Not happy with my AWIC

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:34 am

First off, I DO NOT have a resevoir so this alone may be the cause of my frustration. I do have the AWIC, the pump and the small radiator. So anyway......

Hot weather and the AWIC is not a good combination. Cruising on the freeway doesnt seem to cool it down. It gets HOT, not just warm. I suspect that the water is absorbing the heat from the regular air and just cant get rid of it.

So I have two options. Big resevoir (where do I put it?) or front mount. I have a sneaking suspicion I am going front mount soon. We will see.

snowjob · Post by **snowjob** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:59 pm

Really, how large is your front rad? I've got a 88 caprice heater core and it works fine, it's been really freekin hot up here in ottawa with the humidity and when I touch the intercooler it's not cool, but it's certainly not hot. Maybe your pump has an airlock in it? I don't know I'm guessing. Or your rad is blocked?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:41 pm

Yeah, tell us more about your radiator. WIth your supercharger you're throwing a lot of heat into the AWIC, so you definitely need a lot of radiator to reject the heat.

If you still have your A/C condenser on the car, maybe you could plumb the condenser in series with the radiator you have. This would also increase the volume of the system, as a reservoir would.

I'm using a fairly small transmission cooler with no reservoir:

Admittedly it's with a 16G turbo, and I always have the radiator fans on, but even right after boosting both the radiator and AWIC aren't hot.

snowjob · Post by **snowjob** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:49 pm

VRG3 please tell me that's not how your drive around with a tranny cooler zip tied to the front of the car, if so LOL.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:04 pm

I'm not supposed to lie... what should I say?

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:17 pm

It's efficiently mounted in the best possible air-flow stream.

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:19 pm

I think it's ghetto fabulous! Vikash gets 150 GG points! 50 more and he gets a SPT sticker!

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:23 pm

It was getting hot without boosting.

I moved my intake again since I last posted to its original space. That might make a difference. I also hardwired the fans to be on all the time. We will have some driving to do today.

snowjob · Post by **snowjob** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:26 pm

I'm voting VGR3 for the hottest mod of the year award

Post by **Legacy777** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:13 am

Are you using the stock AWIC radiator and pump?

Three things you can do to aid in cooling.

1) Add a bigger radiator. You MUST do this, it also adds capacity
2) Add a higher flow rate pump. Higher flow rate means more water mass will go through the intercooler/radiator and increase its heat capacity.
3) Add a resevoir. More water mass will help, but if you have a small radiator or a crappy pump, a resevoir will just mean you have "more" hot water.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:54 am

Doug - You're always boosting, though, aren't you? Even when manifold pressure is below atmospheric, isn't the pressure at the blower's outlet above atmospheric?

What kind of radiator are you using?

Matt - Woah, a sticker?! I could put that on the intercooler to make it cool better!

Maybe this'll earn me a point or two -- I realized that the radiator was covering up my Subaru logo, so I ziptied a logo from an 80s-era Sube (the cool stars-connected-by-lines one) next to it. I'll see if I can get a picture.

snowjob - Hottest? Intercoolers aren't about hot...

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 4:07 am

V - No, I am not always boosting. Remember it is clutch driven. Its only turned on when you want it.

Its a small tranny radiator, and the pump is the smallish powered one.

Drove around today with the fans running all the time. Still warm off boost. Bleah......

Trying to come up with a $25 or less resevoir by Friday/Saturday cause I want to go to the drag strip.

I think I will pay the junkyard a visit and try to find an AC radiator.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 4:14 am

Oh... it gets hot even when the blower's clutch is disengaged and you're cruising? That don't seem right... That would mean more heat soaks into the AWIC core from the engine bay than can be radiated out to air passing the radiator?!

You don't have your stock A/C condenser anymore?

I'm sure you could find some kind of reservoir for $25 or less at a junkyard. Some kind of coolant overflow bottle or something maybe.

Or do what I was thinking of trying for the drag strip -- Run the hoses into your front passenger-side footwell and have an Igloo full of ice water there.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:15 am

vrg3, your cooler makes me want to re do my fmic right out in front of the bumper mark 1 golf style.

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:38 am

I know of a resivoir that will cost under 25 bucks..............

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:55 am

Kelly, kelly, kelly........ Remember my demon children? They are very good with scissors, knifes and pliers.

I need something with a little more protection behind it than plastic!

-K- · Post by **-K-** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:13 am

You must have some issue with the pump or radiator. Mine never got hot no matter how hard I ran it. I had a real good pump and was using the A/C condensor for a radiator. It always felt cool when I put a hand on it even after a pass at the drags.

Check that there isn't a restrictor in the tranny cooler, I think some of them might have one.

free5ty1e · Post by **free5ty1e** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:35 pm

thats a freakin great picture... the look on his face is awesome.

Vikash, are you trying to make my lovebug-stained, no-grill-havin', bugeyed-headlight hacked FMIC install look good?! Cut it out

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 12:47 am

NEws update!

I installed a stock AC radiator for my year vehicle so it fit right in. Using an AC radiator has one major problem, small, and I do mean small, intake and output lines. But it still works.

And the result?

It seems to work really well. I have the two radiator fans hooked up to the AWIC pump switch, so if the pump is on, so are the fans. It seems to be keeping the water nice and cool.

I still didnt get a resevoir yet though.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 1:14 am

Cool. The condenser itself has added a good deal of volume to your setup, too. You kept the old radiator too, right?

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 1:52 am

Well, yes I kept it, but its out of the wagon. It was installed where the AC radiator is. Now that I think about it, I could install it inline to add more volume and cooling! Thanks for the brainstorm!

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 2:05 am

Yeah, definitely put both in series if you can find room. More volume and more heat rejection.

Natoe · Post by **Natoe** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:36 am

ewwwwwwww coke, get rid of it.

Kelly · Post by **Kelly** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 1:14 am

douglas vincent wrote:Kelly, kelly, kelly........ Remember my demon children? They are very good with scissors, knifes and pliers.

You ought to teach em the art of interrogation. Muwahahahahaaa!

napphappy · Post by **napphappy** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 10:08 pm

What works, works. but....

After seeing what the inside of the actual tubes that the refrigerant run through on a condensor look like, I would never use one for this purpose.

I will repeat if it works, thats great

have you seen how small the passages that the water would have to go through are?

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Not happy with my AWIC

Not happy with my AWIC