View Full Version : Found my boost leak
V8weight
May 10th, 2009, 01:30
I decided to jack my car up and check out all of my intercooler hoses and clamps today after doing some data logging and finding my actual boost to be lower than my requested. I started with the passenger side, removed all three hoses, cleaned them up with lacquer thinner and reinstalled them. When I got to the drivers side I noticed quite a bit of oil around the seam where the intercooler core meets the lower tank. Here goes my afternoon. So I pulled the drivers side intercooler and cleaned it up and pressure tested it, and sure enough there was a pinhole in the seam. I'm pretty sure my warranty co. will cover a new cooler, but I'm just tired of driving loaner cars. Plus, every time I get my car back I find missing bolts that were left off during the repair. So I decided to try and seal the seam with some JB Weld. I know it's corny, but if it doesn't hold up, I'll either bring the car in and have it replaced, or see if the warranty co. will allow me to install a new one and flip for the part. Does anybody know what a new intercooler costs?
Note the auxiliary water coolers, they do exist, and they are riveted to the back of the intercoolers. I was able to drop the coolers enough to drill the rivets out without having to drain and refill the coolant system.
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww228/Pellis833/001-1.jpg
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww228/Pellis833/002-2.jpg
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww228/Pellis833/004-2.jpg
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww228/Pellis833/005.jpg
mmaturo
May 10th, 2009, 03:34
You sir have huge balls to dismantle the car as i am not nearly as mechanically inclined. I just had a seal replaced on one end or the other of the line to the turbos after my oil line was tweaked and needed to be replaced when they were putting my new transmission in. Just got car back today. I know what you mean about missing bolts/screws etc. Right now for the first time ever my car has all the fasteners it is supposed to around the wheel well liner and bumper cover. Actually looks tight for a change. As i posted last week they scratched my fender putting the bumper cover back on so i had them also repaint my bumper at the same time. Great move as i got it done at wholesale pricing and knew as a body shop they would put it back together right. Way better job than the tech had done a week earlier.
Seems no reason not to do what you did as it will be covered later anyway if it fails again.
My car feels good but i smell a ton of oil burning off (they had what they called in the paperwork a 'level three' leak in the oil line to the turbos and i guess it must have got oil all over the engine. They cleaned it according to the paperwork but must be a bunch left.
One thing i did notice with the hood up running the engine is that i really hear the clicking of the valves in the first one or two pistons on the passenger side of the engine and not so much anywhere else around the engine...is that something i should be worried or ask about?
How many Rivets hold the water coolers to the intercooler?
Also, could you do a detailed write up on getting access and removing the intercoolers? I fear I may have the same issue!
Also, how did you pressure test the intercooler?:rs6kiss:
V8weight
May 10th, 2009, 05:06
How many Rivets hold the water coolers to the intercooler?
Also, could you do a detailed write up on getting access and removing the intercoolers? I fear I may have the same issue!
Also, how did you pressure test the intercooler?:rs6kiss:
The auxiliary coolers are held on by 8 3/16" rivets, but you only need to drill 4 to remove the cooler. If you look at the picture of the dirty intercooler you can see that I left the lower bracket attached. I'll can do a write up on the R&I process tomorrow, as of right now I've had a few too many celebratory beers to get too technical. Didn't you get the alldata procedure I emailed you? It's actually a pretty straight forward job. My pressure testing method was kind of barbaric, but effective. I took some tapered bearing race drivers that fit the holes correctly and wrapped them in a latex glove to seal them to the intercooler opening, then pushed an air blower through the hole in the center. I sprayed the coolers with glass cleaner and looked for bubbles.
grizz
May 10th, 2009, 09:05
This is a real big problem in the uk .... I've fitted 20+ intercooler sets in the past 12 months .....
Just look in the intercooler duct , if there is any oil on the core it's time for a new one..
I carry 3 pairs in stock..
hahnmgh63
May 10th, 2009, 14:08
I've had other Audi's as well as Porsche's and never had problems with the all aluminum coolers such as these. That's sad that ours are crap. In the past I've had problem with the Audi plastic side tanked intercoolers (just like the plastic side tanked radiators). All aluminum with a leak like this is just a quality control problem with Audi's supplier.....sad.
Bigglezworth
May 10th, 2009, 15:46
Guys. The intercoolers can be easily repaired if they have slight leaks. Just contact a qualified aluminum welder.
T.
The auxiliary coolers are held on by 8 3/16" rivets, but you only need to drill 4 to remove the cooler. If you look at the picture of the dirty intercooler you can see that I left the lower bracket attached. I'll can do a write up on the R&I process tomorrow, as of right now I've had a few too many celebratory beers to get too technical. Didn't you get the alldata procedure I emailed you? It's actually a pretty straight forward job. My pressure testing method was kind of barbaric, but effective. I took some tapered bearing race drivers that fit the holes correctly and wrapped them in a latex glove to seal them to the intercooler opening, then pushed an air blower through the hole in the center. I sprayed the coolers with glass cleaner and looked for bubbles.
I did get the email, but it is hard to read.
What made you realize you had a boost leak? Were you having intermittent power drops, or all the time?
GEN XER
May 10th, 2009, 17:22
HMMM. could that be my issue? Could that be why I could not beat a Challenger R/T?
DHall1
May 10th, 2009, 18:09
Another great post!
Perfect evidence of the side aux radiators in our Warm Weather opt cars.
So, just thinking about this...what are the pros and cons of having these aux rads mounted behind the intercoolers?
Pros-added engine coolant capacity and core surface for more rad area.
Cons-is there any restriction to the flow thru the intercoolers? Is there any heat soak added to the intercoolers from the position of the aux rads?
Grizz-how much are these ICs?
V8-where exactly is the leak coming from? A seam? weld? or a casting edge? Just trying to determine if we can proactively do something about this.
DHall1
May 10th, 2009, 18:13
As I have told Pu and everyone over and over again.
Until you get a Vag data log while the car is acting up....we are on pissing on the burning house.
V8 clearly documented what he did and how he went about doing it.
1. Data log with Vag.
2. Determine that actual boost was less than called for boost.
3. Look for boost leak.
4. Found problem.
Done
HMMM. could that be my issue? Could that be why I could not beat a Challenger R/T?
V8weight
May 11th, 2009, 01:27
Another great post!
Perfect evidence of the side aux radiators in our Warm Weather opt cars.
So, just thinking about this...what are the pros and cons of having these aux rads mounted behind the intercoolers?
Pros-added engine coolant capacity and core surface for more rad area.
Cons-is there any restriction to the flow thru the intercoolers? Is there any heat soak added to the intercoolers from the position of the aux rads?
Grizz-how much are these ICs?
V8-where exactly is the leak coming from? A seam? weld? or a casting edge? Just trying to determine if we can proactively do something about this.
I was wondering the same thing about whether the auxiliary coolers hindered the performance of the intercoolers, but when I see the way that the shrouds work, and how well they were engineered, I would say that the intercoolers are still very efficient at flowing air. The difference in my opinion would be very minimal. I should have labeled my images, but if you look at the third picture down you can see the little black spec which is a pinhole where the intercooler core is soldered to the lower tank. My diagnosis is there was an inpurity, or dirty spot that caused the solder joint to fail over time.
DHall1
May 11th, 2009, 03:04
I did see that spot.
I think the cores are hot melted onto the backing plates. Similar to a circuit board dip. There must be a thin spot to that joint to cause similar failures over time.
I would also agree to the design of the aux rads. Very smart idea to add just that level of security to the platform in hot weather. Very interesting.
Hmmm
I was wondering the same thing about whether the auxiliary coolers hindered the performance of the intercoolers, but when I see the way that the shrouds work, and how well they were engineered, I would say that the intercoolers are still very efficient at flowing air. The difference in my opinion would be very minimal. I should have labeled my images, but if you look at the third picture down you can see the little black spec which is a pinhole where the intercooler core is soldered to the lower tank. My diagnosis is there was an inpurity, or dirty spot that caused the solder joint to fail over time.