intercooler leak

[slim]

discovered a very slight leak on my intercooler yesterday,i dont know how long its been leaking but the water coolant level has`nt dropped any.will it need immediate attention or will it be alrite for now.can you get these repaired or is a new one needed. cheers in advance for any info.

[porkkis]

Intercooler and water coolant have no connection between each other. Please confirm which radiator is leaking.

[slim]

lowest rad in centre of front end, large pipe on each end.how do i check the level in the intercooler.

[AAH!]

As I'm sure you are aware the intercooler ("lowest rad in centre of front end, large pipe on each end") purpose is to cool the air that enters the engine. This cooling process relies on the colder wind/air generated by the car moving along hitting the intercooler to cool the warmer air within it.

There is no water invovled in this air cooling process, unless there is an aftermarket intercooler misting system.
See here: http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthr...8681#post68681

Maybe your auxillary radiator (the small water filled radiator above the intercooler) is leaking onto the intercooler?

[Jamo]

Slim, take a pic and post it, i think you mean the Aux Rad and not the Intercooler.

The intercooler cools via air to surface metal contact.

[slim]

have had a closer look and the bottom right hand corner is definatly wet,but it must be coming from elsewhere.first turbo car ive had so i dont know much about intercoolers and how they work. car is going in to get serviced next week and the guy is going to give it a pressure test while he`s on.thanks anyway for the info

[Jamo]

have had a closer look and the bottom right hand corner is definatly wet,but it must be coming from elsewhere.first turbo car ive had so i dont know much about intercoolers and how they work. car is going in to get serviced next week and the guy is going to give it a pressure test while he`s on.thanks anyway for the info

It's the aux rad mate, for a start you can't see and access the intercooler unless you take the front bumper off or removed the undertray.

If you look at the bottom of the bumper you'll see through the slits the intercooler.

If it's the aux rad, then block off the pipes and bin it!

[slim]

took a good look today and your right on the button Jamo, cheers bud.

[dan_b]

There are a lot of UK-based people on this forum who are running the S2 quite happily without the Aux rad, myself included. You'll find that the parts to replace the Aux Rad are rather expensive, and the S2 runs perfectly well without it in UK weather conditions. You'll want to remove the radiator completely, and you'll need some proper bungs to block the pipework!

[4WheelDrifter]

Lee's got some rather nice alloy bungs for the job.