cleaning of inter cooler

[dminto69]

hi what is the best thing to use to clean the inter cooler it is the standard one not a high performance one . read one of the mags and they reccommended costic soda but remember reading somewhere awhile ago that they use petrol as need to take mine off to clean it as just cant afford 400.00 for high performance one any suggestions would be a help all the best and thanks

[Wolfie]

I've always used parafin, safer than petrol and seems to work.

I was advised to use fin by my friendly parts department after having seen the price of the proper intercooler cleaner and agreeing with trhem that the best place for it was on the shelf.

Just remember, whatever you use, to make sure that the intercooler is rinsed and completely dry before refitting.

Regards

Wolfie

[dminto69]

how much paraffin do i need and where can i get it from

[Wolfie]

From memory I used a 5 Litre container. Should be easily available at DIY shops, I got mine from the local petrol station.

Wolfie

[rollazuki]

For gods sake dont use caustic soda. Itll dissolve an ally intercooler while you watch.

Brake cleaner/easyclean/paraffin/petrol. Ie any safeish solvent.

[Tyke]

Washing up bowl, gallon of parafin . . . . . . swill the lot out and soak for several hours. Remove intercooler and hang up to drip and dry.

Job sorted, and bets on the motor runs a darned sight better for it  

[the loon]

Think I'll be doing mine in next few weeks or so as well.
FRom what I've been told by friends parafin is the way to go as he did his on a 200TDi and ran much much better.
I saw the crud that came out and it was suprising just how much muck builds up

[Tyke]

Check out the Intercooler hoses as well, they delaminate inside which can upset the airflow. In fact, you might as well clean and check the whole system if you've gone as far as removing the intercooler.

If hoses are knackered fit new silicon ones as they work out cheaper than a full set of LR standard ones . . . . as I found to my disgust later on  :oops:

[spy]

Is the benefit just performance?  I have read about less smoke and things?  Is it worth cleaning out hoses and if so which ones?

Thanks,

Mike

[Porny]

I've used paraffin in the past without any problems.... have also found brake cleaner works well.... and it evaporates..

You should also clean all your hoses, and check that the intake manifold isn't full of crud (esp. if a 300Tdi with an EGR!!!)

Best to way to check it is completely dry is to refit it, but leave the top hose off... i.e. the one that goes from the intercooler to the inlet manifold.  
Start the engine and hold it at a fast idle for 10 seconds or so... (is worth holding a rad over the outlet on the intercooler)... this will blast any remaining cleaner or crud out.  

The refit the hose and off you go....

If your trying to maximise performance, also worthwhile checking your turbo boost pressure... so you need to fit a boost guage (temp. or perm.) and ensure that the boost pressure is 1 bar on a 300Tdi or 0.8 bar on a 200Tdi (although I would run a 200Tdi at 1bar too).

Then if you want a bit more, just do the basic pump mod too... but leave all the other pump settings alone.  The basic mod is to set the diaphragm on the top of the injector pump to the max setting.
This is been covered before, in various places, but if you want any info just shout.



Ian

[dminto69]

hi how do u fit a turbo boost guage  to a 300 :(thinkhard):   :(bigshock):

[Porny]

The Land Rover recommended method is to fit a 'T' piece in the pipe that goes from the turbo compressor housing to the turbo actuator.
Then it just a case of running the pipe to where you want to fit a gauge, or just into the cabin if a temporary measure.
There are other ways though....

I've attached some pictures of the fittings when I had a gauge on my 200Tdi Defender.... same principles, just a different turbo set up.... and easier to get too!!

I've also attached a pic of a boost gauge and pod set-up, which is the easiest way of fitting a boost gauge to a Disco... available from quite a few places, but I can supply these if you get stuck.


Ian

[NiceBlueWellies]

Digsit cleaned the intercooler on Clarety last week with Parafin.  Bought from Focus - gardening department.

Blimey what a lot of muck came out.  :shock:

[Cal]

Hi guys,

Don't know if you've seen this site before:

http://www.landroverdiscovery.net/

but it's got some info about cleaning the intercooler in the technical section. Darren's (site owner) a very nice bloke and is always helpful if you have any questions about stuff on his site.

Hope that helps

[the loon]

Right done the intercooler today and have also changed the hose off the turbo into the bottom end of the intercooler(only had the cash for standard rubber hose)
Took about 6 hours in total to get everything stripped,cleaned,dry.put back in place.

Been out on a test run as well and its made a resonable differance.
Used parafin to clean out the intercooler itself and the alloy pipe that runs into the bottom off the turbo.  
There wasnt as much crud in there as I was expecting but you can still feel the differance.
I think I'll start looking into some silicone hoses though as the other hoses seem to be a bit soft as well.

That www.landroverdiscovery.net sight is really good and had quite a bit of usefull info on so thats now saved in favorites.
Thanks cal for that link

[Cal]

No probs at all - it's a really helpful site

[the loon]

does anyone have a link so I can have a look for silicone hoses?

[Porny]

www.allisport.com  

If you give him a mention might be worth mentioning Mud-Club....



Ian