Thread: Coolant leak when Intercooler is installed, Help!

I am creating a new thread for this one problem!
Car specs-for you tap talk users!
02 Grand Prix GT Mods' Top Swapped Gen 3, 3.4" MPS, 1.8 Yella Terra roller rockers, Speed Daddy Headers, CAI, Self Tuned, 180 tstat, ram air hood, front/rear sway bars. AL 104's

With just the supercharger on my car runs fine, no white smoke coming from the exhaust and the coolant level does not go down after i have driven it for a while. When I put on the zzp stage 2 IC with no coolant in it(lines are not even hooked up) I get white smoke out of my exhaust(a lot of it) took about 3 minutes of idle before a saw any white smoke. Then it was a steady stream, hitting the throttle produced more smoke.

Aside from the white smoke with the ic on, all my readings in HPT are what they should be, boost looks fine and there is no indications of vacuum leaks like i had early on in the install.

I have put the IC on the car about 6 times now testing out different things to try and make it work. On the latest attempt when i took the IC off, i did not see any coolant around the blocked off coolant passages, or anywhere else around the IC or the sc.

The LIM has both coolant passages blocked off by npt plugs wrapped with teflon tape. Both plugs have been vacuum tested and neither leaked.
The LIM also has all new gaskets installed.
Grey RTV is being used instead of gaskets for the IC.



The rear pvc has a hole drilled in the LIM so that it is functional with the IC.
I have a valve cover breather for the front pvc. It has been tested with it installed or just the oil cap on. No difference white smoke wise.

I vacuum tested the IC core as well and it held up fine, though the core had no coolant in it for the install anyway.

Here are pictures of the LIM and IC.

LIM with view of plugged coolant holes.



LIM with rear pvc circled



Bottom of IC


Top of IC



Sealing the IC



Inside top of IC


Inside bottom of IC

All of those pics were taken in the past week. I watched videos online of cars burning oil or coolant, oil has more of a blueish color to it. From what i could tell it was just straight white smoke and it smelled like coolant(assuming i have that smell correct now). Yes the front pcv is not active, the lim was not modified in the front to allow the pcv to function with the intercooler. That is why i got the valve cover breather.

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.

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

Real easy way to know if it's oil or coolant. Warm up your car and drop just one drop of either on the exhaust manifold. It'll burn right off and not cause an issue, and you'll know what each smells like when it burns.

With the IC off and the engine down to the LIM. Go get a pressure tester and pump it up. I'm wondering if your hole that was drilled ended up into the coolant passage that is right in that area. IF so.. it would be sealed by the gasket when the IC was off and would piss coolant when the IC is on.

Edit..I looked at ZZP's pictures of where they drill it. I'm thinking you nicked a coolant passage for sure.

There's a coolant passage...right there.

Pressure on cooling system. I am thinking that hole is gonna become a geyser

I can't seem to find a LIM pic to double check. The circled hole is the drilled spot he did to keep part of the pcv. The big hole right next to it is the original pcv

Seems logical.

Here's the comment you made that got me thinking that way.
"He found a small amount at the PCV in the IC when he removed it before"

Only the back hole is open, and has been redrilled.

I know that the hole i drilled goes into the pcv passage, it is possible i also opened up a portion of the coolant passage with it, but since it is connected to the pvc passage would it not leak with just the sc on?

Edit
Just did the coolant vs oil drop test on my exhaust manifold. I can now say for certain that it is coolant that i am burning.
Once the engine cools down a bit it take the sc off and take a look at the hole i drilled

Took SC off. There is a few drops of coolant around the pvc passage this time as well. Looking at the hole i drilled i cannot see anywhere were it connects to the coolant passage. I see no holes on the walls of the hole. But as you can see there are a few drops of coolant there.
Here are some pics.






I based where to drill my hole from this picture, which is from
http://www.grandprixforums.net/threa...erCharger-3800

If you look at an SC gasket..


It's going to mostly seal the leak. However.. inside your lim looks pretty darn wet.

Me..I'd put some low pressure to the radiator and see if she gushes

Dont have an extra rad cap, i have an air compressor with a few fittings so i should be able to rig something up to make that work, Ill get back to you once i have tested it!