Air/Water Intercooler Install (rev 0) complete

[WJM]

Well this past weekend I did the first round install of my air to water intercooler setup.

I say rev 0 because I havent finished connecting all the wires, and plan to rearrange the plumbing.

Big thanks to DAP and Mark P for their assistance!!!

Details:
-Spearco Core
-CSR/CSI Water Pump
-Autospeed Water Controller (temperature and injector duty cycle monitoring)
-Water Pump Manual On/Auto Switch
-Fan Manual On/Auto Switch
-LEDs for Pump and Fan Activity

I have a control panel in the works that is going in the nav controller slot... I have a temporary one there now with the LEDs and switch for the water pump.

General IC Module



Plan was to use the washer fluid reservoir as the IC reservoir... due to 3-4 failed attempts at stopping a leak... I switched over to my original/backup plan. A small reservoir made from Home Depot black PVC parts, mounted next to the power steering reservoir...Rev 1 will fix that...



Plumbing arrangement under the car...I had some beads welded on the pipe pieces today so they wouldn't blow off... Midas provided the 90 degree bend. I had to draw the line to cut the pipe on for them to do it the right way though... took the guy 3 tries then I asked for a ruler and made a mark at 45 for him.


As you can see the waterpump comes right in where my fogs are...er were cya fogs


A corner shot of the heat exchanger mounted on the front...


I dont have any pics of the car as it looks now...

Right now the controller and manual switch are wired in. I also need to tune in the Autospeed controller. I couldnt find my soldering irons, so as I said the control panel is limited and needs to be completed

Butt dyno says I like it, I like it A LOT! Anyway thought I'd share...

[DAP@EPL]

[skabaru]

but is your resevior large enough? I assume rev 1 or 2 will address that? or are you finding that you don't need more volume?

you logged iat yet?

[WJM]

as I mentioned to use the washer fluid reservoir (1 gallon capacity)... after 3 failed attempts to stop a leak, and a need to get my car back on the road I went to plan B. Rev 1, will move the reservoir function back to the washer fluid.

I haven't logged anything yet. It has been raining here, but based upon my street experience to date... It seems to be working very well.

[Mark P]

that currently there's not enough volume to complete the heat transfer in an efficient manner such that you can cool the water quicker than you heat it up. The washer resevoir should take care of that, I'd think. And surely it will be nice to fill with ice for dyno/drag runs )

[WJM]

there are multiple factors to the heat transfer mechanism...

1st the heat transfered to the water (Intercooler) will raise the temperature up more while under boost with a smaller total water volume.

2nd the circulation of the water through the heat exchanger (cooler) will lower the temp, thus the less water, the quicker the temperature recovery, as the same vol travels through the heat exchanger multiple times per minuter vs a larger vol

3rd the mixing of the water in the reservoir, and general water conduction allows for water temp in the system to "equalize"

Again I think it more depends upon driving style and the situation.

[DAP@EPL]

You WON'T be able to use the RS4 IC as a core with a water jacket around it... its just too big. It barely fits under the bumper as it is (with some cutting of the internal bumper webbing, I might add). The core of Will's Air-Water IC is MUCH smaller than the RS4 IC core (and rightly so, since air-water is much more efficient than air-air).

-Dave Pramanik

[WJM]

it will be very impressive. Yes there are ways to make it run super effecient. I thought of running AC lines through the reservoir. Prior to that though i could put a larger radiator in, or could put misters on it... Lots of things can be done, but the question becomes... to what end goal...

[skabaru]

you may want to investigate the tank from the avant... oddly enough, that side of the engine bay is a bit different, and the tank for the avant is larger IIRC....

[WJM]

Well first of all... It is very easy to add the barb fitting to the existing tank. I wasnt able to get a good seal on the bottom one though for a few reasons. I have patched it and gooped it up, but the silicon required 24hrs to cure... and I didnt have that kinda of time. It should be good to go, next time I am in there. I did actually buy another washer reservoir for planning purposes, but the effort required to install it, seemed prohibitive, so i did the work on the one installed.

What is the avant capacity? The sedan is 4.5L capacity. I'd be curious to know if there really is a difference. On earlier A4s there is a weird one that protrudes closer to the engine itself. I have my catch can installed in that area though.