauge goes north... I got lucky because the tollway doesnt have any shoulders, and when in traffic, it may be 20 minutes till you can actually exit. I got real lucky. Cracked radiator-1, cracked head-0.