2.3L intercooler off roading - SPAL Fan

[Q1svt]

2.3L intercooler off roading …

Ford has the doors or shutters to control flow to the intercooler when flow is not needed.

But when off road slowly moving and under load / boost, there is little or nothing flowing through it…. I’m in hot dry climate.

Anyone WITH real knowledge
Have you added a SPAL cooling fan? OR …

I’m thinking of doing the same for oil cooling

[people with hyperbole syndrome- stay on your porch]

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[Brian_B]

Someone here added a fan to their intercooler earlier this year, but it escapes me who did it. They were going to do some desert runs and see how it did.

I've heard mixed reviews on them from other vehicles, so interesting to hear what you find out, and especially if you decide to do it.

 

[Q1svt]

Brian, Yes it’s a hard one…. Boaters on the Colorado river know going faster to cool off … does the opposite

 

[Brian_B]

I will also say — seems to me in low speed / no boost situations like most miles off roading - your intercooler isn’t doing anything anyway

It’s there to remove the added heat from compression of the turbo, but if the turbo isn’t spooled up, there is no compression, so no heat from compression to remove. It will be trying to cool air with other air that’s already at the same temp.

I don’t find myself in many situations where I’m at both low speed with the turbo cranking. And I do plenty of low speed / high rpm driving (4Lo and 3-4K rpm are more or less my default cruising speed down rough roads), but high rpm doesn’t necessarily mean you are building boost. Boost is related to power, and that isn’t necessarily proportional to RPM

 

[Q1svt]

You’re who I am looking for

I don’t find myself in many situations where I’m at both low speed with the turbo cranking. And I do plenty of low speed / high rpm driving (4Lo and 3-4K rpm are more or less my default cruising speed down rough roads), but high rpm doesn’t necessarily mean you are building boost.

… do you have any data logs or other information

I’m new to the 2.3l, and haven’t had turbo since the 80’s.. a lot of superchargers for decades

 

[Brian_B]

… do you have any data logs or other information

I'll start off saying, to be honest, the engine is just kind of a thing to make the tires turn for me, and so long as it turns the tires I don't ask for much of it beyond that. There are a lot of folks here who do get neck deep into the tuning though.

So, I don't normally do data logging or anything. But you are right, just because what I think is happening makes sense (to me, at least) on paper, doesn't mean that's what is really happening.

I remember getting into a discussion here - someone was looking for a bigger intercooler because they saw their oil temps go up at idle, like sitting at a stop light or drive thru (lot of Starbucks drinkers in these forums). And, to me, that just didn't make any sense.

I did one data log showing that IAT1 and IAT2 were the same at idle just to kind of prove it to myself - yeah, the turbo sitting there doesn't do anything, and your intercooler isn't doing anything either. But that's been the only data logging I've done.

One person did mention - yeah, but if you just came down off a hard run, the turbo is still hot, and it's got some air flow past it, and the hot metal of the turbo impellar will heat the air up some, so the intercooler will fix that. And yeah, I got to conceed, that's plausible. But I don't think it was a) enough heat transfer to make a difference in O2 density/power, b) at idle/low speed the only air coming across the exterior of the intercooler is a little bit from the electric radiator fan (and your idea of an aux fan may help there) so the intercooler isn't really cooling anything down even if there was heat to be cooled, and c) who cares about power at idle sitting at the drive thru?

I think a lot of people here (and not accusing you, just a lot of people) look at the oil temp gage in the instrument cluster (on the pre-MT25 it's the only engine temp gage that actually shows a number) and conflate that with their intercooler for some reason. There is only a very loose correlation between the two.

 

[Q1svt]

I'll start off saying,

Hey Brian... sorry I was not questioning you... just seeking info. You are one of just a few HERE I try to read posts from.

My 2.3L came with the manual transmission... ;^)

After doing some R&D about it I liked it better than the 2.7L {because it fit what I was going to do with it and how i would drive my bronco}. bottom-line liked the low end torque curve... and better w/Ford's tune. Got very fast vehicles so the Badlands is just for back roads, some desert some beach sand..

YES, there is a lot of nonsense pushed around here .

My SPAL interests is more about longevity, like oil cooling etc. Trying to find torque/hp data with turbo boost numbers all together.

Thanks for your posts here

EDITED: And Brian, there are the ones here '12 year old girls' and their EMOJI's ... guess they're not old enough to get into Starbucks.

 

[Smocaine]

I have considered the Whipple intercooler upgrade because it omits the shutters for more intercooler volume, but it's nearly $1000 for the kit.
I believe the shutters can be safely disconnected in the open position - that'd be a low-to-no-dollar mod for better temps.

 

[Q1svt]

I have considered the Whipple intercooler

Whipple makes some good stuff... but the application you mention is at/for speed...

 

[Denis85]

I would find a way to measure your IAT (Intake air temp) which i assume is measured after the intercooler and before the throttle body. Do it while driving normally AND crawling slowly and see if theres any measurable differences. That should tell you if a fan is really needed. If youre noticing a significant rise when doing the low speed stuff, then maybe a fan is a good move.

 

[Q1svt]

I would find a way to measure your

yes... but I was trying to see if it's been done already ...

My go to [hot climate] is run little or no Ethylene glycol ... all the other ingredients, but there are those Warranty Questions. So fan is maybe specific to intercooling or oil

 

[SuperDave150]

Hey Brian... sorry I was not questioning you... just seeking info. You are one of just a few HERE I try to read posts from.

My 2.3L came with the manual transmission... ;^)

After doing some R&D about it I liked it better than the 2.7L {because it fit what I was going to do with it and how i would drive my bronco}. bottom-line liked the low end torque curve... and better w/Ford's tune. Got very fast vehicles so the Badlands is just for back roads, some desert some beach sand..

YES, there is a lot of nonsense pushed around here .

My SPAL interests is more about longevity, like oil cooling etc. Trying to find torque/hp data with turbo boost numbers all together.

Thanks for your posts here

EDITED: And Brian, there are the ones here '12 year old girls' and their EMOJI's ... guess they're not old enough to get into Starbucks.

@Q1svt you mentioned sand. I have experience with that through the years and I’d say YES ADD ALL THE COOLING FANS YOU CAN! Powering through sand - especially on hot days - heat soaks everything under hood hard & fast. And try to make them automatic thermostat controlled.

 

[mack092]

Why not just get aftermarket mishimoto radiator?? 650 bucks and it provides much more cooling. This is more of a question then answer.

 

[Q1svt]

@Q1svt you mentioned sand. I have experience with that through the years and I’d say YES ADD ALL THE COOLING FANS YOU CAN! Powering through sand - especially on hot days - heat soaks everything under hood hard & fast. And try to make them automatic thermostat controlled.

a person with experience ... thanks superdave.

Like with my air cooled MC, I got extra oil cooling normally and throw the fan switch when needing extra ... stays on as long as it running

 

[Q1svt]

Why not just get aftermarket mishimoto radiator??

... nothing wrong with the Ford OEM. By not using Ethylene glycol, the cooling would be much better. It not a coolant [yes everything has some effect] . Redline water wetter is designed for better cooling in the radiator.

But my MT25 is rolling off the assembly line now so warranty is the issue.

Going bigger does not always work. If say the thermostat is the issue.
And warrenty is the issue. and it effects the ecm... I am still trying to understand Ford's configurations... like the 2.3 does not have an oil temp sensor, the ecm figures out the temp 'calculation' so if you lower it, it does not know so it does not help performance...'

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