[Mk2] [Turbo] Charge Coolers explained

[Dan88]

Could someone please explain exactly what a charge cooler is and what it does in terms of cooling / performance?

from what ive gathered from people so far its an alternative to the stock intercooler and can be done for under £500 and give you up to 30bhp??

Ive done a small amount of searching and found them to be all shapes and sizes from cylinder ones to square ones and its confused me. Could do with someone explaining them to me straight?

Thanks, Dan

[gline]

Basically an intercooler cools the intaken air by transferring the heat to the air (hence it has a fan blowing cold air onto it)

The chargecooler cools the intaken air by transferring the heat to water and uses a radiator to then transfer this to the air.

Basically water can absorb heat quicker and more efficiently, so it cools the intaken air quicker and cooler, this allows you to force more air into the engine, thus also being able to burn more fuel, increasing BHP.

kinda real basic explaination, but hopefully u get the idea?

[toxo]

The only way you could do it for under £500 is to find a crashed celica gt4 and scavenge all the parts. I'm doing it with new hose, new radiator, new mounts and bolts and stuff from Mr T, the only parts I've got from a celica are the water pump and the chargecooler core. It's costing a bit more but I'm happy that I'll have done it right. Decent coolant hose alone can be well over £50! For an off-the-shelf one like the Radtec one that Rogue sell you're looking more like £1k for parts + labour.

[gline]

hmmm i think it can be done for £500 or under.

chargecooler + rad (if you dont have aircon) + pump and throttle sock from GT4 can be had for under £500
Then you can buy the collant hoses.
If you fit yourself then there is no labour cost.

What other costly parts do you need?

[Drifter]

A proper pump that can run 24/7 as the GT4 pump was made to run from throttle response not for constent use. £100

Hose £30~

90degree joiners how ever many you need or reducers if using Sh1tento rad, i used proper industrial joiners from work which was free thats like 1/2 inch 90degree bend then 3/4 inch hose connectors with PTFE tape zero leaks

A rad £50>>250 depending on your rad

then you just need the Core itself £250 ?

labour £0 do it yourself cuz it aint that hard to do

Then you'll need new indicators + side strips becasue you had to grind the bolts off to remove the front bumper £80 from Toyota

So around the £700 area max, or £500 if you use a rubbish rad and £420 if you dont mess up your indicators + side strips

Thats a rough price gude 0h also jubliee clips

HTH
Dave

[gline]

A proper pump that can run 24/7 as the GT4 pump was made to run from throttle response not for constent use. £100

Hose £30~

90degree joiners how ever many you need or reducers if using Sh1tento rad, i used proper industrial joiners from work which was free thats like 1/2 inch 90degree bend then 3/4 inch hose connectors with PTFE tape zero leaks

A rad £50>>250 depending on your rad

then you just need the Core itself £250 ?

labour £0 do it yourself cuz it aint that hard to do

Then you'll need new indicators + side strips becasue you had to grind the bolts off to remove the front bumper £80 from Toyota

So around the £700 area max, or £500 if you use a rubbish rad and £420 if you dont mess up your indicators + side strips

Thats a rough price gude 0h also jubliee clips

HTH
Dave

What pump do you recommend for 24/7 use and has the same or better flow rate as a celica pump?


Also one thing ive always wondered...... can you do the install in stages?
I know you can mount the rad and pipes into the engine bay one day and then the rest the next day, but could you mount the pump and chargecooler core and throttle sock in 1 day and not fill the system and then pipe it up another day, or do you run the risk of damaging the throttle sock and core if they arent filled up due to heat?

[toxo]

You'd get massive heatsoak within the core very very quickly if the pump wasn't running and the core were empty. I'd suggest pipes first, then radiator, then leave it a bit, calm down, let the cuts on your hands heal, then tackle the engine bay!

[gline]

You'd get massive heatsoak within the core very very quickly if the pump wasn't running and the core were empty. I'd suggest pipes first, then radiator, then leave it a bit, calm down, let the cuts on your hands heal, then tackle the engine bay!

i take it its hard to remove the front bumper??? thats what im really dreading. its a cinq rad im using, i wonder can i mount it without removing the bumper

[toxo]

I wouldn't try it, it'd be far too difficult without the bumper off (if you have a standard bumper - veilside ones for example would give you a bit more room to manoever). Front bumper off is pretty straightforward, think there's a guide on the OC. It's basically headlights out, undertrays off, plastic trim around bonnet release off, and then you can get to all the bolts. The only tricky part is aligning the headlamp panels again afterwards.

[jon_st205]

The GT4 CC pumps are made to run 24/7. They only switch off at idle to prevent the fluid itself becoming heatsoaked - works very well.

The ST205 pump is nigh-on unbeatable for flow and reliability at less than silly cost levels.

Cheers,
Jon

[Drifter]

Oh i was told the GT4 pump worked on throttle response like X amount of power etc at RPM Y, guess i was miss lead

But the pump i have is this one from www.advancedveichletuning.co.uk
very strong + quiet, plus can also run fully dry w/o damage

Like they said rad + hoses 1st

Good Luck

Dave

[jdbecks]

also you can refurb your st205 pump for £5 for the two bearings

[Extubby]

It can be done cheaper.
I bought Nick Bryants for £225 and spent a few pounds on some new jubilee clips and another few pounds on some aluminium bar to mount the rad. Really was not that hard to do.

[RobCrezz]

Could someone please explain exactly what a charge cooler is and what it does in terms of cooling / performance?

from what ive gathered from people so far its an alternative to the stock intercooler and can be done for under £500 and give you up to 30bhp??

Ive done a small amount of searching and found them to be all shapes and sizes from cylinder ones to square ones and its confused me. Could do with someone explaining them to me straight?

Thanks, Dan

In addition to what everyones said, the reason chargecoolers are more benifit to MR2 owners is because our engines are midship, and if we tried to use a large front mounted intercooler, the lag would be increased due to running the charge pipes so far. Where as with the charge cooler, only the coolant has to run to the front of the car and back to the charge cooler core, and the actual charge from the turbo doesnt have to travel far to the plenum.

[JeffD]

Youd really enjoy reading this :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercooler

[gline]

Oh i was told the GT4 pump worked on throttle response like X amount of power etc at RPM Y, guess i was miss lead

But the pump i have is this one from www.advancedveichletuning.co.uk
very strong + quiet, plus can also run fully dry w/o damage

Like they said rad + hoses 1st

Good Luck

Dave

just looking at the specs of the bosch pump thats on that site:

Voltage: 12v
Ouput : 1200l/hr upto 5psi head pressure
Pressure : up to 8psi
Current : Max 5A
Connections : 19mm push on hose

How does this compare to the gt4 pump?
Does the bosch pump live up to the gt4 pump???

[bubbles]

If you get the pipes from the 205 you can use some of the metal
bends and you can use the rad but its a lot easier to use the cinq one.