1.6TD (CY) Intercooler upgrade....??? - IDI Engine - VWDiesel.net The IDI, TDI, and mTDI source.

• 1.6TD (CY) Intercooler upgrade....??? by Darth Garry on 07 May, 2007 06:28
• I'm the new kid on the block, but I've been around the VW scene for quite a while.  For an introduction to my project, click below:
  
  http://www.notinteresting.com/travel/2005tripzilla/050510truckdoza/blank.htm
  
  Anyways, that was about two years ago.  Since then I've had two years of awesome, trouble free operation.
  
  But, now I'm starting to get a little ancy again, and the engine bay needs a bit of a refresher.  Plus I'm going to Waterfest for the first time ever, and want to show up with something that turns heads.
  
  The first issue is that the turbocharger on my truck, I don't know where it came from.  I was in a jam for time, and picked it up from eBay for $150.  My suspicions are that it came from a gas car, as it does not spool until near the top of the RPM range and then tops out at about 10PSI.  When climbing a mountain EGT's range near 1000 degrees (if that helps).
  
  I have a pile of other diesel turbos, one of them will be sent to rebuild.  The question is, which one is better?  I have 3 T3's, and also a KKK (can't remember the model).  The KKK definately has a larger outlet and more fins on the rotor.  
  
  Secondly, I want to add an intercooler.  When I had the injection pump built and the injectors done, I had them set to "top of spec", meaning the upper range of the stock tuning.
  
  Should I upgrade anything else while I'm doing the intercooler, or will keeping the pump and injectors mostly stock give me an improvement in performance?  Another consideration is that I want to keep reliability and fuel efficiency decent.  This truck is built for long distance hauls through remote terrain, so those two aspects are important.  My main motivation for the intercooler is to make the egine less stressed out by tossing it a colder charge and hopefully keep EGT's down, but the extra HP are definately an added bonus.
  
  Anyways, I guess that was about 5 questions.  If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated.
  
  Cheers!
  
  Garry
• #1 by jtanguay on 07 May, 2007 07:27
• go with the T3.  i believe that is the general concensus... on my K24 i can reach 10 psi at around 3500rpm in 2nd, unless i floor it (but it smokes before it hits about 6-7 psi...)
  
  the intercooler is a great idea.  with that you can turn boost up to around 15 psi with a boost controller, and up the fuel a bit for some extra power.  I've found that running 20 psi boost really eats up oil from blowby...
  
  as long as you are monitoring EGT's, you should be fine. 1000F is pretty reasonable since some guy's here run 1600F on a daily basis.
  
  do you have oil temp and oil pressure gauges?  they are wonderful things for monitoring engine health...
  
  btw great project!  so simple... what sort of things did you do to prep the motor? new bearings? polish the crank? rings? looking good!
• #2 by Darth Garry on 07 May, 2007 08:16
• Thanks for the information, we did a whole heck of a lot to the engine, not to mention the rest of the truck, which before paint was nothing more than a rolling shell.  
  
  The engine donor was in rough shape.  We stripped the lower end down to the bare block, sent it off, had the cylinders honed, new intermediate shaft bearings made and hot tanked it to clean her up.  
  
  There wasn't too much polishing involved, as the crank was in great shape (with 270K on it no less!), but we did replace the pistons as it became apparent that at one point something exploded and dinged one up real good.  The previous owner changed the oil every 1000 miles !!!
  
  We tore down the head and did a complete valve job, luckily again, everything was in great shape and didn't need more than a gentle lapping.  All of the seats were in great shape.
  
  When building this motor we used all OEM replacement parts, and checked and rechecked everything to make sure it was within spec.  My father is a VW master technician so luckily he knows a thing or two.  We didn't do much during the engine build to increase performance besides have the IP delivery and injectors calibrated for top of spec, but still in the OEM window.  Perhapst the 2.25" exhaust helps a bit.  
  
  Every piece of tin and bracketry was powder coated, unfortunately some came out better than others and the poor ones are going to be redone.  But, overall the results were real good.  
  
  I'm totally stoked about this next round of mods, as it's been two years (marriage and house buying) since I did anything serious.  It's goign to be better than ever, especially after the IC and other stuff is done.  
  
  I have an oil pressure gauge, but no temp.  I'll have to put it on the "possible mods" list, as I currently am running these gauges:
  
  Engine hours
  EGT
  Boost
  Volts
  Water Temp
  Oil Pressure
  
  I guess with oil temperature, I'd be pretty well informed.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Garry