The air/water intercooler thead

[Gluis]

Originally Posted by svynx

My box will be mounted inside the fender, getting cooler air over it whenever the car is moving.

Hello,

Do you have pictures of your water reservoir in its place? I was planning to use the IC sprayer tank, but after taking it out I changed my mind (too small, too complicated to adapt), so I'm looking for alternatives.

Thanks,

GS

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[WRX_hatch]

Wow, I'm glad this thread caught my attention. I've been designing my own air-water aftercooler in AutoCAD for a bit now. The only downside I can see is if any part of the core breaks you can kiss your engine goodbye when you come off of boost. Ever see the bottom end of a motor that's taken in water? The rods look like pretzels, wrist pins poke through the piston domes, etc... Any dyno results? Or did I miss 'em. (Old laptop, small display, old eyes.)

[svynx]

Originally Posted by Gluis

Hello,

Do you have pictures of your water reservoir in its place? I was planning to use the IC sprayer tank, but after taking it out I changed my mind (too small, too complicated to adapt), so I'm looking for alternatives.

Thanks,

GS

Because of work issues/not having a lot of time, the box isn't finished yet. All but one side is welded, and I still need to cut, drill, tap the 1/4" piece for the connections. Once that is all done, I'd be more than happy to take some pics (this is after all my thread, and I haven't given much input in a while). The tank will hold about 3/4 of a gallon. I figured since the heat exchanger is on the large side, and the top mount is too, I didn't need much of a reservoir.

[Gluis]

Originally Posted by svynx

Because of work issues/not having a lot of time, the box isn't finished yet. All but one side is welded, and I still need to cut, drill, tap the 1/4" piece for the connections. Once that is all done, I'd be more than happy to take some pics (this is after all my thread, and I haven't given much input in a while). The tank will hold about 3/4 of a gallon. I figured since the heat exchanger is on the large side, and the top mount is too, I didn't need much of a reservoir.

I'm in the same position. I'm out of town at least 2 weeks per month because of work, sometimes more. It seems like projects take forever because of that!

Regards,

GS

[bwrx03]

I'll be installing a water temp gauge in the tank and two air temp gauges. One will be in the front bumper for ambient air, the other will be on the output side of the intercooler. I also need to get tuned badly. I killed a set of spark plugs in 300 miles, so the cars sitting at the moment. Its running so damn rich right now, my tuner says it might be because the AWIC is working so well.

[bwrx03]

Got two of the gauges in.


Rights the tank water temp and left is the output side of the intercooler. Those numbers are at idle on cold start up. My other gauge for the outside air should be here tomorrow. I'll probably get it in monday.



Had to get tricky with the water sensor. The gauge company "Cyberdyne" in all their wisdom, made it so the sensor grounds when you screw it in. They say not to use teflon tape for it'll screw up the ground connection, well it leaks without teflon tape. So i made a grounding strap for the sensor and ground it to the trunk.

I like them they go good with my defi's and sti cluster.

[i_c_the_light]

Interesting thread here, and quite suprising. The first variant of the EJ20G utilised AW in the Legacy for the BC/F chassis. It's a good system, but the factory one is easily maxed out at about 230ish WHP and had some design flaws too.

The intercooler came in 3 colours: black, silver and gold. Silver ones had a sensor that measured water level from memory. The gold ones was exclusive for the RS-RA. The pump was located inside the LH guard and had 2 speeds which was controlled by the ECU. The high speed would only kick in if more than 80% throttle was applied for longer than 2-3 seconds. The reason being was to increase pump life.
There was no external tank, it was just piping, pump, intercooler and radiator. The design flaws was the metal piping that ran the length of the engine which is bolted to the LH side of the manifold, which would absorb heat. Also both the intercooler and the radiator are quite small. They were good at the time, and work well now. But you can't make good power with it.

If anyone wants pictures of the Subaru AWIC I can post engine bay pics of my old Legacy's.

Looking for some ideas for a future project I'm running through my head.

[bwrx03]

I knew subau did a system hat failed but have never seen one. Could you post pics? Also I cant remember if it was SAAB or Volvo but one of them did a intercooler with a air conditioning system. Which sounds like a good idea, I'd like to see someone try.

[i_c_the_light]

Originally Posted by bwrx03

I knew subau did a system hat failed but have never seen one. Could you post pics? Also I cant remember if it was SAAB or Volvo but one of them did a intercooler with a air conditioning system. Which sounds like a good idea, I'd like to see someone try.

The AWIC wasn't a failure at all. It may have been a bit of a bitch in the WRC prior to the Impreza, but it worked fine in the road cars. The issue is pump replacements (ex Japan expect to pay upwards of 3k NZD from the dealership for one now) which usually last about 120k miles and how much of a bottleneck the system overall can be for making power.

I'll hunt down a pic or two, might snap some of the spare radiator and the worn out pump I've got in the garage.

[svynx]

^^also, since the radiator wasn't quite big enough, the powers that be decided to go with the air to air coolers. It could also have been cheaper to go with the air/air (less parts, easier to manufature, cheaper to install). But there is no denying the fact that awic work really well, when the proper sizes and parts are used, not to mention very reliable.

[svynx]

Originally Posted by bwrx03

I'll be installing a water temp gauge in the tank and two air temp gauges. One will be in the front bumper for ambient air, the other will be on the output side of the intercooler. I also need to get tuned badly. I killed a set of spark plugs in 300 miles, so the cars sitting at the moment. Its running so damn rich right now, my tuner says it might be because the AWIC is working so well.

That's something I want to do as well, but have it incorporated in a small fan controller. I have yet to find someone who could make what I want. It would need to read outside air temp and intake manifold air temp. It would read the outside temp and kick the fans on if the intake manifold temp went about +10 degrees. I have yet to finish the project (should be soon though). The fans might not even be needed. We'll see.

[2bfi]

Just a little contribution from my experience with air to water intercooling.

I have a supercharged Honda and use an AWIC system. It is made by LHT Performance. The system doesn't have a reservoir. It came with a flojet pump that died within 2 years. Flojet's site described it as a beverage pump. I replaced it with a pump made by Bosch and used in Mercedes Benzs: http://www.frozenboost.com/product_i...1376b87a110cb7 and it has been working properly and is much quieter. I wired it with a 3 position switch. Full, half (or so it sound like), and off. It is always on half speed.

Before the AWIC was installed, intake temps would be 248F during daily driving. With the AWIC, it dropped to 115F at cruise, 131F in traffic, & 170F (pump on full speed) during circuit track day. This is all with ambient temps of about 90-95F.

For daily driving, full and half speed don't show a temp difference.

One day I plan to install an AWIC system on my 2011 STI sedan.

[wrxdrvr]

Originally Posted by 2bfi

Just a little contribution from my experience with air to water intercooling.

I have a supercharged Honda and use an AWIC system. It is made by LHT Performance. The system doesn't have a reservoir. It came with a flojet pump that died within 2 years. Flojet's site described it as a beverage pump. I replaced it with a pump made by Bosch and used in Mercedes Benzs: http://www.frozenboost.com/product_i...1376b87a110cb7 and it has been working properly and is much quieter. I wired it with a 3 position switch. Full, half (or so it sound like), and off. It is always on half speed.

Before the AWIC was installed, intake temps would be 248F during daily driving. With the AWIC, it dropped to 115F at cruise, 131F in traffic, & 170F (pump on full speed) during circuit track day. This is all with ambient temps of about 90-95F.

For daily driving, full and half speed don't show a temp difference.

One day I plan to install an AWIC system on my 2011 STI sedan.

That would be without any IC, right?

[2bfi]

^^^ Not sure what you mean. The Honda doesn't have an air to air IC, but has an air to water intercooler.

Or, when I do set up my STI, it'll have an AWIC, and no air to air IC.

Hope one of the above answers your question.

[BVM]

Did anyone find the need to add a vent to the reservoir? I got a little leakage around the cap (not fully tight to allow air to exit/enter as needed) running with the level about 3/4 full.

Also, hoses thru the car.. man that would have made my life SOOOOO much easier! Brilliant!!!

[wrxdrvr]

Originally Posted by 2bfi

^^^ Not sure what you mean. The Honda doesn't have an air to air IC, but has an air to water intercooler.

Or, when I do set up my STI, it'll have an AWIC, and no air to air IC.

Hope one of the above answers your question.

I was wondering it that 248F intake temp was with no IC or an AAIC...

[2bfi]

Originally Posted by wrxdrvr

I was wondering it that 248F intake temp was with no IC or an AAIC...

That was with no IC.

[bwrx03]

I've been keeping an eye on my intake, ambient and water temps. It's been cold and cloudy recently so it's been really low. This morning was 65-71 ambient, water temp in traffic was 73 then it went below 70 when traffic cleared. My intake temp was 83-87 the entire 40 mile trip.

[bwrx03]

Originally Posted by BVM

Did anyone find the need to add a vent to the reservoir? I got a little leakage around the cap (not fully tight to allow air to exit/enter as needed) running with the level about 3/4 full.

Also, hoses thru the car.. man that would have made my life SOOOOO much easier! Brilliant!!!

I have the same leak problem not sure how to fix it though.

[wrxdrvr]

Originally Posted by bwrx03

I've been keeping an eye on my intake, ambient and water temps. It's been cold and cloudy recently so it's been really low. This morning was 65-71 ambient, water temp in traffic was 73 then it went below 70 when traffic cleared. My intake temp was 83-87 the entire 40 mile trip.

Have you put any ice in there yet and tried for colder than ambient IAT?

[bwrx03]

Originally Posted by wrxdrvr

Have you put any ice in there yet and tried for colder than ambient IAT?

Not yet, i get my tune on saturday. I head up to lbc tomorrow so i was thinking about getting a small bag and see how well the ice works through traffic.

Edit- the one thing i hate, the water gauge i have only goes to 70 degrees then the gauge starts scrolling "low" meaning the temps low. So it'll read above 70 degrees but if its below it only reads low.

[wrxdrvr]

Personally I would get two maps... One with everything "normal" and one that can take advantage of colder than ambient temps when you really want to play and are prepared for it with ice in the water...

[renob123]

I'm pretty interested in this, but I'd like to know what the risks are of it failing and how it's tuned for. I suppose since I have an Accessport, I could just load a limp map if something broke.

Are most tuners ok with this type of setup? I suppose there would be 3 maps: Failure, Normal, and Ice. Does that seem about right?

Jacob

[OrbitalEllipses]

So not alot of the posters in this thread are located in areas that would require winterizing. Would you need some kind of thermostat to control temp during winter or a coolant pipe that could heat the water or would you just run a fluid with a lower freezing point (i.e. some kind of methanol mixture)?

[poly_poly-man]

hmm, I've always been interested in this kinds of system...

Hypothetically, would a radiator for this kind of system be able to fit in a spot left by an A/C delete? Would one be able to retain the full bumper beam in this case?