Intercooler Cleaning IC [Merged 11-7] clean smic fmic

[Atari007]

I have read a lot about cleaning your intercooler... I was just wondering if any of you guys have done it, and can you feel a differance? I took a look at mine this morning and it does look pretty nasty...........

 

[MyRidzPhucked]

Originally posted by jmc94gsx
FYI

Very small holes are very common, a good quick fix is to scrape off the corrosion, clean the surface, and apply JB weld to the outside and let it cure. The JB weld will fill in any little holes.

yea small holes are common but the whole upper tube fallin off is a different thing. I did use Jb weld, first time actually on filling in the holes, there were quite a bit.

 

[TechyGSX]

Do you pour the gas/alcohol/solvent through the fins or through the two inlets?

 

[95gster]

Through the inlet of course and make sure its dry before putting it back on when you're done.......

 

[Defiant]

Just use compressed air on the fins, from the back, and not too close. A bit of Simple Green or the like will also go well on the outside. The solvents are for the oil buildup on the inside. Be really careful if you're using gasoline, duh (I'm sure you had to be told )

 

[LifIsPeachy02]

i did mine the other day and sprayed a full can of break clean in there...Worked VERY well...alcohol didnt do shit.

 

[paranoidTSi]

for internal cleaning:
I used 90% rubbing alcohol, simple fact I had to drive the vehicle the next day and alcohol was the quickest in terms of drying..it took about 7 hours to dry.

Gasoline is simply the best for cleaning the internal components, it took about 3 days though for my supra intercooler to dry out.

for external cleaning

I recommend taking a soft tooth brush and rubbing it along all the fins to get rid of loose dirt and grime. Then use brake cleaner on the outside for a nice clean look.

 

[TechyGSX]

3 Days! I can't wait that long. How long do I have to wait before can I drive my car if I use break cleaner on the inside?

 

[doug]

I used gas and let mine dry for 3-4 hours in the sun. Brake cleaner should be even faster, especially here in SoFla.

 

[Defiant]

Hook it up to the exhaust from a shop vac, or just put it on and drive. The motor will dry it out -from anything you've used- in about fifty feet. And no, there's nothing you'll be putting in there that the engine's going to care about. It's been sniffing crankcase fumes all these years, after all.

Three days to dry it out? How odd.

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

Originally posted by Defiant
Hook it up to the exhaust from a shop vac, or just put it on and drive. The motor will dry it out -from anything you've used- in about fifty feet. And no, there's nothing you'll be putting in there that the engine's going to care about. It's been sniffing crankcase fumes all these years, after all.

Three days to dry it out? How odd.

What he said.... Nice touch about the exhaust of a shop vac.

 

[sexydingo]

The link from the tuning guide is broken (http://www.myzero.com/misc/cooler.html), anyone have a link to working guide?

 

[paranoidTSi]

I created this guide, which is pretty much the same thing

http://www.textsource.org/dsm/icclean.txt

 

[sexydingo]

that's excellent, thanks a lot!

 

[paranoidTSi]

you're welcome.

 

[Defiant]

Try this way:

http://web.archive.org/web/19981205230459/http://www.myzero.com/misc/cooler.html

Only thing I'd say is that you don't need to be concerned with having the interior dried out. Hook it up to the exhaust of a shop vac for a couple of minutes, and bolt it up. The car will take care of the rest. The 200°+ air coming from the turbo will be more than happy to have everything bone-dry within two miles of boosting. And the engine won't care if it's water, kerosene, gasoline or Simple Green. It'll eat it and puke it out just fine. Hydrolock will not be an issue, there won't be enough moisture in the IC to matter.

 

[98x]

does anyone have any pics of the process of taking the ic off and putting it back on. I did my uic pipes but never thought about looking how the intercooler is mounted. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

On the 1g's I believe there are only 4bolts holding the intercooler on, besides the uicp/licp. When I cleaned mine I went and got a gallon of gasoline, Capped one end of the ic then dumped some gas in the other side,capped that then shook it really good, then let all the gas out and repeat, you should notice the gasoline getting cleaner the more you do this. Oh ya, I just let it air dry alittle bit then put it back on. So its not like it took more then a day or anything.Also, here is a before and after pic of when I did mine.

Rob.

 

[Eclipse96Ryder]

i used brake cleaner on mine. Its a pretty simple process. I let mine dry for about 3-4 hours..im in hot AZ tho. Also, I put a blow dryer next to it and the air was blowing in one of my inlets and out the other...i put the blow dryer on the "cold air" setting tho, and I did this for about 30 minutes, because i didnt wanna burn up my friends moms blow dryer. haha.

 

[Jimmy Jr.]

The stock smic is a pain in the ass, there are a few bolts that hold it on and two of them are easy but the one on top is a bi***. Just remove the black plastic air duct to make it easier.

 

[98x]

yah break cleaner sounds like it's going to work the best for me. any problems with broken bolts or anything like that?

 

[doug]

The easiest way to get to the top bolt on the SMIC is to remove the two bolts/screws (don't remember which they are) on the passenger side end of the front bumper cover. That way, you can then bend the bumper cover down a little and slide a ratchet/wrench/whatever in the gap and get to that top bolt.

 

[RiceKiller_TSi]

I have nothing to add as Defiant has said it all.

 

[AiR]

i used gas pressure washed the outside and then blew it out with compressed air and put it back on in 20 minutes

 

[domino]

Anyone have a desire for one of these, just did mine today and took some pics along the way

 

[psychlow]

There's always a question or two every month or so, so it definitely wouldn't hurt.