Cleaning the intercooler

Post by **Legacy777** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:57 am

My AWIC arrived today, and one thing I noticed was a decent coating of oil on the intercooler. I'd like to clean it, however I'd like some opinions whether others have cleaned their intercooler, be it A/A or A/W, and with what.

TIA.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:26 am

Alcohol.

I just dumped a bunch in, and shook up the IC and drained it. I repeated until it was clear. Seemed to work pretty well.

92 Le-Turbo-SS · Post by **92 Le-Turbo-SS** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:34 am

sounds reasonable to me Josh

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:48 am

Brake clean.

Post by **Legacy777** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:53 am

did some searching on nabisco. Brake cleaner seems to be the way to go, and I will agree.....it's great stuff.....I really need to buy stock in it. I use it for everythng

Thanks guys.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 3:02 am

I say alcohol too. Cap off one of the fittings and pour alcohol into the other. Cap that one off too, and shake shake shake. When you pour it out it'll be all dark and icky. You can do it a second time if you like; you'll hopefully see it come out much cleaner.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 3:08 am

Yea, remember, alcohol is cheap by the gallon. Brake parts cleaner, 1 can would cost more than a gallon of alcohol.

dzx · Post by **dzx** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:54 am

I just dumped some gas in there and let it sit for a while. then dumped it out. when i tried synthetic oil, i had a little over a pint of oil in my intercooler.

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 5:47 am

I used hot water and detergent quite a few times. Then dried it out fairly well. Not so toxic that way.

professor · Post by **professor** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:15 pm

TSP and hot water will do a bang-up job

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:44 pm

What's TSP?

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 3:43 pm

It's this industrial cleaner stuff. Pretty cool, kind of a harsh detergent.

Post by **Legacy777** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 5:53 pm

what type of alcohol are you guys talking about.....?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 6:39 pm

I just used rubbing alcohol. At the local dollar store there were little 16oz bottles of 70% isopropanol, 2 for a dollar. I think four of them filled a Saab intercooler.

If the intercooler is all metal, methanol or ethanol would probably be fine too. It's certainly easier to find them in undiluted form than it is to find isopropanol undiluted (the only common source I know of is Iso-HEET gas line antifreeze, but that's expensive).

Post by **DLC** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:44 pm

Absolut

Post by **Legacy777** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:00 am

rubbing alcohol will not work as well brake cleaner as a degreaser. Not really sure about ethanol or methanol.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:05 am

Yeah, but it's very easy on rubber. With enough agitation it works well enough.

Post by **Legacy777** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 2:13 am

Cleaned the intercooler up today.....used about two cans of brake cleaner. I think it worked out pretty good.

I found that the hose opening on the craftsman shop vac I have fits over the intake pipe of the intercooler. So I reversed the flow and blew air through the intercooler. The shop vac didn't even bog at all when I hooked it up.....so I guess that's a good sign in terms of pressure drop.

I ran water through the other portion of the intercooler to flush things out.

Also, just an FYI, the water portion of the intercooler takes just about 3 cups of water.....I'm not sure if that will be useful in sizing the radiator or pump, but hey, at least I got it.

kidwired · Post by **kidwired** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 5:48 am

I use brake cleaner for alot of stuff, we buy it in bulk, put it in cans then pressurize em w/ air.

But I cleaned my IC w/ carb cleaner.
brake solvent is tough on plastic and other stuff, my saab ic has plastic end caps.

I just sprayed it in, shook it around, turned it this way, turned it that way, put my left foot out.....thats what its all about!

Tleg93 · Post by **Tleg93** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:53 am

If you're not afraid you could heat the alcohol a bit in a microwave. I don't suggest doing it unless you're a very attentive person. Definitely don't use an open flame or a micro that has scratches on the inside. Isopopyl isn't too explosive but it is caustic. Anyway, when it's hot it cleans quite a bit better. Probably not for the faint of heart.

Tleg93 · Post by **Tleg93** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 12:44 am

Was my suggestion that scary?

Post by **Legacy777** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 1:16 am

I know I sure the hell wouldn't do it

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Cleaning the intercooler

Cleaning the intercooler