cleaning intercooler

[bobdanewbie]

Guys I have a question for all of you with way more experience than me when it comes to these cars. I am planning on cleaning my intercooler on Sunday and want to know the best way to do that and also will I gain any performance by cleaning this thing out? I can tell you that the previous owner drove the car as a daily driver for the last year and put about 8k on the car and did no real maintenance of any kind so I'm assuming that the intercooler really needs it. Thanks for any help in advance Bob

 

[Murt TTA]

Pull the intercooler off the car, get a few cans of oxygen safe carb cleaner, spray them into your intercooler, tip the intercooler upside down and see what comes out. Do this a few times until no more crap comes out. I usually power wash it also, let air dry for a few hours, then put it back on. Pretty simple.

you might not find anything in your intercooler if your turbo isn't bad.

 

[bobdanewbie]

thank you for your technique but do you think I will pick up any performance from cleaning it? I have also heard about guys using gas to clean the intercooler, is that really a good idea?

 

[jastrckl]

gas leaves some sorta greasy residue behind. I use paint thinner, around a half gallon of that shiznit dumped in there and slosh it all around. when you clean the outside, I wouldn't use TOO strong a setting on the hose/power washer/whatever, you don't want to bend the fins. use some kind of brush to scrub the dirt and crud off of the outside. yes, you will gain some performance from increasing the thermal efficiency of your intercooler if it is dirty and you clean it off.

 

[ACME RACING]

I use a good dishwashing detergent ,Dawn, Ajax, and Simple Green or the orange cleaner stuff somtimes..... Just pour some in, (about 3 ounces), fill halfway with water , slosh, pour out , then fill with water again ,slosh until all internal tubes are rinsed good . I just turn the intercooler sideways and let the water go through it with a hose until the cooler runs clear water......