Boost and Intercooler?
 

We finnally got round to putting an intercooler on the 12 at the weekend but the boost seems to have dropped to 10psi from 12psi at the inlet manifold, is that because of the intercooler or is it because I'm a muppet and didn't tighten a hose properly?

P.S. Still running a T2 :o

what i/c are you using mate, and have you checked the boost b4 the i/c ? .

What spark plugs do you have?
What timing do you set?

It's the one Adz had before he went all Bling Bling ;)

We haven't done any testing yet as Slimreaper only found out that it was doing last night after driving it home from getting it fitted. Just wondered if there was a straight forward explanation for it due to the higher volume of air in the inlet system or summat.

The only other thing I can think of that's changed is the turbo inlet pipe is now very slightly (and I mean very slightly) pinched between the hot and cold pipe of the IC.

We haven't changed either.

Pressure drops are common across intercoolers, due to resistance in the intercooler and pipe work.

I see, that makes sense, Is 2psi a lot to drop or not?

This kinda leads me on to my next question which is where should I be reading my bosst pressure from? I just tapped a new guage into the the pipe that the Factory fitted boost guage ran from, but If I'm lossing pressure through the IC then should I read it from the turbo side to make sure I don't over work that?

The actuator should be fed off of the compressor housing of the turbo.

Its probably an average drop for the cheaper type of IC's, but remember that its only a T2 trying to push the air through.

The actuator is fed from the compressor housing but is that where I should also read the boost from?

I see what you mean now...

I think it would make more sense to read it at the inlet manifold. That way you can monitor leaks etc.

Wouldn't turn it past 12psi though...

Good, that's what I thought and have done :)

Is 12psi the limit of the stock internals or the T2?

Its kind of the limit of the T2.

I found at 12psi with a volvo intercooler that turning up made no difference, and it struggled to hold the boost at the top end anyway (which is the limit).

Cheers, we've got a T25 to fit but it's just finding the time to do it that's a problem, having never done it before we really need two days just in case we cock up!

12psi seems to be lively enough for us for now, if we need to find any more performance then I think we're going to look at weight saving as it improves both (for want of a better word) speed and handling :)

A T25 is a piss easy conversion, have faith in your ability

:D thanks Obe-Wan ;) but I know how camel handed I can be!! Trust me I make the easiest jobs look hard ;)