E55Greasemonkey

Interesting info thanks for posting.

MAN55LE

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E55Greasemonkey

I've got my intercooler back from the welder with 3/4" fittings. 1" is going to be a little difficult..remember you must be able to access the bolt to secure the supercharger, the tanks aren't very wide, and also consider most pumps are 3/4" fittings, as well as your heat exchanger. Tomorrow I will be ordering a higher flowing pump from Lingenfelter, based on their testing here:

http://www.lingenfelter.com/LPEforum...esting-results

I will be getting the Varimax pump. I have also ordered some heat insulating material to wrap the intercooler core to minimize heat soak. Keep in mind our raw intercooler core is DIRECTLY exposed to engine radiant heat with no shielding at all, compared to other systems that encase the core inside a metal housing, using the surrounding air to isolate it from the heat.

Once the new pump comes in I will bench test the new setup I put together today and compare with my Bosch pump. According to the above link I should see some improvement. I did use an older worn bosch pump to verify the water is traveling throughout the entire modified single pass core; however I did notice one end would cool faster likely due to not enough flow from the pump I was using. After maybe 10-20 seconds though, the core did become uniform in temperature all over, showing the water is flowing through completely, although slightly faster at the pressure end.

Also been reading about cooling (heat exchange), and all the talk about the water traveling "too fast" through the heat exchanger is an old wives tale. Faster IS better. Also adding a second heat exchanger can cause the intake temp to go HIGHER as the added restriction in flow negates the benefits.

Once I get everything installed and proven at the 1/4 mile I will make a new thread.

urbamworm

I have the Lingenfelter Varimax in my V.

Forrest Gump 9

Very interest in your finding. I've just bought the wp29 last week.

jcjmw

If possible, when you wire up this pump, can hou post pics? Where do you hook up the negative and positive to this pump?

Forrest Gump 9

The pump I bought come with a plug and three wire, red, black, and purple. The plug will plug into the pump. Black go to ground, purple go to ignition, and red go to positive with key on. It also come with a very detail instruction booklet. One thing that comfuse me is how to control the pump manually.

E55Greasemonkey

Ordered the varimax from Lingenfelter today. They told me it can be wired to run full speed all the time, it uses a PWM signal in stock form. Usually ground or power tapped to the pwm terminal will do it. They said call them when I get the pump if there are any wiring questions, it does include a pigtail harness. I will have some un-scientific results next week.

jcjmw

What were the results?

E55Greasemonkey

The Varimax will default to full speed when only the power and ground is connected, it takes a few seconds to start up when it sees no PWM signal. We tested GPM using the stock heat exchanger and my modified core with 3/4" fittings and 3/4" silicone hoses.
The findings are:

Old style Bosch Pump: 3.2 GPM
New "010" Bosch Pump: 3.4 GPM
Varimax Pump: 3.96 GPM
Old+New Bosch in series: 4.75GPM

The conclusion is, the 2 bosch pumps in series works best, and the flow looks good for the 3/4" hose (see picture) I should see 5 GPM with 2 new style Bosch pumps. Since you can buy two of those pumps (and I already have one) for the price of one Varimax, I decided to run the 2 Bosch pumps in series. Upside is if one fails you still have flow. I will be putting the Varimax on ebay soon. If you wanted to spend the $450 you could run 2 varimax pumps, but I estimate only another half gallon a minute for basically double the price of 2 Bosch pumps, not cost effective. I will also wire the 2 Bosch pumps with a relay, and power from the alternator since it is nearby so will have full voltage at the pumps. The stock wiring comes all the way from the rear SAM (L/R trunk) so there is certainly some voltage drop with the long wires. I am starting today with the install. The intercooler will also be wrapped with heat shield (blanket).

***Just a note about the picture, this was the 2nd test with 2 Bosch pumps. We found the best result was to have one pump going directly into the second pump before the intercooler. The picture shows the 2nd test with pumps split between the circuit and this did not flow as good as having both pumps inline.***

Denroll

Will the impeller on the non-energized pump "free-wheel" if the second pump is on?

Why not keep the Varimax and add a new Bosch pump?

E55Greasemonkey

We tested this by disconnecting one pump from power, and saw only slightly reduced flow similar to what the single Bosch pump was doing. The second pump when both were powered acted like a "booster"

We didn't test the Bosch/Varimax combo together. I would worry that one may slow down the other in terms of design and flow, but mostly I want to keep everything the same for a neater install, and, I had already paid for the 2nd Bosch pump. I also wanted to prove the $200+- dual Bosch setup as a cost effective solution.

scoto

I just completed my single pass intercooler mod. what is the best way to run the 3/4 hose to the intercooler? I am not finding a good path with my looped fuel rail. I am thinking I will have to make some 3/4 tubes similar to the smaller 5/8 tubes I removed.


http://s256.photobucket.com/user/euruwarren/library/intercooler%20single%20pass

Denroll

That looks nice. Looking forward to seeing the results. About how much did the modification and the coating cost?

scoto

The cost of the coating was $100. I did the work myself with the exception of the welding done by my friend for the cost of high quality beer.


Now I need to figure out how to get the 3/4 hose around & under the Supercharger. I am having trouble finding a good path. Maybe some one who has already done this can post a photo or let me know how the did it??

shardul

iTrader: (1)

try to loop the fuel rail over the super charger so you may have some more room under

E55Greasemonkey

I got your PM..

I do not have a looped rail FWIW.

It's tricky running those 3/4" hoses, but I followed the original path. The drivers side curves down and across then comes up next to the passenger side hose which both exit at the stock location. I used 3/4" silicone hose and used the natural curve of the hose and carefully placed it to prevent kinking. I will get a picture in a little while.

E55Greasemonkey

The drivers side hose curves down into the valley then exits underneath the pass side hose. Also mind the hose clamps on the intercooler core. They have to be rotated so the screw part doesn't hit the cylinder head

jcjmw

Thanks for sharing the pics! I was wondering, if he has a looped fuel rail, would he still have enough space underneath the SC pulley to also run those 3/4 hoses?

scoto

Thanks for the photos! I will give this a try. If I cant find room I will use Shardul's idea & run fuel line over the top of the supercharger.

E55Greasemonkey

Those hoses will not fit under the SC snout or near the pulley, just to be clear. The drivers side has to curve down into the valley then come up right at the pass side front of cylinder head.

Denroll

I've got my intercooler at a shop right now getting the baffles removed and having 3/4" fittings added. Getting both of those fat hoses and the fuel rail loop to fit under the supercharger might be a real chore.

cnterline

Crissus

Is there anyone out there that made tests showing a single pass intercooler with a stronger pump setup, nets in reduced IAT and/or much quicker recovery times?

Thank alot. :-)

E55Greasemonkey

After running my single-pass intercooler for four years, and no real benefit noticed, I finally got around to replacing it with a stock one. I had a lot of problems, which ended up getting worse when I discovered my intercooler was leaking externally and internally- causing water to pool inside the intercooler and sky-high intake temps under boost when the water supply ran out. Luckily the water pools in the bottom, and doesn't get sucked into the engine directly- however- I had some cold start misfires which turned out to be condensation forming inside the surge tanks from the internal water leak and the water dripping down onto the valves.

On another note, while routing new hoses, I just noticed the factory flow pattern, going in on the driver side and out on the passenger side- means the cooler water actually enters the back of the 3-pass intercooler at the EXIT of the hot air and not where it enters at the hottest part- the supercharger outlet. I always thought the cool water would enter where the hottest air would hit first, but that's not how MB designed it. Quite surprising actually. I don't understand the reasoning but I routed my hoses in/out as it was designed. Perhaps the logic is to have the coolest water hitting the core right where the air exits before going into the engine. If the core were heatsoaked this would make sense.

I also have come to the conclusion that if a single-pass core was so much better- it would have been designed that way from the factory. The triple pass core has a purpose- efficiency- meaning every square inch of the core has water flowing through evenly and in-contact with the metal allowing maximum heat absorption by the water while it's flowing through those three passes.

Overall, I would not recommend modifying your intercooler core.