Kieran
09-03-2007, 04:07 PM
Today I've finally got around to troubleshooting my car's lukewarm performance and i've been concentrating on reducing heat soaking. So, armed with 100feet (not used it all, obviously!) of exhaust wrap and some aluminium heat reflective tape, I've lagged the hard pipes going from the intercooler outlet to the black throttle body pipe.
It's worked nicely. The inlet temps have clearly come down - there's a little more 'oomf', my boost has stabilised quite considerably and more tellingly, after a spirited run the turbo outlet pipes (pre-intercooler) are too hot to touch, whereas the post-intercooler pipework is only slightly warm - before it was almost as toasty as the pre-intercooler side!:speechles
The problem's been caused by heat transfer - namely from the top coolant hose and the ATF cooler pipework - they were tight against the intercooler piping. In time these shall be dealt with - I have a greddy stainless radiator top hose replacement, and I'll re-route the ATF cooler pipes too.
But for now, that's that theory tested and proven. So if you've got aftermarket stuff, you may want to consider doing the same.
Next, it's time to change the plugs (again!) and replace the rather tired looking vacuum hose with fresh!:afro:
Finally.... Finally.... It's starting to all slot together!:scholar:
It's worked nicely. The inlet temps have clearly come down - there's a little more 'oomf', my boost has stabilised quite considerably and more tellingly, after a spirited run the turbo outlet pipes (pre-intercooler) are too hot to touch, whereas the post-intercooler pipework is only slightly warm - before it was almost as toasty as the pre-intercooler side!:speechles
The problem's been caused by heat transfer - namely from the top coolant hose and the ATF cooler pipework - they were tight against the intercooler piping. In time these shall be dealt with - I have a greddy stainless radiator top hose replacement, and I'll re-route the ATF cooler pipes too.
But for now, that's that theory tested and proven. So if you've got aftermarket stuff, you may want to consider doing the same.
Next, it's time to change the plugs (again!) and replace the rather tired looking vacuum hose with fresh!:afro:
Finally.... Finally.... It's starting to all slot together!:scholar: