AlpharettaC32

Hey y'all,

Been forever since I've posted on here, but I've come back with some questions for problems that may or may not be related. Unfortunately, the dealers in my area are as sharp as a bag of rocks when it comes to diagnosing issues, so I need to be able to go in telling them very specifically what *might* be wrong to get them started. So, thanks in advance!

The intercooler water pump has been failing, but now there's a new twist. Previously, at cruising speed (75-80mph, 2000-2500 rpm), I'd get a very hard jerk but it never happened more than once. Yesterday, with cruise control on at 79mph, I would get "the jerk" as an incline came up, as more power was very slowly applied to the engine. This was not during a downshift. I'd watch RPMs very carefully to see if there was any change when the jerk occurred, but nothing noticeable happened on the tachometer.

Is it possible that as the intercooler pump is failing, that the jerk is coming from the torque converter as there is a power drop from the engine? Or, is this simply a further symptom of the intercooler pump and the engine management software trying to make an adjustment? Or, am I completely off-base on all of these?

Thanks again.

Vadim @ evosport

What you are feeling as a "jerk" is kompressor clutch disengaging. When intake temperature reaches 255F DME shut-off the kompressor. At around 180F it will turn it back on. You will feel it again as another jerk.

Think of a movie Road Warrior, when Mel turn on his blower during a chase and his car jerked.

There should be enough error codes in DME's memeory for the dealer to troubleshoot. You can also do a search on intercooler pump failures and print out all the posts and show them to the dealer, for some guys it worked.

Good Luck!

Lenin

If the intercooler pump is failing, replace it and see if the problem goes away. And why do you think that the intercooler pump is failing? It is hard to give advice remotely but from what you are describing, it sounds like you had a torque converter problem all along and it just showed a new behavior.
Most of the time when the intercooler pump is failing, the car would get to 2000-2500rpm or about 68-78mph and if you give it more gas, it will rev to 6000rpm but the car will not go any faster. Almost as if the ESP is kicking in.
Good luck.

AlpharettaC32

Yeah, I definitely would feel a jerk which would result in lost power (as in the post below, I could floor it and get almost no response) and then later another jerk which would give power again.

I've downloaded posts and (I believe it's the one you posted) the schematic of the V8K with a nice labelling of the intercooler pump.

The funny thing is the dealer always says there are no DME error codes; there was a post in a search where someone had used a screwdriver as a stethoscope on the pump and noticed its failure; this is what an Atlanta dealer did to resolve the issue. I'm now in northwest Arkansas for law school and shall we say..these guys don't see very many AMGs.

Now, if someone at Evosport would answer my damned email about the intercooler pump replacement construction, I would be a happy camper.

Did Mike take off time to actually enjoy the holidays or something?

AlpharettaC32

The intercooler pump was supposedly replaced in the past two weeks, but I'm thinking a different pump was actually replaced. I had a check engine light come on about 15K miles ago that required an air pump replacement, which was near the same time that the intercooler water pump went out. I think they replaced a functioning part by mistake.

I'm going to have them look at the torque converter anyway, just to make sure it's behaving properly, but what you describe in your final paragraph is an accurate description of the problem. In that specific rpm range, extra accelerator will create an rpm increase without a corresponding change in speed. Flooring it and engaging kick-down will not improve the condition.

Zeppelin

You guys must have another gear than me. My car is at 3000rpm at 80mph, this is right where the kompressor engages and disengages. I do not feel mine engage in top gear so this may not be your problem, but then again it may be a normal reaction to the kompressor engaging in your car.

Vadim @ evosport

Alpharetta: Mike was off last week. I will remind him on Monday to reply to your e-mail.

I am fairly certain it is your intercooler pump. TQ converters rarely fail on C32s and the simptoms are different, plus you would get "CE" light.

If they do not see any codes, have a tech drive with you and monitor Air Charge Temps with a portable STAR.

AlpharettaC32

Nice hustle, Vadim. I was going to go ahead and warm up the car for 15 minutes before I went in, just to get up to normal operating temp for the engine and the area where the supercharger shuts down.

This is Arkansas; I'm thinking if I ask them to bring along a portable STAR they'll grab a hood badge on the way out the door.

And I'm from here so I can make that comment!

OZC32AMG

Alpharetta,

It was me who used the screw driver as a stethascope and the symptoms you are describing are exactly the same that I experienced. I had replaced the intercooler pump (original) and now 3 months later have installed Evosports phenolic spacers under the intake manifolds and have installed their windscreen washer bottle reservour which has now become the intercooler cooling circuit header tank. I went one step further though and installed an Alfa Romeo windscreen washer bladder and pump assy to keep the windscreen washer circuit totally seperate. This way I have the Evosport replacement windscreen washer bottle filled with coolant and the bladder filled with windscreen washer solution.

As we are coming into summer here in Australia, I am noticing a very consistent performance output from my car as opposed to varied performance levels dependent on ambient temperatures prior to doing the Evosport mods.

A very worthwhile and relatively inexpensive mod if you ask me.

Joe

Zeppelin

You can check to see if the pump is running by starting the car for 10 seconds or so. Then shut off the engine and go to the front of the car. If the pump is working you will here it run for 30 seconds after the engine is shut off.

AlpharettaC32

I've got an email into Mike to see if the new pump for the V6 is going to be available, but running under the assumption that there's not enough interest for them to go through with production I'll have to go with the bottle idea.

Of course, it may be somewhat difficult for me to get the Alfa parts you're talking about. You wouldn't happen to have part numbers or anything like that so I can go to an aftermarket Alfa parts place in the States along with some instructions on what you did (or is it just obvious)?

That's a great tip on listening for the pump; I'm in a situation where I'm about to add some more HP to the car and I'd like to make quite certain I have a more bulletproof solution for cooling than what is currently available.

Thanks for replying and sharing your experiences.

OZC32AMG

I picked mine up 2nd hand at a wreckers for $25.00 AUD. I don't have the part number, this is what it looks like. I mounted it behind the headlight on the same side as the original windscreen washer bottle.

I made a simple wiring harness to connect to it from the original washer motor wiring plug (using connectors as I did not want to cut or splice into any original wiring) and simply had to reduce the washer nozzle tubing size and connected it together.

I have had my ECU reflashed by Powerchip and it was after I did so that I noticed the inconsistency of power output due to the ineffeciency of the Intercooler cooling circuit.

I mistakingly abused Powerchip at the time as the car was actually going worse after having the chip done. You could imagine the shock when I told them this as they had developed the remap in the USA with very extensive dyno and on road testing and said that I am the only customer to ever report a power loss. As it turned out it was the intercooler pump which I replaced and now the Evosport mods are done the car is a real consistent goer! I apologised to Powerchip after I realised it was not their fault.

Hope this helps you out.

raywong@hkstar.

OZ, do you have picture of the washer bag after installation? If it looks good I would want to get mine done too. I had a plastice drinking mug installed before, but it looked bad and crack under heat.