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I fitted a pair of bleed nipples and left them permanently open.
The bleed hoses do by-pass the intercoolers, but the holes are about one percent of the cross section area of the main pipes, so its a tiny loss of flow. There are other mitigators.
Those ports on top of the IC's really should be bleeders, not fillers, as they're on the top, not the bottom.
Hey guys, I did this mod and it was awesome! Until 3 weeks later when the Wilwood resevoir broke and leaked out all the coolant it was holding. Anyone else had this issue? If so, have you found another resevoir that works better (i.e. without splitting at the base)?
Bringing up an old thread. I just added this to my car. I was getting crazy hot IATs (145-160 on the freeway and about 176-180 at idle). Installed the new bosch pump, burped the system and added the overflow tank. Most recent test showed the IATs at 110 on freeway and 135 sitting in traffic. The new pump helped a lot. I was not getting any codes but felt the power was down. I also think there was a lot of air in the system. So, I'm very happy with the results.
That's great WikedV12! Keep your eye on it for the first couple weeks. Since the reservoir is so small it will burp out air right after the install. After a couple weeks it will stabilize and you only need to check it every several months. Good luck with your new pump!
Hey guys, I did this mod and it was awesome! Until 3 weeks later when the Wilwood resevoir broke and leaked out all the coolant it was holding. Anyone else had this issue? If so, have you found another resevoir that works better (i.e. without splitting at the base)?
Regards
I got a ebay Brake master cylinder reservoir designed for a motorcycle from eBay for $6.99 they came with brackets hose and an aluminum cap !
Thanks for this thread, guys. Last night I installed the Wilwood reservoir. There wasn't enough room near the brake booster (too many cables), so I tucked it in next the battery where there was room for a sack of groceries. Picked up a new radiator cap, and added a little water to the reservoir. Once I get the ABS/ESP control module replaced so I can actually drive again, I'll report back on its effectiveness.
So would air in my intercooler system explain the occasional jet engine (fast) speed, vs rocket speed (very fast) that my car produces?
In short... yes, it very well could. It will reduce the effectiveness of the intercooler system, so sometimes you get cooler charge air, and sometimes you don't. Since I installed the overflow reservoir and had the system vacuum bled, i haven't lost any coolant and have had pretty consistent performance.
The root cause of the problems I had, by the way, was a bad coolant pump in the IC circuit. It had been bad for quite a while, apparently, because when i bought the car the IC system was half empty.
Probably not, no. I don't think the system will ever self-bleed. I had no success whatsoever getting the intercooler circuit stable until I had it vacuum bled. Since then it hasn't lost a drop as far as I can tell. The overflow reservoir I added is at the exact same level to which I originally filled it. The problem is that the highest point in the system, the point where the trapped air will be, is nowhere near the fill cap/overflow, so the trapped air will never exit. It will just continue to expand and drive coolant out.Even when it cools off and coolant gets sucked back in from an overflow tank, the air will still be trapped in the system.
I can think of better designs, but Mercedes didn't ask me before they built it.
Probably not, no. I don't think the system will ever self-bleed. I had no success whatsoever getting the intercooler circuit stable until I had it vacuum bled. Since then it hasn't lost a drop as far as I can tell. The overflow reservoir I added is at the exact same level to which I originally filled it. The problem is that the highest point in the system, the point where the trapped air will be, is nowhere near the fill cap/overflow, so the trapped air will never exit. It will just continue to expand and drive coolant out.Even when it cools off and coolant gets sucked back in from an overflow tank, the air will still be trapped in the system.
I can think of better designs, but Mercedes didn't ask me before they built it.
Well can't a simple overflow hose like on a regular overflow tank work to get the trapped air out? An overflow tank shouldn't be a closed system.
Well can't a simple overflow hose like on a regular overflow tank work to get the trapped air out? An overflow tank shouldn't be a closed system.
Nope. And trust me, I went down the same path before figuring this out. The trapped air won't ever make it TO the overflow hose/tank. It will hang out in the highest parts of the system, on top of the intercoolers. A simple hose & recovery tank work for most radiator cooling systems, because the vent/overflow hose is at the highest point in the system. That's not the case with the intercooler circuit. So the system might blow some coolant into the overflow tank, and might suck some back in from the overflow tank, but it's never going to get the air out. The only time it will vent air out the overflow hose is when you're low enough on coolant that the level is lower than the fill cap, and by then you're really not getting much use out of the intercoolers.
Where the overflow tank helps is if the system gets hot enough to vent a little coolant, then it will suck coolant back in instead of air when it cools down. As designed I think the engineers thought that should never happen under normal circumstances, with a perfectly operating pressure cap and the expected range of temperature. Well, circumstances are not always normal, caps and seals are not always perfect, and sometimes things get a little hotter than they expected, I guess.
Nope. And trust me, I went down the same path before figuring this out. The trapped air won't ever make it TO the overflow hose/tank. It will hang out in the highest parts of the system, on top of the intercoolers. A simple hose & recovery tank work for most radiator cooling systems, because the vent/overflow hose is at the highest point in the system. That's not the case with the intercooler circuit. So the system might blow some coolant into the overflow tank, and might suck some back in from the overflow tank, but it's never going to get the air out. The only time it will vent air out the overflow hose is when you're low enough on coolant that the level is lower than the fill cap, and by then you're really not getting much use out of the intercoolers.
Where the overflow tank helps is if the system gets hot enough to vent a little coolant, then it will suck coolant back in instead of air when it cools down. As designed I think the engineers thought that should never happen under normal circumstances, with a perfectly operating pressure cap and the expected range of temperature. Well, circumstances are not always normal, caps and seals are not always perfect, and sometimes things get a little hotter than they expected, I guess.
Nope. And trust me, I went down the same path before figuring this out. The trapped air won't ever make it TO the overflow hose/tank. It will hang out in the highest parts of the system, on top of the intercoolers. A simple hose & recovery tank work for most radiator cooling systems, because the vent/overflow hose is at the highest point in the system. That's not the case with the intercooler circuit. So the system might blow some coolant into the overflow tank, and might suck some back in from the overflow tank, but it's never going to get the air out. The only time it will vent air out the overflow hose is when you're low enough on coolant that the level is lower than the fill cap, and by then you're really not getting much use out of the intercoolers.
Where the overflow tank helps is if the system gets hot enough to vent a little coolant, then it will suck coolant back in instead of air when it cools down. As designed I think the engineers thought that should never happen under normal circumstances, with a perfectly operating pressure cap and the expected range of temperature. Well, circumstances are not always normal, caps and seals are not always perfect, and sometimes things get a little hotter than they expected, I guess.
Sorry,
I do not agree, I have been testing a lot and even build 2 vacuum machines
like Welwynnick said: The header tank has lots of advantages, and it HELPS to keep air out, but you still need to bleed the system.
a good bleeding with a vacuum takes 45-60 minutes
then once done, and with this new tank, you'll never have air again, I never had (not the case at all with old system)
Last edited by pmercury; Mar 10, 2020 at 11:41 AM.
This is a very awesome mod. I've had this done now for a couple of months and it worked great. I even did a quick experiment where I purposely put air into the system. Took out the Schrader valves, put some clear hoses on them and ran them back to the filler cap, turned the pump on and nothing. Let the pump run for 30mins and still nothing. I Put the valves back in went for a nice hard drive(iats were high, like in the 200s). But as I kept driving my temps would rocket down and up. Got back home, and removed the Schrader valves again and turned the pump on with clear hoses on them back into the filler cap. And the coolant flowed out and it recirculated perfectly. But even before I did that my iat temps went from back to back 200s, back down to around 120s and a little lower on a 80 degree day. So it was trying to work the air out on its own.
I am a bit confused. The creator of this thread says this mod removes or removed all air from his system and kept it out. Others here have stated it wont do that.. so whats the verdict?
I am a bit confused. The creator of this thread says this mod removes or removed all air from his system and kept it out. Others here have stated it wont do that.. so whats the verdict?
you must bleed
then after that it will autoremove the little left and prevent having air
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
