agent712

Alright... workin on my brothers 94 and just curious to know how good the stock intercooler is supposed to be at cooling air... When we bought the car I noticed the intake ducts seemed very hot after driving it. So I did a little searching on the car and found it was missing the intercooler duct that directs air into the ic... So I was like, ok cool, that must be the problem...
I put the ic duct on a little bit ago and went for a drive. The ducts still seem to be very hot after driving the car. I heard someone say that their stock intercooler was always cool to the touch after driving... So I'm just wondering if something is wrong, or if this is just normal? Do we have anything to worry about? We'd like to upgrade to an M2 smic eventually... but until then should I put on water injection to try to cool down the air? I just don't want this motor to blow up right away since he just bought the car. So let me know what you all think.

Thanks
Chuck

P'cola FD

If you're running 12 lbs or less, then you'll be ok. The problem is that the stock intercooler blows. I work at a Toyota dealership, and was working on a Previa S/C the other day(ghey mid engined, supercharged minivan) and the intercooler on that was bigger than the stock FD intercooler.

agent712

Yeah... So are you saying this is normal and that we don't have much to worry about? Just basically be sure to put on a boost gauge to make sure the boost is where it should be?
Anybody else have experience with the stock intercooler? Should it be cool after driving it, or is it normal to be excessively warm?

Thanks
Chuck

P'cola FD

Don't worry about it. It is in an engine bay that, if stock, easily reaches temperatures of 150 degrees F, and it has air going through it at over 200 degrees F. It is understandably going to be hot.

agent712

So for now would water injection help cool the air and make it run a little stronger?

Thanks
Chuck

DRAG0NEER

for now - you don't have to do **** until you get enough $$$ for a bigger intercooler

RX7Elmo

the stock intercooler in the RX7 is one of the smallest production intercoolers i have ever seen. One good thing aobut it is that it gets adequate ducting/cool air. The stock intercooler is a good thing to upgrade if you have the money. But yeah, the IC is going to be hot anyway, especially if you were driving slow around town, stopped and then touched it since no air was really getting to it at higher speeds. The stock IC of course will get very hot after some spirited driving.

I wouldn't go to water injection if the purpose is to be your backup for safety. If the water pump fails or some sensor goes wrong, things can go bad. And a good system costs almost as much as a used INtercooler upgrade.

Just dont' go over stock boost levels and you'll be okay.

Danny

agent712

Not sure I understand your reasoning behind not getting water injection. First, as far as I'm aware, it sprays a mist of water and or water/alcohol into the intake duct. The water/alcohol cools the air as it evaporates. All it's going to do is cool the air. Shouldn't have to change anything in the computer for it. So if something "goes wrong" within the system all that happens is your cooling is back to stock... Add in the fact that you can get a decent water injection system for about 250 bucks and I wonder why NOT to get one. Here's a couple links that might interest you...

http://www.racetep.com/wik.html
http://www.geocities.com/rad87gn/tech/alcohol.html

I think for now this would be our best bet until we get a bigger intercooler.

JspecFD

iTrader: (2)

For its size, the stock IC does a good job. To get some basic idea as to its effectiveness, just put your hands on both the input/output pipes of the IC and compare. Generally, you'll see that one side is very hot while the output side is just hot(proving it does work to some degree despite its small size). Still, esp. at higher boost levels for extended time periods, the stock IC can heatsoak and become somewhat ineffective(ref: SCC IC tests)

agent712

Ahh yeah, I see what you mean... Aight... well, how about the water/alcohol injection idea? Think it'd be a good idea until we get an M2 smic? How much power do you think can be gained if we drop the intake temps significantly?

Thanks
Chuck

agent712

K, well depending on price we're probably not going to be interested. But I sent you an e mail.

Thoughts on water injection anyone?

Thanks
Chuck

agent712

Who's done it, how do you like it, what kit did you get, how much did you gain?

Thanks
Chuck

jspecracer7

It would be EASIER to just get an intercooler...and less time consuming and less of a pain...

itrdanny2001

the intercooler is definitely the better bet for a first mod. then get the water cooling later just to add on to the efficiency of the intercooler.

think about it this way if you think your stock intercooler is fine: granted you won't see a "power increase" from a new intercooler, you will see how much power your stock intercooler is losing you. The stock intercooler can only cool the air so much given its small size and it becomes overwhelmed easily. with a larger intercooler, like the M2, Pettit, or any other stock mount, the increased cooling capacity will lead to a cooler intake charge and less hp lost due to heat. The M2 medium intercooler flows 4 times as much as stock in cubic feet per minute.

i also can't see how a water kit would hurt anything at all but you should probably go with the intercooler first. you'll see better results, and maybe you won't even need the water kit unless you increase the boost.