Holes in stock intercooler...Boost Test

[greyspyder117]

So i just want to make things clear so i don't break anything ok... I did a boost leak test today with my aem tru boost gauge. I was putting 20psi into the turbo. The only sound i heard was coming in between the headlight bumper gap our cars have and put my hand there and bam. I took off the bumper cover to only find 2 small holes that looks like they are meant to be there... Are They???? Now i am new but i did search and I DID find topics that got very close to what i was getting at but to me i just want to make it clear that i would put money on that it came from the factory like that but am new and need to learn so anybody who has seen these holes please let me know.. Ohh if i hold my fingers over the holes that's the only thing letting the air out of the system other then the blow off valve in my car does that sound right to you guys???

 

[95redturboawd]

Not sure which holes you're talking about but the blow off valve should not be leaking. If you have a stock 2g bov, replace it. They tend to leak quite easily.

 

[greyspyder117]

im sorry two small holes on the stock intercooler

 

[Artago]

Those are rivet holes which used to hold a plate of some kind. I found the same holes when I still had my SMIC. I just used some JB weld to seal them up. I suggest you do the same and get a 1G BOV

Tom

 

[DougR]

Yea they are rivet holes. Just use some sand paper to rough up the material around the hole and apply JB weld.

 

[greyspyder117]

So i posted the other day saying i found two holes in the intercooler where one of those plates are the rivets feel out. So i took the intercooler off yesterday and found it was crushed on the side a little bit too. So my question is if the side is crushed would that be cause boost leak. How much power do you think i losing. Now i know a pic would be helpful but i can't post them until tonight. But if i could explain it the stock intercooler on a 97 spyder the first 2 sections is crushed. Is it worth changing just for the winter cause i have a huge front mount that is going on in the spring time

 

[awd2gsx82]

could be leaking depends if where it was crushed the aluminum was torn or not. if there is a boost leak due to the intercooler you will be losing power and mpg also. you can pick up a stock side mount from eBay for cheap i would just replace it!

 

[greyspyder117]

thanks for input... i got a stock one last night for $13.00 great buy for someone like me. I didn't know that it would mess up my mpg i mean i guess it makes sense but never really thought about it you know?

 

[habitatguy187]

It will hurt gas mileage because it will throw your A/F ratio off. You'll be losing air that the ECU is counting and adding the correct amount of fuel to compensate. Therefore when you have a boost leak your car runs rich because of the counted air that isn't entering the cylinders.

 

[Defiant]

-under boost. Worse, the rest of the time, when the throttle/load isn't high enough to be in boost, you'll be running lean. This is the sure path to high combustion chamber temperatures and burned valves, grasshopper.

Simply being crushed or dented won't have much effect if the IC doesn't have leaks. It would take a helluva crush to cut into flow rates.

 

[Artago]

Mine was crushed too. I tested it for leaks and it passed. So I did nothing about it. I've gotten a FMIC since then.

Tom