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You're probably already aware but just in case -> If you end up replacing things there's much improved, simpler, options for single input amplifiers these days from Texys and MSEL: https://www.milspecwiring.com/THAK-1250 ... p_722.html
Simple and compact!
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Have you had a look at your thermocouple to see if it's damaged or checked the reading with a hand-held thermocouple reader to confirm the reading you're getting from your ECU is actually a function of a bad sensor? Could also be suspect power/ground supply to that PLX box...
Pic of my install below. Welded a bung at the turbo inlet b/c closest to the turbine is the most important temp if only using one TC for EGT, but also I am using the cross over tube port location for exhaust pressure so that wasn't available. Anyway just an example.
It has been a long time coming but happy to report that the main part of the install is eventually done.
We reduced the depth of the front cross brace by cutting somehow and pulling frontwards the rear/lower sheet of metal that also acts as an air guide for originally cooling the radiator. I ran out of time to make proper ducting and some details but that will come at a later stage. I am very pleased that this intercooler is a millimeter perfect fit, as per the drawing I supplied to the fabricator. I do not think I could have come up with a larger frontal area which uses every bit of area available. Many thanks to @nick_968 who was very helpful in the quest for a suitable core and shared his notes. Also very pleased with the superb IC pipes that @Tom made for me. Thank you, Sir!
The SFR stage 2 intercooler that came off was alarmingly filled with oil, and I could not understand why the oil level kept going down on the dipstick, or at least I did not want to think that perhaps the engine was already toast, when in fact I realised that the turbo had so much headroom now with the 16V head that it was needing a lot more air to suck in, finding it somehow in the crankcase through breather hoses, as the catch can was full of nearly pure engine oil. With the crankcase now breathing to atmosphere and a safe 300 mile drive home the engine has not used a single drop of oil, but I installed a new air filter so restrictive that it wouldn't allow the engine to run more than 10 psi, so the next step is to source a proper air filter and close the ducting to the upper area.
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Also we fixed an issue I was having since installing the Big Black front brakes. On the first braking pedal travel was excessively high, which was caused by the piston seals pulling the pistons back in too much. We removed the anti squeal shims and pushed the pistons out so that the pads would sit tight between the pistons and the rotors before even braking... et voilà, am now getting no lag, instantly brutal braking power, which is not really a luxury considering how low the car flies now.
All looks good Thom. I'm sure it will be a step up from what you had and definitely over stock. Looks as if you will have plenty of room to get creative with the ducting. Are you going to try to measure pre and post core?
Years ago I dropped my old slate grey car off to a local intercooler shop and they wound up cutting a small recess into the rear of the bumper itself. Probably not ideal.
Thanks Patrick.
With an FMIC installed right behind the bumper air will not be properly guided into the core and "use the path of least restriction", which would be flowing around the end tanks if there is room to allow for it.
By flanking the core in front of the radiator air will have no choice but flow through the core. At this stage I believe that making some straight-ish ducting to force air into the lower area of the core would create some high pressure areas on the resulting two outer paths as air would have no room to "escape". First I will completely "close" the upper area and make an extension to the stock air guide for the upper area of the core and see how it goes.
Fitting an FMIC in front of the rad is a no-brainer to me. All those quick-ish and dirty set ups using a core sandwiched between the bumper and the chassis cross brace will at best act as temporary heatsinks rather than actively cooling charge air down. With the SFR Stage 2 inlet temp would rise by 25 to 30°C above ambient at the end of a full load acceleration through the gears. This is not "terrible" but far from ideal.
Thom wrote: Sat May 20, 2023 11:44 pm
By flanking the core in front of the radiator air will have no choice but flow through the core. At this stage I believe that making some straight-ish ducting to force air into the lower area of the core would create some high pressure areas on the resulting two outer paths as air would have no room to "escape".
Here is a different way to think about air flow - you cannot 'force' air to go where you would like it to go. If you try and force air flow it will simply decide not to enter the initial opening and flow around the nose. semi-technically its about the impedance of air flow. If you think of air flow more like trying to 'invite' the air to go where you want it you will be more successful.
People tend to think of 'ram air' works - where the cross section of the duct decreases the closer it gets to the radiator/intercooler. That doesn't work well! just the opposite - a smaller initial opening that increases more towards the radiator / intercooler will have more air flow. The stock plastic intercooler duct is a good example.
be polite and invite the air in!
That's a useful video Tom. Definitely worth a look. fwiw...those guys are from New Zealand, not Australia. To us the difference in accents is stark, but to many others from other countries, we sound the same.
Thom, indeed. My setup back then wasn't thought out. It was early days when 'bigger is better' prevailed. No measuring of temps or pressures were done. While the manufacturer Plazmaman enjoys a good reputation out here, I think the placement wasn't laboured over.
Guiding/forcing/inviting air means all the same to me from a fluid mechanics point of view, withstanding the need to reduce air speed between the "ducting" inlet and outlet. I mentioned this in post #6 already, as the inlet/outlet ratio of the stock IC duct is 30% if I remember right my early measurements which date back from ~2 years. That goes in line with what is described in the video that Tom posted where a ratio of 20 to 30% is mentioned.
Keeping the chassis brace is not just for erring on the safe side of rigidity between both side members but also to keep its function of guiding and slowing down the air entering the lower section through the lower fins of the bumper, to cool down the radiator (and the A/C condenser when it is still there), however I am now dealing with an intercooler core which seems far more air-permeable than either the radiator or the stock intercooler, so perhaps air does not need to be slowed down as radically as with a 30% ratio, though this figure should be erring on the safe side and I will try to stick to it, as even if the IC is now more or less hanging out in the air coolant temp has already shown lower figures than with the previous set up.
333pg333 wrote: Sun May 21, 2023 10:06 pmfwiw...those guys are from New Zealand, not Australia. To us the difference in accents is stark, but to many others from other countries, we sound the same.
Andre Simon at HP Academy has quite an accent too, at least for someone who learned English at school I found hard to understand him initially
