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Engine Specific Info and Questions => IDI Engine => Topic started by: vanbcguy on May 22, 2011, 11:37:40 pm
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After sitting forever with my thumb up my a :-X :-X I finally decided to get around to sorting out an intercooler for Jezzie. I've been giving her some pretty decently hard work to do - I've been driving Vancouver - Kelowna via Highway 3 fairly regularly, with some pretty decent excursions through the side roads, lots of sustained climbing for a few minutes at a time.
I did my hitch last year too, and I've made plenty of use of that now!! Both Portland and Seattle with a 600 lb open trailer, then the return trip with trailer plus a bunch of bikes, something like:
(http://vancouverwheelmen.com/Members/bhughes/photos/2011/2011-03-27/IMG_0378.JPG/image_preview)
...which is some pretty decent work for her through the Cascades!
Around town there's been some harder work:
(http://vancruisers.ca/Members/bhughes/stuff/jezebel/jezebel-enclosed-trailer.jpg/image_large)
The box trailer once fully loaded is really the limit - I got myself stuck on a hill once, traded in about a year's worth of clutch life to get her moving but pretty much had no choice!! Fair bunch of cars behind me, no backing up so do or die!! I hate doing that kind of thing to her but every once in a while it just happens!!
Anyhow, I figured she deserved an intercooler. I've been running her at about 15 PSI for quite some time now with no problems.
I have no EGT, I am terrible, Etc. etc. etc.
I'm taking her nice and easy, pretty much the sustained hard work I've figured she could use a little extra cooldown. I haven't yet seen anyone who's managed to do a FMIC on a Mk III without cutting away part of the bumper support, and that was one of my major criterium. The Mk III only has a 3-star headon crash rating, if you've watched much Top Gear they've got a great spot where they show the difference between a 5-star car, a 4-star car and a 3-star car. Let's just say the bare minimum you want is 3-star. Anything less than that and you probably have messed up knees, broken pelvis, all kinds of badness. Whatever VW decided they wanted to put up front is staying!!
Jezzie has no AC being a Canadian car, so there's a great 1" space in front of the rad just ITCHING for something to fill it up. I've ordered an aluminum rad pretty much exactly the same size, so I'm pretty confident it's going to fit. Here's hoping!! Seems there's lots of room if I need to drop the engine radiator back a tad, gobs of room under the hood.
I haven't sorted out 100% yet what I'm doing for a reservoir - once I have the rest of the bits I'll start worrying about that, but I think I've got it pretty sorted overall. Promise to post pics as I get her done!!
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damn...no EGT. I would have LOVED to known how hot you were getting when floored goin up those hills!
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I'm moving the rad back a bit and my fmic will just fit in the gap made. That is also without modding my airbox which I know I will have to do to make it work. I'm moving the battery to the passenger side of the trunk, so I should be able to figure something out.
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damn...no EGT. I would have LOVED to known how hot you were getting when floored goin up those hills!
Yeah, I don't blow smoke and I keep the revs high. My fueling is still pretty much stock - I still have the collar on my max fuel screw and it isn't bottomed out. No modified LDA or anything like that. K24 at 15 PSI is still a happy turbo, and I have 2.5" exhaust from the downpipe back. Stock Mk III downpipe isn't as bad as the earlier ones by any means but still could use some improvement.
I feel I'm still within the "factory" parameters for performance. EGT will come one day but the hassle of pulling the turbo / intake / exhaust manifold is what is keeping me from it.
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My order is showing "OUT FOR DELIVERY" - pics will come soon!! :D :D :D
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It's heeeeeeere.....
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/249212_10150269208051427_730036426_9367886_3317658_n.jpg)
Pretty much the complete package (there's some assorted fittings plus the water hoses too, not pictured)
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/254061_10150269207601427_730036426_9367884_5457178_n.jpg)
Now the fun part comes!! Here's hoping I sized everything right. It has of course, started raining right this minute so no poking at the car just yet.
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Test Fit:
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/252876_10150269259196427_730036426_9368577_782050_n.jpg)
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/246678_10150269259686427_730036426_9368588_5738251_n.jpg)
Naturally some of the tubes will need to be cut a bit, but I'm pretty pleased with the fit, honestly I don't think i could have asked for much better. I can still get at everything except the cap on the brake master cylinder without much work. Still can see the timing plug on the transmission no problem, etc. Pretty perfect!!
I'm satisfied with the quality of everything. Here's a closeup of the workmanship, it isn't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen but it will certainly do the job:
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/250090_10150269260366427_730036426_9368610_3467943_n.jpg)
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/249434_10150269260536427_730036426_9368616_3734111_n.jpg)
Fitting the heat exchanger will have to wait a little bit as I need the car tomorrow so I don't want to pull the rad just yet. I also still need to get some of the other bits and pieces (relays/switches, something to make a mounting bracket, some sort of reservoir).
The reservoir location will be a "fun" one as everything I've read has said it should be at the highest point in the system to ensure all the air gets out. That might be a bit tough, will be looking for ideas there! I'm thinking of something small between the shock tower and the washer fluid tank, all I need is something big enough to be used as a 'burp' tank and a fill location really. I don't intend to run this pressurized.
Pump I think I'll mount below the battery tray. That will have it well out of the way of any road debris or whatever and should have it low enough in the system to make it prime easily.
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That looks pretty good. Where did you get the kit from?
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Kit is from frozenboost.com.
I read a LOT off stuff about them online before buying and couldn't really find anything negative other than some comments about their silicon hoses being only 'so' good. The IC core is definitely meant for AWIC use (it has significantly different sized water passages than air).
Most of the negative AWIC stuff I saw out there was the same copy-and-paste about how they are more complicated blah blah blah. I did definitely see quite a bit of negative about the cylindrical 'barrel' style coolers though - they appear to have a much different internal construction to the one I got and I can see how they would be much much less efficient.
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I found a small paint mixing can at Princess Auto that I'm going to use for my reservoir. It's only about 1L but I'm really just looking for something to use as a fill point / expansion tank / burp tank. I'd rather most of the water volume was in the heat exchanger!!
Figuring out fittings for it was kind of challenging. The tank itself is made out of HDPE (same hard plastic as the stock expansion tank) so it's fairly easy to put a hole in. What I settled on for fittings is some NPT - barbed elbow fittings with NPT "reducers" to mechanically hold them against the tank. I'm epoxying everything to the tank too, but that's more for leak sealing than actually physically supporting weight or whatever. I still think though that this is going to be my trouble spot if any. But I'm in it about $15 including the epoxy so I can always try again if necessary!!
Bought myself some relays for the pump / fan as well (PA had some Bosch-style ones complete with harness for $4.99 ea!!), got my wire and switches and things now. I'm HOPING to get this installed on Saturday as I'm going up to Kelowna again the following weekend - I want to have it in, then have a week of driving to ensure there's no "surprises".
I have all the water flow and stuff planned out now too. The Bosch pump I'm using is designed for automotive cooling system applications (it's basically the same as the auxiliary pump on the VR6's) so I'm not concerned about feeding it warm water. Flow will go Reservoir -> Pump -> Rad -> IC -> Reservoir. Since the reservoir is under the hood I don't want to feed the IC from it, rather I want the water coming directly from the heat exchanger to the IC as that is when it will be the coldest. I think this will be the easiest for purging air and things too. Hopefully I'm right!!
I also am figuring I'm going to flow water through the IC in the opposite direction of airflow, that way the air exiting the IC will be hitting the coldest water coming in, which should yield the best overall temperature drop. Funny how many little details there are to think of...
No distinct plans for mounting the IC yet. I might try bolting a piece of steel to the battery tray and then bolting that to the IC, not really quite sure how that will all go. Ideally I'd like to mount it to the engine or transmission so as to minimize movement and reduce the chances of a bucking engine pulling off couplings and things but I'm not really sure where I can bolt to around there. We'll see...
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A bigger reservoir would still mean better heat absorption capacity.. More water being cooled down by the rad -> more heat taken out of the boost charge..
Good that you have a big radiator too, that's much bigger than most racing cars I have seen :)
Nice work BTW!
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Yeah it's more of an underhood space issue than anything. I'm not really wanting to relocate my battery - if I did that then there'd be lots of options for reservoirs that'd be quite a bit bigger. Totally agree more water = more heat absorption capacity.
The price was right on the radiator - it's probably big enough for a truck but that should mean it will be super hard to heat soak on Jezzie. The 1" thick factored in to my decision big time. Goal is to cut/drill as little as possible in the car and this seems like it will fit - I think I'll be finding out this weekend:
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/250719_10150271714161427_730036426_9390363_7211655_n.jpg)
Oh and I got the fittings epoxied on to my "reservoir" yesterday. Everything SEEMS pretty rigid and happy, but I did discover (after I started) that basically nothing will actually bond to HDPE. Makes sense, that's probably why they use it for so many different tank applications. In my case though I'm relying on the fitting's mechanical threads for structure and then the epoxy is just filling space rather than having to "stick" something to something else. We will see. I've been looking for catch cans or whatever that are small enough and have 1/2" NPT fittings but there hasn't been a lot to choose from.
Thanks!!
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Yeah it's more of an underhood space issue than anything. I'm not really wanting to relocate my battery - if I did that then there'd be lots of options for reservoirs that'd be quite a bit bigger. Totally agree more water = more heat absorption capacity.
The price was right on the radiator - it's probably big enough for a truck but that should mean it will be super hard to heat soak on Jezzie. The 1" thick factored in to my decision big time. Goal is to cut/drill as little as possible in the car and this seems like it will fit - I think I'll be finding out this weekend:
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/250719_10150271714161427_730036426_9390363_7211655_n.jpg)
Oh and I got the fittings epoxied on to my "reservoir" yesterday. Everything SEEMS pretty rigid and happy, but I did discover (after I started) that basically nothing will actually bond to HDPE. Makes sense, that's probably why they use it for so many different tank applications. In my case though I'm relying on the fitting's mechanical threads for structure and then the epoxy is just filling space rather than having to "stick" something to something else. We will see. I've been looking for catch cans or whatever that are small enough and have 1/2" NPT fittings but there hasn't been a lot to choose from.
Thanks!!
How much was that kit in total?
I've been seriously tempted to order/find an intercooler kit for my td as well. however for simplicity purposes i might just opt for a front mount air/air and possibly do a water/meth injection :)
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Agree 100%. I really am just saying I'm lazy. I've just never had any time that I've tried messing with exhaust related bolts without it turning in to a nightmare. If I could figure out a way to do it without pulling everything I'd order everything up tomorrow, heck I'd even pay someone to install the probe and take it from there!! Post-turbine would be ooohhh soooo easy but I understand the risks/problems there. Anyhow it will get done, I understand the risks, I do not recommend anyone else do what I am doing. For the time being I do not anticipate making any fueling changes post-IC install but chances are my fiddly nature will get the best of me eventually.
While I could have used a 'same side' inlet/outlet cooler I wasn't really happy with how they would fit in my engine bay. I could probably shorten the piping by a foot or two with that kind of setup, but compared to the FMIC guys my piping is at least a few feet shorter. From what I read too the straight-through style cooler is supposed to be more effective too as the air spends a lot more time in the core.
For data points I do have an IR thermometer, so I'll be able to take intake temps before / after / pump on / pump off / fan on / fan off and things. Gauges in general are something I need to work on next, my boost gauge is just loose in the compartment behind my cupholders right now. Ditching the radio and mounting gauges there would be a nice solution but I do like my music a bit too much for that!! Seems like the A2's have a lot more options for gauge locations than the A3's do. I might go the dash pillar route, but I've only found dual gauge pods so far and that's not going to be enough. I need EGT / Boost / Oil Pressure at a minimum, and would like to have IAT too.
Thanks for the comments!
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If you are too worried about intake volume you could use smaller diameter tubing. That is what I did on my FMIC...2" piping.
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Yep, mine is all 2" as well. Everything I read said bigger does not always equal better with that!
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Going to be a fun little project, I have the same thing in my car and i'm always looking for ways to tweak it. I still have yet to install a resevoir and am thinking of getting a buddy to weld me an aluminum one that will fit up in the rain tray. Get a few litres out of it or so. We'll have to get together sometime once I move down to vancouver this month.
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Just to be clear, I wasn't saying that you are lazy, I was saying that *I am* and that's why I would install an EGT gauge. :) That's also the reason I do oil changes, etc, etc...
I actually have intake air temp gauges before and after my air-to-air intercooler (actually used extra senders and a switch for my oil and water temp gauges ;))and can say firsthand that they only come up over 100° F if I am into the boost for an extended period of time, e.g. climbing a hill. I can't imagine being able to effectively use an IR thermometer while driving.
Yep, no offense taken either way. It'll come, it just isn't there yet.
Plan with the IR thermometer was more to measure the difference on the intake pipes after a hard hill climb. We've got a few particularly good hills in this city which can be worth about 40 seconds of continuous near-full throttle or full throttle climbing. It'll just be an interesting data point...
Princess Auto often have cheap temp gauges, but when I was there the other day there wasn't much. I did have one on my shopping list but nothing "did it for me"... What I was thinking about though is measuring the water side of my system... The rad I got has a temp sender bung in the lower tank.
I would have thought that the normal automotive-type temp senders would be too slow to react to effectively show air temperature? Kind of like how everyone goes for the Aircraft Spruce EGT probe because it reads waaay faster than the VDO ones or whatever. How quickly do you see the post-turbo temperature climb once you are on boost?
This page has a handy calculator:
http://www.not2fast.com/turbo/glossary/turbo_calc.shtml (http://www.not2fast.com/turbo/glossary/turbo_calc.shtml)
At 15 PSI with a turbo that's 75% efficient you'd be seeing about a 90°C temperature increase coming out of the turbo, but that would be true as soon as you hit 15 PSI, just as a function of compressing the air.
Just wondering because I'd think the fluid-type senders wouldn't get enough heat transfer from just air to really react until you'd been on boost for a couple of minutes...
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Going to be a fun little project, I have the same thing in my car and i'm always looking for ways to tweak it. I still have yet to install a resevoir and am thinking of getting a buddy to weld me an aluminum one that will fit up in the rain tray. Get a few litres out of it or so. We'll have to get together sometime once I move down to vancouver this month.
Yeah, I was reading your build actually, it's part of what got me to actually go out there and DO it already!! So you're running with a closed system right now? Definitely would be in to see what you have in person.
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It's installed!!!
The rad was a squeeze - engine rad is still mounted to the factory lower mounts but the top had to be moved back about an inch or so. Thankfully there was plenty of room in the engine bay. NO way the fan that shipped with the kit was fitting in there... I also had to trim off the tabs on the drain cock for the rad as it conflicted with the lower bumper.
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/254168_10150273456316427_730036426_9408739_3583395_n.jpg)
Ended up making some brackets and attaching the IC to the transmission and to the cylinder head - I could probably use one more brace but it seems like it's going to be good enough. Piping got about 14-16" shorter by the time I fit everything in. I am not sure if I will just leave that hump hose on the back as is or if I'll try and find an angled coupler, we will see.
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/246685_10150273094226427_730036426_9404366_6467421_n.jpg)
The pump is mounted to the front frame rail and tucked in there quite nicely. There's no real way I could get a picture of it but it's in there. I have a switch on the dash so I can shut it off if I need to, like say if I develop a water leak or something.
Engine is NOTICEABLY quieter which is something I hadn't really thought about but I'm quite pleased!! I had a lot of intake noise before, this really quietens things up.
The car definitely feels different. #1 is a weird vibration I had around 2K RPM is totally gone. Why? No idea. I'm happy though. She definitely has more get up and go too, though I haven't touched fueling at all. I won't be making any fueling changes any time soon, the goal was just to cool the engine down.
I haven't measured it yet but there is a significant difference in the temperature of the intake pipes pre and post IC after a hard romp or two. :)
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Did some good drives yesterday and put about 200km on everything. No leaks!
Yesterday ambient air temperature was about 25°C, my IC rad was reading about 34°C and the water exiting the IC was about the same (this was stopped of course), after some city driving. Like I said I don't have a fan on the IC rad so that would have been getting a bit heat soaked for sure. The back end of the IC registered about 36°C, and I was picking up about 58°C from the pre-IC pipes. This was NOT after any sustained boost or anything, just driving in some stop and go traffic.
Later on I did a highway run - I didn't take any temperature readings but the outlet side of the IC actually felt COLD which is awesome. One thing I'm noticing though is it seems my post-IC piping is picking up a LOT of heat from the turbo below. After not moving for just a few minutes that pipe goes from cool to quite warm. I think I need to fit it with an insulating jacket. Still it is nowhere near the temperature of the pre-IC piping.
The other thing I want to find a solution for is with my reservoir - since it is so small there is quite a lot of turbulence in there, which stirs air in to the water. The air then gets sucked in to the system which I really don't want. I think I might be able to figure out some fittings to change the direction a bit and hopefully keep the outlet below the level of the water.
I MIGHT be better off flipping the IC around as it does collect a little air in the back end right now as it is slightly higher than the front. It's close enough to level that you can just shove it down in the back a bit and the air all comes out, but once the hood is closed it needs to be on that angle. I wanted to run it this way as it puts the coldest water in contact with the coldest air, which I was thinking would yield the best overall temperature reduction but if the thing is getting air pockets that probably eliminates any advantage. I think I'll try sorting out the reservoir first and then flip the IC if that doesn't work.
Surprisingly I'm noticing additional power when in first gear. That wasn't what I was expecting!! I'm still at the same boost/fueling levels so I wasn't anticipating much of a performance difference at all.
Want a really good incentive to get an EGT gauge? Install one of these and then not let yourself tweak anything... :)
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you want the cool water to work hardest. make it enter at the hottest point in the cooler..
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With appropriately designed systems, counter flow (coldest against coldest, hottest against hottest) is most effective. The physics reason is because the temperature differential is what drives heat flow. While it is true that if you have the coldest water exchanging with the hottest air, then exchange at that part of the cooler is greatest, it is not the big picture. After the exchange of heat at the start of the cooler, the water and air will be very similar in temp and from that point on the remaining surface area of the cooler will become less and less effective at removing heat as the two temperatures become close to normalizing. If, on the other hand, you use counter flow, then the water will always be cooler than the air and will result in flow of heat from the air into the water throughout the length of the cooler. With effective counter flow, you can reduce the temp well below the median and in some cases the temp can get close to the water inlet temp. The more effective heat removal of counter flow can be seen in many applications, the most fun IMO being counter flow wort chillers.
Yeah, it is set up counter flow currently. It seemed to make the most sense to me in my head.
I added a 90° elbow to the inside of the reservoir which has stopped the water rolling up against the opposite side and mixing in air. It seems to have been quite effective, I'm not getting air trapped in the IC anymore. I went out and blasted another 80km or so this afternoon - it's fairly hot today (for Vancouver), nearly 25°C. I REALLY notice a difference at highway speeds - Jezebel is a ROCKET! Again, fueling / boost levels unchanged so this is purely from the additional cold air.
I also noticed at highway speed I'm running a bit cooler too in terms of engine temps. :)
Right now I want to get as many km on it as possible before Thursday as I'm driving up to Kelowna again. If anything is going to go wrong I'd like to find it NOW rather than later.
Oh yeah, someone asked earlier about the price... For all the aluminum pipe, pump, clamps, water lines, intercooler and heat exchanger the bill was about $675. There was another $50 or so in bits and pieces (mostly stuff for the reservoir, and then some steel to make a bracket for the IC). The install did not require cutting or modifying anything on the car - I can completely remove it and have the car back to stock in a few hours. (well I did drill a hole in the dash for the pump on/off switch, but other than that!)
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My IC radiator has been consistently about 10°C above ambient in all the measurements I've taken thus far. If I take temperature samples from my intake pipes right after stopping the car, the pipe exiting the IC is consistently within about 2-5°C of the reading I get off the rad itself. The only way I can take samples though is to pull over and pop the hood so I am not able to really get any peak readings since generally I can't accelerate at WOT through the gears and then immediately take a reading given all I have is an IR thermometer to measure the rad and a meat thermometer in the reservoir. I haven't ever seen my water temperatures above about 38°C, and that was with ambient air temperatures of about 28°C and the rad itself measuring about the same.
Pre-IC piping has generally been coming back around 60°C but it's pretty much impossible for me to get a temperature reading while it is at it's peak temperature. The best I've managed is after about 3 minutes of driving post-WOT so I know the peaks are quite a bit higher. Based on my turbo's efficiency I am expecting that my peak pre-IC temperatures are +90°C at 15 PSI, probably a bit over 100°C at typical summer ambient temperatures.
The best temperature differential I've been able to measure with the equipment I have therefore is about 28°C exiting the IC (with about 15°C ambient air temperature) and 60°C entering the IC, a reduction of 32°C. I believe the actual operational temperature drop on a hard pull is likely significantly more, but I have no way of quantifying it at this time other than to say that I don't seem to be retaining much heat in the water system beyond what it is exposed to with the rad mounted so close to the factory engine radiator. My reservoir, which is on the exit side of the IC, generally has been reading the same as the rad indicating the system is shedding heat pretty well.
More gauges needed!! :D
I have about 400-500 km on the system now. The only problem I've had of any note was my LDA line blowing off due to the crappy vinyl tubing I used to extend it getting too hot and soft.
I had read a number of other AWIC users having the threaded NPT fittings leak on them, the best solution I'd seen was to use pipe joint compound (the pasty stuff) rather than teflon tape, so that's what I did on my build. No leaks!! I had one at install time that was just a clamp that wasn't tightened enough, but that's it. No drop in water levels.
Tomorrow I'll be driving up to Kelowna, will see how my install does on a 4-5 hr continuous trip, although I did put about 4 hours straight on it yesterday.
Very happy!
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There a hole in that thing big enough to shove some ice cubes from the cooler into??? :D
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There a hole in that thing big enough to shove some ice cubes from the cooler into??? :D
Yeah, but not more than a handful. Some dry ice would be fun to try but I don't think it'd last very long. The goal with the build though was really towing and mountain highway driving, as in several hours of sustained driving. If I wanted to get fancy I could put a way larger reservoir in but I don't think I'd gain much for what I want to do with the car.
I think the next thing to do would be to cut some sheet metal around my air filter to prevent it from pulling in engine bay air.
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Just got back from Kelowna!
I drove the Crow's Nest out there via Penticton, then came back via Penticton / Osoyoos. Total drive was about 900-1000 km with lots of WOT hill climbs, tight turns and all kinds of fun.
No leaks, no blown off boost pipes, no loss of water. Very happy about all of that... :)
I gotta say Jezebel is a different car with the AWIC. I really used to notice a lack of power in the upper ranges on a lot of the climbs. I can't say I had even one time on this trip where I felt like I was maxed out which is definitely a first. The reduction in intake noise was a joy too, it's amazing how much quieter the car is. I would definitely call this install a complete success!
AWIC coolant temps were generally just below 26°C every time I came off the highway. Outside ambient temperatures ranged from 18°C to 25°C so it appears everything is working well. I'm obviously not getting any noticeable heat soak on the water side of the system when I'm actually driving on the highway rather than in the city.
I have absolutely no choice but to get an EGT gauge now. There is no way I'm going to be able to keep myself from messing with my boost/fueling for very long. I THINK the Auburn gauges might just fit right in the dash below the heat controls on my Mk III - will do some investigation on that soon.
Oh yeah, and I also need a better boost controller. My bleeder type controller has been doing great for the last 3 years but 15 PSI is basically the limit of what it can do. Again see "need EGT gauge"...
The only NEGATIVE I've got... the reduced intake noise has let me hear some noise which I think is either my front wheel bearings or the diff side of the transmission. Will probably start with the wheel bearings and go from there.
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Kind of off topic but what did you use to wire the car for a trailer? I was gonna do the same thing to tow my motorbike behind my car
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any trailer wiring converter will work.. but you need the wiring converter box for imports.. american made vehicles use 1 bulb with 2 filaments for brake, constant, and turn..
imports usually use 2 bulbs (one for brake and constant, and one for the turn signals..
so you get that little converter box, splice it into your light wiring, and you are good to go..
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Don't you just hate improvements that start cascading into other unknown or not noticed before problems. I found the installation of some foam in the roof prior to a headliner kit install to do the same thing. Now that I have switched my IP pressure around, re-timed the engine and can barely hear it running I too am noticing my running gear or transmission up front growling like a small bear. Oh well best to start figuring it out now before something wears away. Or the bearings fail like the rears.
Don't need that problem again.
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any trailer wiring converter will work.. but you need the wiring converter box for imports.. american made vehicles use 1 bulb with 2 filaments for brake, constant, and turn..
imports usually use 2 bulbs (one for brake and constant, and one for the turn signals..
so you get that little converter box, splice it into your light wiring, and you are good to go..
Exactly... I have a converter that is connected to my rear brake / turn lights and provides a standard 4-pin flat connector. You definitely need the adapter, but they're only about $25 or so. My trailer hitch installation included it for less $$ than it would have cost to buy the parts so I just let them take care of it.
The connector is just loose in my trunk, I pop it out and close the trunk on the wires when I have something to tow. Jezebel definitely takes the trailer no problem - I would imagine a motorcycle trailer would be no issue whatsoever.
Don't you just hate improvements that start cascading into other unknown or not noticed before problems. I found the installation of some foam in the roof prior to a headliner kit install to do the same thing. Now that I have switched my IP pressure around, re-timed the engine and can barely hear it running I too am noticing my running gear or transmission up front growling like a small bear. Oh well best to start figuring it out now before something wears away. Or the bearings fail like the rears.
Don't need that problem again.
Yeah, at the same time though I had such a fantastic time driving up in to the interior this weekend that I'm all gung ho to improve whatever on the car. I'm sure the wheel bearings need to be done either way, but if it gets to the transmission I'll have to do some hard thinking about what I want to do. As soon as the transmission is getting pulled I need to think about the engine, and an mTDI would be about the only thing I could imagine putting back in that space after pulling my MF out. Of course that's worth about $5K so I'm hoping the transmission will last another 24 months or so.
Speaking of bears, we saw 6 black bears driving through Manning Park on this trip. In my entire lifetime before this I think I'd seen 6 so that pretty much doubled it. Oh and a ton of deer, but they kinda come with the territory up here.
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One thing I've wondered about from the beginning with this build is the longevity of the intercooler pump. The motor in the Bosch pump I've used is rated for 5000 hours, which would come to about 200,000 km averaging 40 km/h. I think that's reasonable enough.
I was however thinking about getting one of the Auber gauges, using their intake air temperature probe and then having it kick the pump in whenever IAT's increased much beyond a preset value (like say 35°C or something). Turns out that's what Mercedes did with almost the same pump on some of their intercooled vehicles! Only thing is it seems that pump gets eaten big time in that application, so I did some more digging.
While I haven't found a definitive statement yet, it appears many similar pumps that have a 5000 hour rating on their motor also have a 10,000 start rating, IE the pump can be started 10,000 times. In the Mercedes application a lot of folks were having their pumps die by 50,000 km - much less than my predicted "continuous running" figure. Once you think about it a bit more and realize how often the pump would be cycling in any given drive it makes a ton of sense! Every time a Merc owner puts their foot down that would count as a pump start. How many times might someone accelerate while driving? Apparently about once every 5 km given their longevity figures, which again makes perfect sense.
So I think I'll be leaving my pump set up to run continuously... If it ever DOES die, there is a brushless version available that is rated for 20,000 hours instead of 5,000 although it flows about 10-15% less. Something to think about.
I'm still planning on going for the Auber EGT gauge, I really like the idea of a gauge that I can reconfigure to measure just about anything. I think I can fit two of them below my heater controls and still keep the rear window defog switch there, or possibly three or even four if I relocate the defog. Not sure what I want to do yet or exactly what I want to measure. I do have an existing mechanical boost gauge, but it isn't mounted anywhere, it's just loose behind the cupholders right now. I also have an oil pressure gauge that isn't installed permanently (the wiring is in place but I never found a good gauge mounting solution - I use it to check on my oil pressure once in a while).
Thinking something like:
- EGT (duh)
- Oil pressure
- Boost (maybe, I'm ok with my current boost gauge though, and it's only so relevant once you have EGT)
- Intake Air Temp - really only something I'm curious about though and not really necessary to know
There's other stuff I could measure... water temp in my AWIC for instance. Post-turbo temperature... Oil temp would probably be a good one though a bit more difficult to measure... A real engine temp gauge rather than just the factory one? Lots of possibilities. I'll be away for a week and we just started a postal strike so I'm not going to order anything now but once I get back....
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any trailer wiring converter will work.. but you need the wiring converter box for imports.. american made vehicles use 1 bulb with 2 filaments for brake, constant, and turn..
imports usually use 2 bulbs (one for brake and constant, and one for the turn signals..
so you get that little converter box, splice it into your light wiring, and you are good to go..
Exactly... I have a converter that is connected to my rear brake / turn lights and provides a standard 4-pin flat connector. You definitely need the adapter, but they're only about $25 or so. My trailer hitch installation included it for less $$ than it would have cost to buy the parts so I just let them take care of it.
The connector is just loose in my trunk, I pop it out and close the trunk on the wires when I have something to tow. Jezebel definitely takes the trailer no problem - I would imagine a motorcycle trailer would be no issue whatsoever.
Don't you just hate improvements that start cascading into other unknown or not noticed before problems. I found the installation of some foam in the roof prior to a headliner kit install to do the same thing. Now that I have switched my IP pressure around, re-timed the engine and can barely hear it running I too am noticing my running gear or transmission up front growling like a small bear. Oh well best to start figuring it out now before something wears away. Or the bearings fail like the rears.
Don't need that problem again.
Yeah, at the same time though I had such a fantastic time driving up in to the interior this weekend that I'm all gung ho to improve whatever on the car. I'm sure the wheel bearings need to be done either way, but if it gets to the transmission I'll have to do some hard thinking about what I want to do. As soon as the transmission is getting pulled I need to think about the engine, and an mTDI would be about the only thing I could imagine putting back in that space after pulling my MF out. Of course that's worth about $5K so I'm hoping the transmission will last another 24 months or so.
Speaking of bears, we saw 6 black bears driving through Manning Park on this trip. In my entire lifetime before this I think I'd seen 6 so that pretty much doubled it. Oh and a ton of deer, but they kinda come with the territory up here.
i tow my duck boat, motor cycle, and basically anything small enough to hook to my car, and it pulls just fine, even for being a gasser..
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K, EGT gauge is ordered now... I decided to go with the Auber one as it appears it will fit PERFECTLY in my Mk III dash, plus they also had a nice digital controller to replace the temperature controller in my kegerator... Sweeeeeet....
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JDM/EDM spec subaru legacy's with AWIC setup have their pump hooked up to the TPS. I forget the settings but it would run at 50% with the throttle anywhere under 80% then when the gas pedal was pressed beyond 80% the pump kicked into 100% power (or something like that). Food for thought but having it thermostatically controlled crossed my mind for my setup as well. Let us know what you come up with.
Thomas