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intercooler questions

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 4:26 am
by 90gt
I have a 90 legacy with the ej20g from japan.

Question 1:
I got the car running but it has an intercooler light on. is this because the intercooler is low on fluid? what would cause the light to be on?

Question 2:
Ive never owned a turbo car before, i got 50/50 premixed coolant from subaru, how full is the intercooler supposed to be? do i fill it until it comes out the cap? I attached a picture of what the intercooler looks like.

Thanks,
90GT.

Image

Re: intercooler questions

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 3:41 pm
by carfreak85
Do NOT put antifreeze in the intercooler. It should take DISTILLED water ONLY.

Re: intercooler questions

Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 1:50 am
by 90gt
Thank you for the advice, luckily i never poured any in yet. went and bought some distilled water instead. do i just fill it up to the cap?

Re: intercooler questions

Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 2:22 am
by jefferson
What is the reason for no antifreeze? What do you do in the winter?

Re: intercooler questions

Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 6:05 pm
by carfreak85
Not sure what the winter procedures are, I don't have a AWIC, or any of the service documentation. I would want to review what Subaru says to do before just dumping whatever into the system. If the OP lives in North America, its summer, so he should be OK for a few months at least.

Find out what Subaru recommends.

Re: intercooler questions

Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 5:26 pm
by Legacy777
You can put antifreeze in the intercooler. You want some antifreeze in there so you have some freeze protection and if that's not the reason you want some in there to prevent microbial growth.

I run about a 30% antifreeze mix with distilled water.

Re: intercooler questions

Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2017 11:01 pm
by James614
Yeah I never heard of the no antifreeze thing. I'd really like to know if there's anything behind that. I have the AWIC with about 25% mixture.

Re: intercooler questions

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2017 3:51 pm
by carfreak85
James614 wrote:Yeah I never heard of the no antifreeze thing. I'd really like to know if there's anything behind that. I have the AWIC with about 25% mixture.
That came from my knowledge of the STI IC water sprayer system. Distilled water only, required to drain if operating in freezing temperatures.

Re: intercooler questions

Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 2:20 am
by James614
carfreak85 wrote: That came from my knowledge of the STI IC water sprayer system. Distilled water only, required to drain if operating in freezing temperatures.
Its definitely not comparable to an IC spray system. RS Liberty Club has the 92 service manual uploaded, but it curiously doesn't list the specific fluid. It generically refers to it as coolant. http://www.rslibertyclub.org/forums/sho ... l-Complete (maybe someone else can find it).

The users there seem to generally recommend 25-33% antifreeze mix or, distilled water with an agent like Redline Water Wetter or similar for corrosion protection. I'd trust them as they got the AWIC-equipped cars domestically.

Re: intercooler questions

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:27 pm
by subiedoutlegacy
Ever get the light sorted? I am curious haha.
Also very jealous of the car (I need that front bumper :lol: )