Wanting to fit a bigger intercooler, and an EBC.

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 20 Jul 2009, 13:24

One of the weak points on my car is the intercooler set up. It sandwiched between the rad and air con rad, so suffers alot from heat soak. Because the air con rad sits in of it, this means its airflow will be restricted aswell.

So i had a good look today, but cannot see an easy solution to relocating and fitting a more efficient core.

If the air con rad was removed, no problem, but i do not want to do away with this luxury which is essential on those heatwave days.

I know not many people have bothered modifying the Activa CT lump, prefering to slate it saying its too slow out the box, but i know it is a good engine with a huge potential for power if the right ingredients were added.

Has anyone fitted a bigger intercooler to an Activa? And if so, was it an A/C model (early ones were not) so it would be alot easier on these.

I also had a look at the best place to route through the wiring loom for my electronic boost controller, but i couldnt see any logical path from the engine bay. People who have removed engines or dashes will know better than myself, but are there are blanking grommets or other areas that could be accessed without too much trouble to route a wire and vacuum hose through?

The boost on mine had dropped a little, was only running 10psi so i have tweaked this back up but the closer it gets to 14psi, the higher the chance of it spiking and hitting the boost cut which then triggers a fault code. So, fitting the EBC will reduce this risk and keep my boost optimum, it will also help a little with response as you can trim the gain.

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 20 Jul 2009, 17:43

I'm intreagued, how do you know it suffers from heat soak rather than actually being big enough with enough air flow to cope with the aircon rad in front?
What's the temperature difference you're getting between the air into the cooler and the air out?

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 20 Jul 2009, 18:44

Xac wrote:I'm intreagued, how do you know it suffers from heat soak rather than actually being big enough with enough air flow to cope with the aircon rad in front?
What's the temperature difference you're getting between the air into the cooler and the air out?

Just knowing from experience, a inlet temp gauge would prove it, but the power really drops after a few hard runs, knowing that the turbo is tiny for the job, it will definatly be running flat out at 12-13psi.

Sitting in traffic for a while or just letting it idle for a long time and then driving you can also feel the difference. At night time performance is vastly improved too, the same could be said for a lot of turbocharged vehicles that like a denser charge, but the difference is really huge.

In comparison, my Maestro which has an huge intercooler with a core twice as thick and sits in front of the rad, goes consistantly well after some silly action. Of course, the big turbo itself helps with the inlet charge not getting as hot.

I think if the air con rad wasnt in the way, and some subtle improvements made to airflow, that would make a subtle difference.

Brigsygtt · Unread post by **Brigsygtt** » 20 Jul 2009, 21:50

Might be worth fitting an act temp gauge before condemning the o.e setup mate. Probably need to ditch the aircon rad to fit a decent sized i.c in there too?

Sl4yer · Unread post by **Sl4yer** » 20 Jul 2009, 23:23

IIRC the Lexia has an air temperature reading, which I presume (from some of the VERY high values recorded) is the inlet temperature.

What would be a good inlet temperature? Is there any way to mount a water spray on the Xantia intercooler?

James

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 21 Jul 2009, 06:31

Sl4yer wrote:IIRC the Lexia has an air temperature reading, which I presume (from some of the VERY high values recorded) is the inlet temperature.

What would be a good inlet temperature? Is there any way to mount a water spray on the Xantia intercooler?

James

Water sprays don't work very well, I tried a set up years ago on the maestro. Can you remember what figures they were?

A good intercooler set up won't go over 45 c. If I saw anything over 60c on boost (I reckon it could go higher!) Then quite a bit of power is being lost, and higher inlet temps also put the pistons at risk due to increased risk of detonation.

I would like to see temps in the 30's, that does depend on the ambient temperature though.

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 23 Jul 2009, 22:10

Still unsure about where to route the wiring for my EBC?

admiral51 · Unread post by **admiral51** » 23 Jul 2009, 22:27

I was going to

myself and suggest the piggy backing of a wire that goes into the main loom connector under the scuttle drivers side(uk) until i saw the bit about the vacuum pipe

Probably a really silly idea but could you find a way to route the vacuum pipe through the gearstick linkage area

Colin

Sl4yer · Unread post by **Sl4yer** » 23 Jul 2009, 22:43

XantiaMan583 wrote:Can you remember what figures they were?

54C rings a bell, although I can't remember if that was after a drive or on start up. Sounds more than is ideal in any case. I'll get around to having a proper check some time.

James

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 24 Jul 2009, 16:35

Sl4yer wrote:
XantiaMan583 wrote:Can you remember what figures they were?
54C rings a bell, although I can't remember if that was after a drive or on start up. Sounds more than is ideal in any case. I'll get around to having a proper check some time.

James

Yes that would be good if you could.

Colin, isnt the scuttle glued down? I know the wipers would have to be removed at least to get access.

I may cheat a little, and drop it down the A pillar, through the drivers door loom and then under the carpet to meet up with the centre console. Planning to do it this weekend, hopefully.

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 24 Jul 2009, 17:42

Check behind the carpet in the passenger foot well.
When Jim had his up there looked like some plugged holes which I'd imagine were for LHD versions.
That might work as an access point.

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 24 Jul 2009, 17:56

Xac wrote:Check behind the carpet in the passenger foot well.
When Jim had his up there looked like some plugged holes which I'd imagine were for LHD versions.
That might work as an access point.

I'll have a gander, failing that i may use the bonnet cable grommet and squeeze it through there.

KP · Unread post by KP » 26 Jul 2009, 19:01

Your choice really is limited as even an all alloy or copper IC will not herald any gains. Some IC sprays are quite good the CO2 ones and the ones that user ultrafine misters like those found in Aquamist kits are good.

Why not go for an Aquamist kit and see what happens?

The other option is to fit a Charge Cooler setup and maybe use the IC as the cooling medium to dump the heat to.

Really you could do away with the IC, and use the AC, by runing something along the lines of a CC setup but using the heat dump as the AC system instead???

admiral51 · Unread post by **admiral51** » 26 Jul 2009, 19:45

Sorry Gareth didnt make myself clear

Didnt know if you could use one of the existing wires in the main loom that may not be in use as these will already fused etc and that way you could connect from inside the cabin via the fuse box.

Not sure whether this will help you or not but in this Topic Andmcit has posted the bulhead connections for the main loom may be something or nothing

But you are correct in the fact the wipers and scuttle need to come out to gain access not sure if you could trace backwards without needing to delve under the scuttle

Colin