Please prove me wrong if possible.

[EagleTalonTim]

Me and a friend have been discussing the inter cooler "allowable leak rate". He has stated that a IC can leak up to 15% air and still be efficient. I have explained about boost leaks and MAF compensation blah blah blah....but he stands by his word. Can an IC leak at all even if it is a extremely small pinhole and still be efficient?

Added : He also stated that all IC's will leak under pressure because of the expansion of the aluminum.

 

[BigBeans]

An intercooler should not leak AT ALL.

Efficiency is determine by pressure drop and air temp.

Can a pinhole leak stilll have great efficiency, absolutely.

Nothing with a 15% leak is going to be efficient IMO. I'm sure you'd see a huge pressure drop with a 15% leak. You're making the turbo work 15% harder to supply the same charge to the engine, so the turbo system as a whole would be highly inefficient.

 

[95TalonOwner]

Your friend is completely wrong. A leak is a leak. If there is a leak anywhere, it should not be there.

 

[LiquidX]

To add onto Matts comment. By making the turbo work harder, you are heating up the air more which means the IC has to be able to cool that much more heated air making it less efficient.

The IC should not leak at all and most are pressure tested to at least 50psi leak free. No permeation should occur through the material.

 

[SpawnedX]

I think your friends is a poor broke slob who needs an excuse not to fix his crap.

 

[97gst_spyder]

No, any leaks are bad...