Cleaning the inter cooler

[John B]

Hi again, could anyone tell me the best stuff to use to clean the inter cooler out.:nenau

 

[clivvy]

petrol then lots of water, then lots of time to let it dry!

Failing that, I used a combination of engine degreaser and hot water, I mixed it up and that seemed to do a really good job but it think it was more effort than just using a bit of petrol..

 

[John B]

Would brake cleaner be any good ?

 

[makeitfit]

As above BUT why is all that oil there :augie
So on refit bin the oil recirc pipe and get an oil catch tank. Otherwise all this worlk will be for nowt

 

[stinka]

Yes soak in petrol, then use pressure washer

I binned my breather pipe and bunged it, but reconnected as I've been wading over my bonnet

 

[clivvy]

As above BUT why is all that oil there :augie
So on refit bin the oil recirc pipe and get an oil catch tank. Otherwise all this worlk will be for nowt

actually, I can confirm this. When I was stripping my car, I removed the intercooler and it was caked in oil again. he's a wise man MakeitFit, I would follow his guidance!!

 

[John B]

As above BUT why is all that oil there :augie
So on refit bin the oil recirc pipe and get an oil catch tank. Otherwise all this worlk will be for nowt

What pipe am I looking for and what do you mean by an oil catch tank.:doh

 

[clivvy]

What pipe am I looking for and what do you mean by an oil catch tank.:doh

looking at the engine, right side there is a black cylinder sort of pointing at you, might have a green sticker on top. There some pipes coming off it, its that! Might be oil round the bottom of it...

 

[John B]

looking at the engine, right side there is a black cylinder sort of pointing at you, might have a green sticker on top. There some pipes coming off it, its that! Might be oil round the bottom of it...

Do I remove the whole thing and pipes

 

[clivvy]

Do I remove the whole thing and pipes

no, check with Stinka and MakeItFit. All I did with mine, was give it a thorough clean, use new clips and tighten up nicely. The MOD MakeItFit have done I haven't done so cant advise!

 

[John B]

no, check with Stinka and MakeItFit. All I did with mine, was give it a thorough clean, use new clips and tighten up nicely. The MOD MakeItFit have done I haven't done so cant advise!

Ok there's only a small amount off oil in the inter cooler which I believe is normal as you will always get a misting of oil come from the turbo and ill clean the other bits you told me about. Thanks for your help. Top man :thumb2

 

[clivvy]

ah yes a misting is fine and dandy. If you give the oil catch tank a clean and associated pipes (which go back to the air intake pipe where the MAF is connected and I think one pipe goes off to the turbo, you should be all nice and clean!

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

I used engine degreaser sprayed inside it, and then filled with water and swilled round many many times... the only good news in my case was there was so much oil in there that apart from the oil staying coated on the surfaces, there was no stuck on deposits to make it hard and sticky.

What pipe am I looking for and what do you mean by an oil catch tank.:doh

This is the standard Nissan catch tank (In red), it takes the oil blow off from the rocker cover, and tries to separate it from the gasses, allowing the oil to dribble back down into the crank case, and the gasses to go off down the tube I have marked in blue into the air filter feed.

When I was having issues with oil in my intercooler, I initially removed the (blue) pipe from the oil catch tank to the air filter feed, put a mini filter on the end of the oil catch tank output, and a bung in the old pipe into the air filter pipe.

This resulted in oil being sprayed out of the mini filter all over my engine.

So, I took the pipe from the rocker cover via an oil catcher tank I got from Ebay, and then back to the original Nissan oil separator, and reinstated the old pipe from the air filter pipe to the Nissan oil separator...

It worked for a while, but eventually the true cause of the oil issues got to the point that even that was not working...

After a lot of fault finding, and sleepless nights thinking it through, I changed the Turbo, and problem was solved.. nice clean inter cooler now.

 

[John B]

I used engine degreaser sprayed inside it, and then filled with water and swilled round many many times... the only good news in my case was there was so much oil in there that apart from the oil staying coated on the surfaces, there was no stuck on deposits to make it hard and sticky.



This is the standard Nissan catch tank (In red), it takes the oil blow off from the rocker cover, and tries to separate it from the gasses, allowing the oil to dribble back down into the crank case, and the gasses to go off down the tube I have marked in blue into the air filter feed.

When I was having issues with oil in my intercooler, I initially removed the (blue) pipe from the oil catch tank to the air filter feed, put a mini filter on the end of the oil catch tank output, and a bung in the old pipe into the air filter pipe.

This resulted in oil being sprayed out of the mini filter all over my engine.

So, I took the pipe from the rocker cover via an oil catcher tank I got from Ebay, and then back to the original Nissan oil separator, and reinstated the old pipe from the air filter pipe to the Nissan oil separator...

It worked for a while, but eventually the true cause of the oil issues got to the point that even that was not working...

After a lot of fault finding, and sleepless nights thinking it through, I changed the Turbo, and problem was solved.. nice clean inter cooler now.

Wow thanks for taking the time to explain, I can see exactly what I need to do now. Thanks. :thumbs