The amount of 'thermal mass' in a water-air intercooler system means you can avoid intake air temp spikes. That's a huge advantage - especially in turbo road cars.
Good work Julian. Great to see your still educating people on car modification. Can't wait to see some great content in the future. Past student of yours 👍
There are many benefits to water to air intercoolers that consistently get over looked and one of them is boost response, another is the ability to have an interchiller by using the vehicles AC compressor to chill the water below ambient.
@@oclv110sl I just finished a custom set up on my 2015 S3. I Pump G13 coolant through a custom made intercooler that lives in the engine bay. Basically running 2 pumps 1 for the intercooler 1 for the heat exchanger both PWM driven. The pump for the intercooler runs on a duty cycle dependent on boost PSI and the one for the heat exchanger runs based on CAN read vehicle speed. I get a deg or 2 above ambient under full load.
Coming from the MR2 and Celica GT4 world, we discovered the benefits of this after extensive research by multiple members of car clubs. And through said research, we were able to consistently LOWER" intake air temps over a similar sized A2A setup, with very little modifications to the engines of said cars (celica GT4 came with a chargecooler). Aside from that, people have slowly been waking up to the benefits of charge coolers over the years, and research by interested individuals and those with the knowledge (like the poster of this video) are helping folks understand as such. Anywho, thanks for sharing!
I have recently bought a zd30 gu patrol with an aftermarket water-cooling system and to my surprise there is really no information that i can find of its application within diesel cars however im glad to hear after watching this video that it is a good upgrade, this video was perfectly done thankyou
i just found your channel by chance and it is awesome! instant subscriber! i am researching a combined Air to water and Air to Air intercooler for a top mount intercooler as a remedy for poor airflow over the intercooler and heatsoak, would love to see a video comparing the effects of longer tubing to a front mount intercooler, i have an R53 Mini Cooper S which has the possibly shortest intercooler connection from compressor to intake manifold and heat dissipation is terrible. awesome channel again!
Thanks for a great explanation of the basic science of what occurs with liquid to air intercooler systems.. i have a Jaguar x351 V8 SC with pulleys and map tune and my next step is to run a seperate cooling system for the intercooler as Jaguar link the main engine water cooling radiator to include the front mount intercooler.. so separate water tank upgrade electric water pump plus while im at it front mount intercooler water spray nozzles for the real hot days ..
Great video mate, this is something I’m looking at doing on my turbo diesel 4x4. I got a lot out of this video and also have a suggested solution to the thermal heating on hot days. I use Davies craig switches in my turbo cars to turn the thermostat fans on and off at desired temps. My theory is that if on the water feed line of the cooler, there were a transmission cooler with the Davis craig thermo probe, it would cool the water via air and also trigger the pump to start when the water gets to over a particular temp, thus turning back off at ‘road driving temp’.
Don't need a transmission cooler - there's already the front-mount radiator. Yes, you could trigger the pump when the temperature is high at standstill, but then you also would need to run a radiator fan to push air through the radiator, so the current consumption gets pretty high without the motor running.
u can epoxy a normally open thermal switch on the outlet pipe of the W2A intercooler. I heard 50'c was a good temp to trigger, basically 10c higher then u would if probe was in the water - not as accurate as julians method with the mo-tech but for a 4x4 its a simpler solution, cheap and reliable. I think switching the pump on and off like Julians talks about will be key to longevity also. another cheap option is a Inkbird temp controllers if u want more control. they have 2 outputs i think u could set it up so the fan triggered 10c higher then pump for the hot-heat soak situations like on the beach
Excellent video mate! Well Done I’m putting a water to air intercooler setup in my car ( HG Holden Ute with a rb30 turbo engine used as both a every now and then drag car/road car) and was looking for videos on water to air intercooler systems I’m thinking that I can setup A timed relay to Slowly continue to circulate the water through the cooler and front heat exchanger for when I turn the car off in between runs down the strip and for road driving have a temp Sesnor in the line so it triggers the pump and thermo fan for the heat exchanger aswell at a given temperature
In my opinion some one way valves and a microcontroller set to cycle the system and run some small auxiliary fans upon switching off the ignition would assist with managing temps due to the thermal mass, could have it set to target ambient so when you get in your at the best temp reachable
Hi Julian Loved the book thanks. I was very interested how you set up the water pump on the water to air system, rather than running flat out working on resistors. I have a mid engine car I’m to running 2 pumps. Do you have any wire diagrams or web sites that can help me setting up the wiring for these pumps to run when I need them. Much appreciated. Jamie 👍
My 2022 Kia Stinger has the smaller 2.5l inline 4. It has a liquid matrix intercooler and a blessedly short intake track. Also! The coolant (alcohol?) in the intercooler system must pass thru the air conditioner evaporator because it's commonly MUCH colder than ambient temps. Not refrigerator cold, but on a warm day, imagine grabbing a glass with ice water in it. 30-40 degree cooler than ambient.
Hi Julian! I just found your channel and i really enjoy watching and listen to your videos, especially about this water-cooled Intercooler because I'm about to build one myself to my Saab 9-3 2.0 Turbo because i believe it will be much better. Because the size of the Intercooler can be much smaller the spool up time will be shorter and i can lower the intake air temp more if i use some kind of alcohol based fluid maybe. What do you think about that? Thanks for a great channel 👍😁
Which would be better routing tank, front mount cooler, WJCAC return to tank or reverse? I'm thinking of adding a water jacket charge air cooler to my late first generation Dodge Cummins. The early 1st generation had the wjcac located in the intake manifold using engine coolant which turned out not to be a good idea as you described the additional heat load added to the engine cooling system during sustained high boost (19psi) climbing Hills made the cooling system inadequate. The late 1st Gen is often referred to as an intercooled or IC had an ATACAC and a larger radiator w/smaller injectors to compensate for better charge air density, keeping the TQ under the 400ftlb Tq limit of the transmission. 300k mi out of the stock 46RH trans I'm not complaining about there choice to detune.
Theoretically, the front radiator should immediately follow the WJCAC so that the temperature differential between the outside air and the water in the water/air intercooling system is as high as possible. But to be honest, I doubt it would make a measurable difference doing it one way or the other. However, best if the tank is not in the engine bay if possible, so it doesn't get full of water warmed by the underhood environment.
I was thinking of removing my aircon and fitting an electric aircon compressor in the trunk with the charge cooler tank to create a refrigeration system. What do you think of this? It means that you can cool the water effectively when stationary too! Though a small electronic fan on the charge cooler radiator could help.
It's been done before with conventional air con systems, and very successfully. But two issues - (1) expensive and complex, and (2) there's no intercooling until the system has had time to bring the tank of water down in temperature.
You can fit a small radiator fan on the heat exchanger behind the bumper, and allow it to run after engine shut off, or when car is idling in traffic. If water temp in that exchanger is above Eg. 50 C. With a bit of testing you can get it right.
Great Video mate, very informative I'm currently weighing up cooling systems & planning out a supercharger setup for my fto, and have been very interested in a Water to air setup.
Nice education video about water to air intercooler system, my question : if we use the W2A intercooler in front of car like the usual A2A intercooler, will the mass flow of air exit from intercooler be slower, and hard to reach the intake manifold? Because i also watch many videos in youtube the W2A intercooler usually small and close to the intake manifold. about the negative side of the W2A, that you said if we parked the car outside with hot temperature will make the water hotter in the system, can we make a tank like water injection, so we can separate the cold water after cooling before the pump, to maintain the water should not be hot when we parked outside.
I'm considering fitting a turbo Diesel to an older light truck that has small frontal area, and am struggling with a location for an ATA. I do, however, have room for a WTA above the engine, as well as multiple locations for a heat exchanger in the rear half of the vehicle. I am thinking that WTA might be the ideal solution for my situation. Even though it is more complicated, I will not be compromising on size, and therefore engine efficiency.
Yes, WTA sounds good in that application but remember that a diesel is typically on boost a lot more than a gas/petrol engine. That means you really want a larger heat exchanger to get rid of the accumulated heat.
@@justanotherguy9664 How do you size the front heat exchanger, is a small one OK or are you better going for as large as possible, ie more water so more overall thermal mass in the circuit?
So, given the disadvantage you mention about the whole system heating up while the car is parked. For a road car parked not in a garage in a consistently hot climate throughout the year, would it be worth having the air to water system? I’m sure it’s not a simple yes or no.
I've been wondering lately if we aren't going about this backwards. Thermal mass is great when you put a barrel of water in a greenhouse to absorb the heat of the day and slowly release it overnight. But is that really the optimum mechanism for an intercooler? Couldn't it be more effective to use a medium with a lower specific heat so it would saturate more quickly, but also dump the heat more quickly? The idea being that the medium would function as a sort of "bucket brigade" hauling the heat away from the intake rather than simply absorbing it. It seems that would eliminate the heat soak problem you mentioned. This would, obviously, require that the medium be constantly circulated.
To put what you say another way, you'd basically have to transport, and then dissipate, all the heat 'real time', as the system would have no/little ability to absorb any heat. You'd therefore need heat exchangers (at both ends of the system) sized to work with the heat generated at maximum load. They'd be huge!
What about air to water intercoolers in colder climates where winters are at near 32°F - 0°C or below? Could the water actually freeze and break components like piping/tubing ?
Thanks for the lesson. I previously thought a large mass of aluminium in the FMIC would serve the same purpose, however the specific heat capacity of water is 4.5 times higher that aluminum.
I'm putting together a W2A intercooler system for my car at the moment, partially operating on the eyes closed and fumbling in the dark method, mainly because of a lack of information. Car, mid engine so it proved unsuccessful using the original intercooler. My question: The cooling system should it be sealed ie same as an engine/radiator with a pressurized cap or should I run a header/expansion tank
I chose to run sealed but with a pressurised cap. That's what the factory water/air systems seem to do. I've never seen anything come out of the overflow hose above the cap on my car.
I'm not sure if a better pump would fix my issues front mounted radiator, pump is at bottom hose pumping via 2 lines (audi 12v pump) eeek sounds like mercedes pump. The lines run along the side of the car quite low and the intercooler inlets above the lines seem to be having air pocket problems and not circulating, I'm thinking of having a tee at the top intercooler outlet going up to an expansion tank and not bothering with pressure. (it's not like water temperature going to reach 100C and would benefit from pressurisation but would help enormously in air bleeding the whole shebang.
no need to use a lot of time speaking of the small rise in water temp because of ambient temp. we are talking between 200-300° celcius for normal ineffective ic under boost. no comparison...
One problem with using waste heat in a car (eg from the exhaust) to generate steam is that you then need to condense that steam (or else carry a huge water tank). So a huge condenser is needed.
The slight disadvantage can easily be mitigated tho. You can have a timer that keeps a pump running through a small secondary air to water heat exchanger with a small fan to cool off the water while making sure that you try to keep the components as far away from exhaust and hot parts as possible (preferrably somewhere in the front bumper)
@@JulianEdgar Well that depends on the water volume and eventually on the amount of energy stored in the water, but a small fan in itself is not a problem, you would just need to run it for a bit longer, and with a smaller heat exchanger, it's easier to place it more strategically
You have to mention that the water to air core cools the water down when the vehicle is not in boost. It is effectively using the core as another heat exchanger to cool the water with ambient intake air.
