Ok my intercooler just started leaking and i see its a very common issue. I talked to Rob today to see if there was an upgrade avail but that was a no with only 2 new oem Garrittes avail. So i have avail a few slk55 intercoolers for like free so has anyone modded them to fit our srt6. I only have pics of the 55 but it looks like i could cut off the intake & exits of the intercooler and weld the srt6 intake & exit on. Rob said the 55 is longer and might be wider but if it fits that should be a good thing. I know this would be allot of work and require some skill.

 

I thought he was selling the Rudy IC, maybe it is only available from Accelerated Industries these days.

 

Rob is who i believe i talked to told me there was someone making them a few years back but have went out of business and might still owes a few to there customers so its not a good path to go down. Anyway i pulled the intake plenums and yep i can see a slight wet coating of antifreeze. Since i need to get it smogged like yesterday i am thinking of blocking the intercooler fluid lines and see if that will correct the ruff idle and hopefully no engine light.

 

Just found a aftermarket intercooler on ebay made in hong kong delivered he for about $500. In the pics it looks like it might be ok. Has anyone used one of these with any luck ???

 

Intercooler is getting the best of me. I got an " good " used one shipped to me so i took the car apart while waiting for it to arrive. My old intercooler had a light coat of thick fresh coolant in the exit and Y so it was leaking. When i recived the new used intercooler i tested it at 10lbs in a tub of water and it leaked bad so its junk. I decided to test my old intercooler the same way and i could not find a leak so i filled up the water ports with an rad flush and plugged them with pipe plugs and let soak for 6hr. Removed the plugs and blow out the rad flush and allot of thick clearish fluid with chunks of gel came out so it did this again and this time no gel chunks with some thick fluid. I rechecked it for leaks and still could not find one so i turned up the prusher 10 psi at a time and stopped at 40psi as i was get scared i might blow it apart. At 40spi i saw a very very small leak one pin head size bubble every 90 sec so i am very confused. Thinking this leak must open up and get worse with heat but to check that would take allot more. I decided to stand the intercooler up with the exit down with 20psi for 4hr to see if any fluid would leak. Teap it leaked a little thick nasty brown fluid from driver side of the core so now i know where the leak is coming from. So i am thinking i could cut off that tank inspect & clean it well and reweld it back on but has anyone had any luck repairing one ?

 

No but I have a used one for sale in SOCAL.

 

Assuming its good how much do you want for it ?

 

New to me used intercooler leaks bad at 10psi

My old intercooler has a very tiny leak and can not see it even at 40psi but it was sure dirty

Old intercooler was leaking as there is some fresh thick brownish coolant inside the Y pipe

After cleaning & flushing a few time i stood the intercooler up on its outlet with 40psi for more then a few hours and this thick brown crap came out but sill only has a very tiny leak this is almost impossable to see

On the inside of this fitting you can see some of the thick gel that came out the first time i flushed it. Thinking past owner used a rad sealer to stop the leak and when i flushed the whole system to install a new radiator it opened up the leak

 

My advice is to separate the intercooler from the cooling system and run straight water, or with water wetter, through your barely leaking intercooler. The leak wont hurt a thing and may even make it run a degree cooler. Plain water won't leave a residue like the coolant and will even help keep the valves and combustion chamber cleaner than without the water.

I'm serious. Not joking.

Les

 

PM sent.

 

What a GREAT idea!


.

 

Yeap i have seriously been thinking the same and use windshield washer fluid as the cheap & easy to get coolant the 35 to 40% meth stuff but i need to get this car smogged first so might put an simple gate vale in the intercooler lines to stop the flow and that should help

 

I wish I saw this earlier but never buy a used intercooler. They will all be leaking. Only buy a new one, you're just wasting money on used. I went through this years ago, I ended up with 2 of them one off a blower a bought and one I just bought used. They all leaked, the problem wasn't solved until I bought a new one. A new one from benz at time of this post is $627.

 

Thanks philosophico, Where can i buy a new intercooler for $627 as i have found some right at $1k plus shipping and taxes !!!
Have 2 free used intercooler except for shipping on the way. Hopefully 1 will be good if not a new one is a must

 

Stud intercooler up on end and used my torch to heat up the intercooler and all this brown slim started flowing out. This was after flushing it 3 times
Oh after this i flushed it again and tested for leaks and yep it leaked much worse than before so its junk