What leaks from the intercoolers?

[lswing]

I thought they were air only? Isn't it just oil leaking out of the turbo? Please correct me, but I'm looking at replacing my stocks with Wagners, but all I see in the pics is a big pipe of air going up. Ah, is it fluid sealed within the IC itself?

Emailed Wagner and I can get just the IC's for $1250 alone, $170 shipping. I don't think the carbon ducts help that much, just trim the originals. Plus I don't need the mounting brackets for radiators or front screen. Back to my post though, I assume there is a fluid sealed in the IC to help cooling, what would that be?

[speedtrapped]

No sir....only air....if u see residue, that is oil blowback(normal) and underpressure if the IC's leak, the residue shows up, usually in the lower corners. I have the wagners...love them. But i would email carsten again, and get the for delet grills, more airflow...u wont get more power, but if u do run a bigger turbo, the wagners are more then adequate

[lswing]

Thanks! So every time someone says leaking inter-coolers, which I've heard plenty on here, they are not leaking! It's just oil from the turbos, and I'm guessing if you're getting a good amount building up in your IC's then you're loosing too much oil from the turbos. Check the turbo bearings at that point I would think...

So how much will the Wagner's help me over the stock IC's when I'm running stock turbos and a stage 1 tune? I might upgrade in the future, but a small bump now would be nice, don't know if its worth the $1,500 right now...

[speedtrapped]

no, not oil from the turbo(u will always have oil vapor from crankcase)...the stocks are adequate for stage 1, its just that they usually leak overtime. there are a ton of threads on subject. I would bet if you pulled them off, and capped them, used a schrader valve on one cap attached to one and and pumped air with tire pump, or compressors, they will woosh, woosh with every pump(mine did).

[lswing]

Got it, thanks again. Now to beat this topic just a bit more, if it's just air leaking from the IC's with the pump test, how does that hurt the air intake coming in from the intercooler? Does it reduce the amount of effect that the fins in the IC have?

[skribe]

It could be blinker fluid leaking down from your headlamps and making its way into your intercoolers. :)

Wagner IC's will not help your car generate any more power unless you have a very very large leak in your stock IC cores. They will help with heatsoak, as they stay cooler longer than the stock ICs... but unless you're doing repeated, back-to-back launches from a stop, heatsoak isn't as much of a problem as some make it out to be... it shows up in the artificial environment of repeated dyno pulls, not as much in the real world when your car is moving through the air at the kinds of velocities it generates. Wagners are a nice upgrade, if my stock IC's hadn't already been replaced, I would go with Wagners or Apikols.

If you're looking for performance, water/meth injection will give you more bang for your buck than Wagners. And of course, a tune if you don't already have one.


Got it, thanks again. Now to beat this topic just a bit more, if it's just air leaking from the IC's with the pump test, how does that hurt the air intake coming in from the intercooler? Does it reduce the amount of effect that the fins in the IC have?

The cooler will still do its job. The danger of leaking ICs is that your car will compensate for the lost positive pressure and spin your turbos a little harder, reducing their life.

[speedtrapped]

^^^ x2....some members pull the IC and JB weld them. There write ups, DIY's. The best way to see if your leaking, remove IC grill, and take a look. blackish, residue is a sure sign. If its really bad, u would hear it, or you can just log 115 block, 3rd gear starting from 2k rpm rolling WOT...take a look at boost specfied vs actual. I have the wagners, and just like it was mentioned, no noticable diff in power...as I went to bigger turbos(DBR's) the wagners, apikols or ER's make sense. Dont spend the dough if you dont have it. Just repair the stock, its easy. Now if the car is a DD, I or yokust have an extra set....they are used and mine need to be sealed(jb weld), but at least car wont be off road for 2 days. I would sell mine cheap ;)

[JSRS6]

I also have a set, lol. Spares, if you will. I can seal them up and pressure test.

[Spidercat]

Just curious--
Has any of you had a leak under pressure test, yet no other signs (visual inspection, normal block 115 requested vs actual, nothing audible under boost, etc.)?
Mine appear fine by every measure (original OEM), but never pressure tested them.

[JSRS6]

Others have posted in the past that after getting new ic's, before install they pressure tested and found leaks. So a majority leak new, is the general consensus. Most leaks occur on the bottom, or "hot" side of IC, but not always. When I sealed mine, I found a couple leaks on the cold side seam.

[lswing]

I also have a set, lol. Spares, if you will. I can seal them up and pressure test.

Sounds good, but what cost and time are you looking at? I was going to take the car in to my mech in a week or so to have the aux radiators pulled. Would you want to seal them up this weekend and ship Monday or so? I'm at little hesitant, but the cost of new ones is a lot, saving money for winter tires now. I'm sure you've read this thread, if your fine with the process we should decide upon a price...thanks!

http://www.rs6.com/showthread.php/21018-Intercooler-refurbishment-and-replacement-pictures

[lswing]

Okay, so I finally give a look at the IC's and from the front they are spotless, no oil.

Has anybody here pulled the aux radiators while leaving the IC's in? My mechanic thinks he can, but they look to be bracketed in pretty good, to me at least.

So if they IC's have to get pulled, do I replace them, just in case? Another option is to just disconnect the aux radiators, but I would really like them out for air flow...

I did get new piping assuming we need to move any of the old stuff.

Thanks!

[Jimmy Joe]

Question: What do we gain by disconnecting the auxiliary radiators on the back of the intercoolers? In Mexico City it rarely gets over 90F but there is a lot of heavy, stop and go traffic.

[hahnmgh63]

My passenger side Intercooler showed a leak from looking through the bumper vent but my drivers side looked clean. When I pulled them for the Wagner install I found a leak on the back side of my drivers side too, much smaller than the more common passenger side leak but a leak anyways. With small leaks other than a visual inspection (can't see the backside due to the ducts and Aux radiators) you may never know. The Turbos will spin faster to meet the requested boost, possibly just a slight bit more of lag and reaching boost higher in the Rev range but with a small leak you will probably still reach max boost.
Jimmy Joe, I think with the thinner air and stop and go traffic of Mexico city I would keep the Aux radiators. Are you sure you have them though? I remember your car being a Euro RS6 so it was an option and not standard like the N.A. cars.

[Jimmy Joe]

Yes Hahn, I have them. we pulled of the intercoolers and the small aux. rads. are on the back of the coolers, about as wide, squared, and they're fixed to the coolers by pop rivets. it seems that this car has the hot weather option, cause we discovered some additonal plumbing that I didn't pay much attention to while we were taking it apart. Following your advise I won't disconnect them. Thank you very much, Hahn, I appreciate it.