Thread: Coolant leak when Intercooler is installed, Help!

I did a pressure test on the coolant system, got it to hold at 14 PSI and i saw no leaks anywhere.

I looked up in the hole for the PVC on the rear of the sc, it looked wet. SO i took off the top of what i assume is the PVC system(circled in red) and looking inside after i took out a few parts it was wet inside as well.

So what i am understanding now is coolant is getting sucked up through the lim, into the PVC system in the SC and then the coolant is getting put back into the airflow and that is why my lim looks so wet, and possible why i am getting white smoke with the IC installed.

PCV is going to have oil in it. You should have removed the top cover, a spring, then a pcv valve and it would have had an o-ring around it. Is that correct?

If your cooling system held at 14psi, then you don't have a leak ... according to that test.

X2 that's where I got lost. If the pressure held, it's fine.
i mean , I know starting up for the first time after a major overhaul is always a bit nerve wrecking , you sure it's not just normal condensation ?

Ok so that is just oil in PVC. Yes there was a spring and a valve with an o ring on it.
Yeah i am sure its not just condensation i have ran the car about 6 different times now with the IC installed and gotten white smoke. I would let it run for at least long enough to clear out anything that may have gotten into the engine to burn out.
Yes i am running dexcool.

It does not make sense how it leaks since your coolant ports are blocked off already. Unless the intercooler core is leaking

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Since you have the coolant holes blocked on the LIM. There's no coolant that can possibly be getting introduced from pulling only the SC off and adding the IC between.

This is why I say it's impossoble the IC is causing the engine coolant consumption. And if the core was leaking the coolant in the IC system, that would be low , not the engine coolant.
Something is being mis-diagnosed

What i have it narrowed down to is this. Without the IC on, there is no white smoke from the exhaust and my coolant level stays the same. If i put the IC on with no coolant in it, and the hoses are not hooked up to it either. Then i get white smoke from the exhaust.

Maybe i should get another lim and test it out?

I wouldn't get another LIM. You diagnosed and found this one to not leak.

The issue only occurs when you have the IC in place and is not connected or filled with coolant. We can rule out an issue with the IC core, because it's empty.


1. What are you doing for a gasket when you put the IC on?
2. When you say you are losing coolant, honestly...how much are you losing?
3. How long are you running the engine? 3 minutes doesn't count in my eyes.
4. You did a coolant pressure test and you said it held 14 psi, was the SC and IC off the motor for the test? If no..what was the state and which gaskets?

This is an easy fix, we simply need to rule out a couple of things.

1. RTV top and bottom
2. Not sure how much im loosing only that i create one hell of a smoke screen if i get on the throttle.
3. The last attempt, i let the engine idle for 4 minutes, didnt see any smoke, then started to move it out of the driveway and had a steady amount of smoke start coming out, if i reved it i got a big cloud of it. Let it idle a few more mins to see if it was just a bit in the system, it stayed the same amount.
4. The SC and IC were off the motor for the pressure test.

I took another crack at it today so i could document it.

Took SC off, cleaned the surfaces, used rtv as gaskets between Lim - IC, and IC - SC.














Also i have 2 videos, one just idle, one with a bit of revving.

https://youtu.be/RiXrG3IeZkc

https://youtu.be/Hx73kd_9RxM


As you can see i still have smoke coming from my exhaust when I install the IC without any coolant in the core. Hoses are not hooked up to it either.

whats that smell like out the pipes ?

Honestly i couldnt pinpoint the smell, it didnt really smell bad to me if that makes since, like oil burning bad. I would say it was similar to coolant when i dropped a bit on the exhaust manifold to get the smell of it. Ill test that again to compare the 2.

I will do that in a little bit Jeff. My MAP is reading the exact same with the IC and without.
Marginal LIM gasket? you men the one that has 4 parts to it?

Your lim is not machined correctly for the Gen 2 ZZP IC. The way it is right now the PCV will not function correctly. You are missing the passenger front vacuum hole rerouting. Here is a pic of how it should look.

zzp-lim.jpg

Quote from PRJ "The channel cut in the lower intake by the #1 intake runner is a re-route of the PCV inlet air. Because the ZZP IC core extends wider then where the factory hole are in the intake, they could not simply cut a hole straight through the core to meet up with the intake hole (this is also true on the PCV air return by #6 intake runner, and why a new hole is drilled there) the new cores frames are hollow, with passages cut inside that allow the PCV inlet air to pass through the inside of the frame. The hole on the top side of the core that is near the SC bypass hole is where the inlet air coming from the TB goes into the IC core frame."

I have a valve cover breather to take care of the front PCV.

Ok I ran my car for a bit to get it up to about 180 degrees. At about 15 seconds after starting my car the smoke started to come out of the exhaust, the whole time i let it warm up the same amount of smoke was coming out. Had my friend smell the exhaust to see if it was sweet to him. Neither of of could pick up on it being sweet. Actually we couldnt even guess what it smelled like because it was so, i dunno how to describe it just not much of a smell to it really. I dropped a few drops of coolant onto the exhaust manifold and we could both easily smell that it as sweet. Maybe because my coolant is 50/50 we cant pick up on the smell?

I checked all my spark plugs, #4 was the only one that may have been a tiny bit wet? I was not able to get a good picture of it, this is a different picture just showing where it looked a bit wet.