damaged intercooler, but not too bad- still worth using?
 

hi guys.

i recently bought a front mount kit for my car on ebay.

picture of the core as it was advertised:

https://i1.ebayimg.com/02/i/01/1b/b9/bb_1.JPG

so as you can see the bottom row of fins has been smushed. That was ok with me.

-but-

it arrived at my house last night and i looked at it. Apparently it was damaged during shipping (or i was screwed, but i'm going to assume not).

See where the mounting bracket is on the top? It looks like it was crushed in, so the top row of fins is messed up right there. It is only about 2 inches of fins that are messed up.

Now, my logic is this: the air flows through the fins everwhere, anyway. The fins that will not allow airflow only make up a small amount of the entire intercooler, correct?

Basically my question is if you guys think that it will affect the cooling of the intercooler *that much*. I have yet to try to 'unbend' the rows and straighten the fins, so that is still a possible option (but maybe not for the bottom row).

Thoughts? Opinions?

Thanks.
Victor

You should be fine. You could always pressure and flow test it to be sure. Not exactly sure how to do either of those, but I imagine they exsist! :)

You will still get plenty of cooling as long as there are no leaks. Here's how to pressure test:
1. Get a MityVac radiator test kit that has a universal "stepped rubber" connector.
2. Stuff the connector into one side of the IC and tighten the pressure clamp until you get a tight fit.
3. Plug or cap the other side with a rubber boot or fitting.
4. Connect the Mity-Vac to the connector side by using the correst size supplied clear plastic hose.
5. put soapy water at all connection points.
6. Switch the Mity-Vac to pressure mode and pump it up to 25 psi over ambient.
7. Monitor the gauge and watch for drop off.
8. If no drop off over a half hour, your IC is good to go.
9. If there is immediate and/or consistent drop off, first check the soapy water for bubbles which would indicate leaks at the connections. If the connections are good, start spraying soap water around the fin areas to look for bubbling that would indicate a core puncture.

i am pretty sure the core is good.

but where do i find a 'mityvac' kit?

PS. thank you for brightening my day, heh. i was kinda bummed out at the whole thing.

Mityvac and radiator kit available at Harbor Freight.