engine coolant intercooler system

The inter cooler is above engine and radiator and I have a Moroso 55gpm engine pump so will this effect the engine flow and cooling and will I have air pockets and how to get rid of them.I was thinking of a in line radiator petcock at the intercooler outlet wherer it starts to go to the radiator inlet hot side.I will use a single in/out 3/4" hose.

The pic is a few yrs ago I am not that far along on my build.I have the hot side lines just above on the entry of the radiator and the cool side just below the engine hose.I have a wp136 mezier wpump to put in line but that is another power drain.I would run low boost under 8#.The IAT at cruise is about 140 and 180 at boost load.
IThis is the time for me to test with the engine coolant driving on the street and with Covid-19 closing tracks for the year.

What are you using for water tank,how do you cool it? Is that 180 IAT intercooled?

I am talking about testing using engine water as the supply of coolant with the engine radiator cooling the water as well as the engine.The 180 is before intercooler temps.

How many degrees will the super chiller lower the IAT? Top end @ WOT.

You need to have a separate pump and heat exchanger for the intercooler.

If I'm understanding correctly you want to tie it in with the engine cooling system? All I can see that doing is increasing IAT's

Look at the factory cars with intercoolers and I believe they use the radiator also.Correction there are some that have a dedicated cooling for the blower.

No factory vehicle uses engine coolant for the intercooler. (if they did you would have an interheater)

I understand your point but in my experience it can work having used a 3gal tank for the intercooler with no exchanger.The overdrive on the blower matters a lot.Yes the intercooler would heat the air when not under load but that actually helps cool the engine

Yes you can run a tank with no heat exchanger if it's primarily a drag car. For the street you generally want a heat exchanger to remove the heat that was put into the system by the intercooler.

Still would not want to share this with engine coolant unless it was purely a drag car and the tank was filled with ice before every run.

I'm curious why you wouldn't want to run a heat exchanger? Could put it almost anywhere and cost is low.

Could you please explain how that works?

Why not just go with a Meth/H2O injection kit? There was a nice kit on a FB Mopar group yesterday for $600 complete. I'm not sure how long that "cooler" can cool with sustained driving...definitely wouldn't run it thru the rad.

Just a guess, because under normal driving conditions it would pick up heat from the intake/heads and any other under the hood source?

I have had a Yamaha R1 radiator for 10yrs and have not put it in the system.it is not that easy IMO.I have melted a 20lb bag of ice in a 10 sec run leaving the tank water at 110*

I miss spoke on the cooling .When the engine is not under load the intercooler would cool engine coolant from a lower intack charge temp under no load and again depending on the overdrive of the blower

Perhaps... I'm not up too much on blowers, II ran a Paxton for years on a mild 440. Even when not under load the case generates heat... I would think the same would apply to a big blower like that. Again just a guess,

In order to find a solution, you need to know what the temp of your intercooler at part and full throttle. Once you have that temp, what is your ideal temp? Now you have a goal and a direction. From your present location with the build, you are just throwing darts and hoping to hit the board let alone the bullseye.Several solutions at hand. What one fits your needs.

Just a guess, because under normal driving conditions it would pick up heat from the intake/heads and any other under the hood source? [/quote]I miss spoke on the cooling .When the engine is not under load the intercooler would cool engine coolant from a lower intack charge temp under no load and again depending on the overdrive of the blower [/quote]

Perhaps... I'm not up too much on blowers, II ran a Paxton for years on a mild 440. Even when not under load the case generates heat... I would think the same would apply to a big blower like that. Again just a guess, [/quote]I am saying the IAT would be less than engine coolant temps and cool the engine coolant all be it only a 20* difference probably maybe 40* if the blower was underdriven.

I know those temp from on the dyno but at 10%OD 14# od boost so 180* off idle and 270 under load so a lower OD or under drive would lower IAT at cruise.Sorry 180* after the intercooler.

Thinking about filling the coolant with the intercooler above the engine radiator I would need a remote cap in line by the outlet of the intercooler or a removable fill with a drain petcock.

I can't make any sense of what you're asking or what you're trying to do at this point.

We got off topic some.
The inter cooler is above engine and radiator and I have a Moroso 55gpm engine pump so will this effect the engine flow and cooling and will I have air pockets and how to get rid of them.I was thinking of a in line radiator petcock at the intercooler outlet wherer it starts to go to the radiator inlet hot side.I will use a single in/out 3/4" hose.

So you still plan to run the engine coolant through the intercooler?

If so I have no opinion of what you do from there.

That is ok and thank you for your opinions!

Get yourself a vacuum cooling system filling tool. You will not regret it.

This question might be above my paygrade , but having recently put a turbo on my 383, I have a small bit of experience with boost increasing air temps. I have a water/meth setup, but I am also planning an air/water intercooler.

Just so we are 100% clear... my understanding is that you are wanting to run HOT engine coolant (180+ degrees presumably) through your intercooler? That might be some very "outside of the box" thinking on your part, but why would you want to heat up the air going into your engine? Most non-race air to water intercoolers have a separate radiator that would keep the liquid's temperature down near ambient temps.... this cool liquid is pumped into the intercooler and (if sized correctly) will cool down the air charge. Sure, on a long pull, the intercooler liquid temps can increase significantly, but starting from ambient temps, they will be a long way away from the engine coolant temps. The idea that you might help cool off the engine's coolant with the air flow over the intercooler into the engine is definitely a new one to me! This is literally the last place you want hot air going in your engine.

Good luck with your project!

None of us should stop you from trying it, but it is the complete wrong direction for making power. It will absolutely act as an intake heater, and you will have to run less timing than if you had it on a separate circuit.

Every air to water intercooled OEM automobile I can think of uses a separate radiator for the intercooler circuit. If it worked to plumb the intercooler to the primary radiator, the OEM's would do it, because it would be much cheaper than the expense and packaging of a separate radiator and water pump for the intercooler.

Cat 3306 engines run an engine coolant aftercooler as described. This accomplished two things. Because the 3306 was mechanically injected, the charge air temp swings were more consistent allowing a better running engine throughout the range. It also cooled the turbocharged air temps. (At times reaching close to 300°) It was a good solution for running the engine at 100% load for hours on end without heat soaking any other form of charge air cooling.
That being said.... My opinion is this is a less than perfect solution for a problem that doesn’t really exist on a street/ strip car. I believe the boost level quoted was 8 psi. I cant believe charge air temps would exceed engine coolant temps at that boost level. Even if the charge temps were 200°, an average coolant temp would be 180°. The best you would achieve in that scenario would be a 190° post-cooler charge air temp. Hardly worth the effort.
An independent cooling system would be a much better choice. Or loose the cooler, along with the weight and added complexity, and run the thing on e85 or some such fuel. Less weight, more timing, cooler charge temps, more power.

I guess I need a better suited heat exchanger so it is not so hard to place and plum.I think a basic exchanger would be about 3 to 400$
I could just run the old 3gal water cell I used before with no exchanger for now

Thank you that is some great information.I am not looking to create a problem so for now the engine coolant is not worth it ti use it.

You wouldn't unless you want-

Insane intake air temps to decrease charge density

Lower power

Highly increased sensitivity to detonation


Unless of course you have a diesel with 350 deg turbo outlet temps, in which case a divorced system would still work better.

What you say is true and in time I hope to get a suited heat exchanger.I was looking on Summit racing and a 26"x7"x2" was about 200$ and not a bad price but I still have to find a place to put it and under the bumper is 1 of the few places it would work well.

Do you have room for something like this?

I ran air/water intercooler on my 70 malibu and mounted an 03 cobra heat exchanger underneath the car.

I have an area much like that to put it

As long as it's tilted to get some airflow it works well.

Along with that I used a vintage 60's cooler in the trunk with a marine bilge pump mounted inside for a reservoir. Overall inexpensive.

I have my 3gall tall cell with a mezier wp136 still to use and it flowed a little better than the Demco bilge pump I tried.I also have a Rule 2000 pump and a 10 gall cell I was fitting it to but the priority fell back on the list for a few yrs.I will use the 3 gall cell for now.

I ordered a heat exchanger for under 170$ shipped heat exchanger26x7x2"

The bigger the lines and pump, the closer to ambient you will get.
I did a friends car with a tru-flo pump and 5/8 lines. worked pretty well, but not as expected. went to 3/4 lines and it cooled another 15degrees. Put 1'' hose on it with an actual cooling system elecrtic pump, and dropped 35degrees beyond that. no change in tank size or heat exchanger size. you must move the water in and out as fast as possible for best results.

On point ^

Good info thanks.I will get it running with what I have used in the past 3/4 and -12 Mezier wp136.I flow tested it and was about 1 gallon in 10 sec = to 1 run.I have done all the BTU math in the past.I will post pics when I get the exchanger in next week.

That super chiller is more for blown boats that pick up cold water and circulate it through the chiller and dumps it. W/M can be used but I read in several places it will cool the intake charge 40 to 60*.
My combo is a 545 ci 2nd gen hemi with a 1071 BDS stage 3. With 6 lbs of boost @ WOT the IAT is 160 to 200* depending on ambient temp and boost level. The last time I was at a track {Atco} the iat was 165* @ 6lbs and the car went 9.6 at 140 mph.Upped the boost to 8 lbs and the car went 140 MPH with an IAT of 185.Another 2 lbs,,,,10 lbs it went 140 MPH with an IAT of 210.
This proves that my combo hits the ceiling at 165*. I am using nitrous to intercool.It will drop the IAT over 100* as it comes out of the bottle at -129*. So a 50 shot under each carb should lower my IAT so that more boost will produce more power. I have been 9.3 @ 147 and expect when I get out again it should go into the 8's.
For street cruising it is not needed.60 MPH is 3k RPM.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6wDmNa4g9I

I picked my poison years ago and I will be happy just driving it around again for now.

Happy to see the blower back on!

My heat exchanger has a sq inch area of 175 sq in and my intercooler has 32 sq in area so I am hoping this ratio will let the exchanger keep up.I can clean up some hose routing by making the intercooler a rear entry front exit down to the exchanger.

Now the hard part putting the supercharger on by myself

Nah, probably weighs less than a cast iron intake manifold

Did you ever flow test any heat exchanger systems?

No I have not but I agree with Trendz.

Fit the biggest you can in the available space. If you didn't you're sacrificing efficiency.

The more you can flow the better.