Intercooler Block-off?

[tiderfish]

Greetings, I have been searching for some results with not much luck.

Seeing as how it has been very cold lately I would like to block off my radiator to get warmed up quicker. The issue is there is an intercooler in front of it. If memory serves it is so close that I doubt I can get material in between the radiator (or AC condenser) and the IC. Is it wise to block off the intercooler? I have seen some people doing it, but I am still on the fence about it.

[Sulfuric]

I don't know exactly how turbos work, but if you can avoid using the turbocharger, then the IC isn't needed, then you can block it off, right? Maybe you can disable the turbo through a switch, and turn it back on when you want it?

[tiderfish]

My car has a super charger. It's always on.

[comptiger5000]

With the supercharger, you're probably fine to block it, as long as you're not too hard on the throttle. If you get on it hard, you may have pinging issues. I'd try a partial block first and see if it makes much difference in warmup time.

[tiderfish]

Originally Posted by ZOMGVTEK

I would probably start off blocking the whole thing, assuming we are talking about the lower section and there is still a upper one for cooling.

I do not understand what you mean with the upper and lower sections. I think the IC is linear. As in air goes in one side and comes out the other. Like a pipe. As apposed to my Probe's IC that had the inlet and outlet on the same side.

Thanks for the suggestions. Now I need to put them to work.

What is the best way to attach the block? I was thinking of using chloroplast based on several posters here speaking of it's wonders. And zip ties. I do not want something more permanent, because I have a warranty on this car.

[ConnClark]

I would not block the intercooler. It reduces the work that the engine has to do to compress the air.

[ConnClark]

Originally Posted by ZOMGVTEK

Could you explain this? I don't see the connection. A intercooler cools the air from the supercharger, which can be hot. Some stock vehicles running low boost don't have a intercooler at all, which just creates a hotter intake charge. This simply reduces power, and increases the chance for detonation. Its not a real issue so long as the temps don't get out of control, and coolant isn't boiling.

Lets say your supercharger at 2000 rpm sucks in 100CFM of air and right after the supercharger the air is 150 degrees F. Also assume that the volume of air in the intercooler and intake manifold is 3 cubic feet. Lets also assume the same mass of air is going to be flowing out the supercharger regardless of temp or pressure exiting it.

If you take the same mass of air and cram it into two containers that have 3 cubic feet of space and cool one of them, the one that is cooled will have a lower pressure.

It takes less work to compress 100CFM of air to a lower pressure than it does to compress it to a higher pressure.

Also cooler air will reject less heat to the block during the combustion process keeping energy in the gasses so you can extract power from it.

Also note I don't buy into these claims about a warm air intake. If engines burn 98% of all the fuel that goes into them the maximum improvement they could get would only be 2%. I can assure you though they are not getting that.

[comptiger5000]

Warm air intakes help simply because they force you to open the throttle plate further for the same amount of power, leading to lower pumping losses. They don't help every vehicle though. I used to have a Hyundai Elantra (2000) for a bit. I tried a WAI, and the mpg dropped from 18 city to 16, and it pinged like crazy (this was in winter). Needless to say, I un-did that mod.

[tiderfish]

First off thanks for all the replies.

I am not looking to do a grill block yet. I just want to block off the radiator. I was under the impression the intercooler was right next to the radiator. However I looked a bit closer and the IC is about an inch away from the rad. The IC occupies the lower portion of the grill. It is behind the chicken wire mesh so I dont' think I can get to it easily to block it. The radiator however is in a good place to block. However if i just stick some chloroplast down there and cover the most of it, then the back side of the IC will be blocked. I suppose I could block the top half of the radiator, and leave the bottom half unblocked. This would still allow air through the IC and the same air to hit the radiator.

There is something behind the cooling fan that almost looks like another intercooler. It's made of plastic, and has small slats in it. This could just be the down pipe I guess. I was under impression this was the IC until looking at it closer. I have pics of all of this and I will upload them when they finally transfer.

I do not have a scangauge yet, but it is on my Christmas list. If I don't get it from Santa, I will get my own. I

[tiderfish]