Intake(Y Bridge) Air Temp

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Mar 1, 2013
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Has anyone done any testing for IAT before and after doing a intercooler upgrade? I am debating about putting in a new intercooler, but I am not sure if all I will get is a stonger/better constructed intercooler or actually will get a improvement in IAT. I am planning on installing a temp probe in my Y bridge to try to get a baseline for the stock intercooler. I would be interested if anyone else has a data that I compare again.
 

Chevy1925

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you would need to compare both temp in and out of the intercooler directly. using the IAT sensor at the MAF wont help you compare as the air charge will super heat once its compressed from the turbo. Best area to measure is at the intake of the intercooler and exhaust of the intercooler. I would also measure boost before and after. That can tell you how restrictive the intercooler is.
 

Bdsankey

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The only information I have from IAT testing was done between my Mishimoto and the Banks I replaced it with. Here is the hard part in my opinion with this testing, there are so many atmospheric conditions that effect this measurement. Humidity, air velocity through the cooler, heat load (how hot the charge air is entering the cooler), how heat soaked the engine bay is etc. As for a major gain over OEM, well I personally think you would be better off spending that money elsewhere UNLESS your current intercooler is damaged/leaking then I would replace it with a better cooler.


On very similar conditions (3F+ difference in ambient temps and 2% humidity lower, Mishimoto was lower temp/higher humidity day making it more ideal) my Banks was ~10-15F higher temp reduction at a 3.8psi lower restriction//pressure loss indicating that the Banks was more efficient.
 
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MAXX IT OUT

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Mar 1, 2013
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Des Moines, Iowa
you would need to compare both temp in and out of the intercooler directly. using the IAT sensor at the MAF wont help you compare as the air charge will super heat once its compressed from the turbo. Best area to measure is at the intake of the intercooler and exhaust of the intercooler. I would also measure boost before and after. That can tell you how restrictive the intercooler is.
I currently don't have enough channels currently on my edge to monitors that much data, so I am just adding 1 temp sensor to a existing hole in my Y Bridge.

The only information I have from IAT testing was done between my Mishimoto and the Banks I replaced it with. Here is the hard part in my opinion with this testing, there are so many atmospheric conditions that effect this measurement. Humidity, air velocity through the cooler, heat load (how hot the charge air is entering the cooler), how heat soaked the engine bay is etc. As for a major gain over OEM, well I personally think you would be better off spending that money elsewhere UNLESS your current intercooler is damaged/leaking then I would replace it with a better cooler.
I need to make make sure I don't have a leaky intercooler, but I think I might be better off with trying to drop air intake/under hood temp with a sealed air box or a vented hood. I have a W2A intercooler set up that I am considering installing but trying to have data to compare again to see if the extra complexity is would the return.
 

Bdsankey

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I currently don't have enough channels currently on my edge to monitors that much data, so I am just adding 1 temp sensor to a existing hole in my Y Bridge.


I need to make make sure I don't have a leaky intercooler, but I think I might be better off with trying to drop air intake/under hood temp with a sealed air box or a vented hood. I have a W2A intercooler set up that I am considering installing but trying to have data to compare again to see if the extra complexity is would the return.


How do you use the truck? The downfall of a W2A on a street truck isn't so much the added weight, its the fact of trying to keep the water cool for long periods of time. As for logging, if you're trying to make an educated/data-based decision it may be time to upgrade to a better logging device with more channels then. The Banks iDash 1.8 DataMonster has more channels that any of us will ever need and is reasonably priced for what you get compared to other loggers.
 

Chevy1925

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How do you use the truck? The downfall of a W2A on a street truck isn't so much the added weight, its the fact of trying to keep the water cool for long periods of time. As for logging, if you're trying to make an educated/data-based decision it may be time to upgrade to a better logging device with more channels then. The Banks iDash 1.8 DataMonster has more channels that any of us will ever need and is reasonably priced for what you get compared to other loggers.

and its extremely slow with a 3 frames per sec refresh rate. it might work "ok" there as its not something that will see quick jumps in temps or boost but the cost doesnt out weight its down falls for many other areas imho.

Gale can make it read faster, he just wont and i know why (fluctuation of pids too quick to read on a digital display) but giving the option to choose refresh rate on the gauge would be ideal for data log purposes. the factory ecm sends out FAR faster data so that is not the issue.

its sad its not much faster than the torque app i have on my phone, you can just add more sensors its about its strongest point.
 

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The truck is used for everything you can do with a truck. Since weight isn't a issue, there is plenty of room where the intercooler was to put in a decent sized heat exchanger. I can add more channels on the Edge EAS system(up to 32 I believe), I just have one spare input ATM and don't feel like spending the money on the stuff to add 4 more channels with desent sensors.
 

Bdsankey

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and its extremely slow with a 3 frames per sec refresh rate. it might work "ok" there as its not something that will see quick jumps in temps or boost but the cost doesnt out weight its down falls for many other areas imho.

Gale can make it read faster, he just wont and i know why (fluctuation of pids too quick to read on a digital display) but giving the option to choose refresh rate on the gauge would be ideal for data log purposes. the factory ecm sends out FAR faster data so that is not the issue.

its sad its not much faster than the torque app i have on my phone, you can just add more sensors its about its strongest point.

All my logs are at 20hz, the screen refresh rate and the logging rate are not the same.


The truck is used for everything you can do with a truck. Since weight isn't a issue, there is plenty of room where the intercooler was to put in a decent sized heat exchanger. I can add more channels on the Edge EAS system(up to 32 I believe), I just have one spare input ATM and don't feel like spending the money on the stuff to add 4 more channels with desent sensors.


If you're taking this thing on longer drives a W2A isn't going to be ideal. You're going to need to keep stopping for ice just to keep the water temps maintainable. In order to determine the intercooler's performance you need both pressure and temp at the inlet and outlet, without that you can't make much of a comparison.
 

Chevy1925

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When a truck can push 100 or more without issue through the OBD2 port, Why should we be limited? And yes, there are many instances were 100 plus is needed to see an issue. Why limit the gauge it’s self as I stated? Recording the data is great as long as you now download it to a computer and blah blah blah. Does nothing to solve an issue on the road or see potential problems when the gauge can be used for it

At the end of the day, it’s a throttled down gauge that ain’t cheap.
 

Bdsankey

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When a truck can push 100 or more without issue through the OBD2 port, Why should we be limited? And yes, there are many instances were 100 plus is needed to see an issue. Why limit the gauge it’s self as I stated? Recording the data is great as long as you now download it to a computer and blah blah blah. Does nothing to solve an issue on the road or see potential problems when the gauge can be used for it

At the end of the day, it’s a throttled down gauge that ain’t cheap.

I haven't used it on anything newer than my LLY which it currently is setup as a standalone gauge and pulls nothing through the OBD port.
 

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[QUOTE="Bdsankey,

If you're taking this thing on longer drives a W2A isn't going to be ideal. You're going to need to keep stopping for ice just to keep the water temps maintainable. In order to determine the intercooler's performance you need both pressure and temp at the inlet and outlet, without that you can't make much of a comparison.
[/QUOTE]
There is no need for ice if you have a heat exchanger, hense the name. If it was just a race set up, then you would have a expansion tank you would fill with ice everytime you make a pass. I might move one of my boost sensor over to see my pressure drop, but I am more worried about high air temp in the engine due to higher under hood temps which doesn't help A2A situation.
 

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Well I finally got the 2 air temp sensors installed and moved my drive pressure sensor to the Charge pipe. Still waiting for the EAS expansion box to show up, since I desided to go with 2 Air temp sensors instead of one. So far the only data I have shows a 4 PSI pressure drop across the intercooler system at a outside temp of 60 degrees. I should have the everything hooked up they this weekend for IAT.
 

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Bdsankey

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I believe a very efficient set up is about 1-2 psi pressure drop, so for being a stocker it's not to bad, guess the telling info will be temperature Delta.

I keep forgetting its a stocker. My Banks runs 1-2psi drop at ~60-65psi gauge and takes me from ~430f-460f down to ~140f.
 
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MarkBroviak

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May 25, 2008
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A good average we see is 1psi drop per 100* drop in temp on an intercooler. A super efficient cooler will get you .5psi drop per 100* drop. The higher cfm flowing cores will not drop the pressure across them as bad but can also not cool the air as well for the same reason. Before my banks cooler blew apart it would see 130psi and 700* inlet and 120psi 250* outlet at the end of a 1/2mile run on all 3" plumbing. When the cooler failed I replaced it with the Mishimoto that was almost 3/4" thicker core and I went to 3.5" pipe to the motor and my pressure came down to 90psi and iat temp was down 100* at the end of the 1/2mile but I was up 150hp. At the end of the day surface area is king when talking about intercooling. I use a banks intercooler with 4" ends on it(fabbed in house) in a box that we fill with water and that is what we use on the engine dyno for 80% of the testing I do and we have pushed 100+psi through it and made 1700+hp with it in that configuration and intake temps stay very consistent.
 

MAXX IT OUT

<<<IT WORKS
Mar 1, 2013
1,774
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Des Moines, Iowa
A good average we see is 1psi drop per 100* drop in temp on an intercooler. A super efficient cooler will get you .5psi drop per 100* drop. The higher cfm flowing cores will not drop the pressure across them as bad but can also not cool the air as well for the same reason. Before my banks cooler blew apart it would see 130psi and 700* inlet and 120psi 250* outlet at the end of a 1/2mile run on all 3" plumbing. When the cooler failed I replaced it with the Mishimoto that was almost 3/4" thicker core and I went to 3.5" pipe to the motor and my pressure came down to 90psi and iat temp was down 100* at the end of the 1/2mile but I was up 150hp. At the end of the day surface area is king when talking about intercooling. I use a banks intercooler with 4" ends on it(fabbed in house) in a box that we fill with water and that is what we use on the engine dyno for 80% of the testing I do and we have pushed 100+psi through it and made 1700+hp with it in that configuration and intake temps stay very consistent.
Mark what are you using for temp sensors? I am playing with some car intake air sensor, but it looks like they only go to about 260 degrees max, which is going to be kind of usless for much meaningful information I am starting to look into the stock LBZ temp sensors, just not sure on the thread and temp range on those.
 

MarkBroviak

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May 25, 2008
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Mark what are you using for temp sensors? I am playing with some car intake air sensor, but it looks like they only go to about 260 degrees max, which is going to be kind of usless for much meaningful information I am starting to look into the stock LBZ temp sensors, just not sure on the thread and temp range on those.
I usually use an open tip egt sensor for over the 265* readings and the factory LBZ sensor stops right about there because that is where mine always maxed at.
 
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