Intercooler - cooled

[B22-2023]

Removed shutters and added a 7” 1200 cfm puller fan. The CPE intercooler is 7 inch tall and there was plenty of space behind it and the transmission cooler.

It’s an easy enough experiment to try and improve on my blocked forced air flow (bumper/winch/armor). By creating more draw, and there is plenty of free air flow to draw from under there, maybe IAT will come down in these hot days and heavy loads I’ll soon be facing.

Pics show the aluminum sheet lower fan shroud put in recently as well.

And this may be a corner-case but CPE intercooler + FabFours front skid plate is a bad combo. Maybe it’s always like this but that heavy armor and the A/M intercooler hanging down there, what a PITA reassembling for a one man job without shop stands and a lift. Even my shop says so.

Sorry the pics are lousy and some turns out were videos.

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[BlueWaffle]

I've always thought that I.C sprayer setups were a super neat way to combat heat soak.

I never use my rear washer... Mabey I should do some clever washer hose re-routing...

 

[Squatch]

Mishimoto makes a high mount intercooler.

 

[Ape Factory]

Generally fans improve flow through at speeds below 30-40mph. Above that, they create a restriction.

With that said, and as you've noted, the ducting to get air into the IC has been drastically reduced. I look at the IC ducting and see that as the weak link even on completely stock Broncos.

Are you running the fan off of a thermally activated switch or just a manual switch? I designed a transmission cooler kit for a dual clutch gearbox and used a dual fan setup initially. It had a thermo-switch and would activate once fluids reached a certain temp. After testing in more moderate temperatures, I removed the fans and saw a general overall drop of 4 degrees celsius without the fan. But that was a car that didn't spend a lot of time below 30mph. Even so, below that speed, the stock radiator dual fan setup had enough airflow to keep the fluid temps where I wanted them as even with the engine cold, the fans operated at 10% capacity, jumping to 19% within a few minutes or about the point where oil temps crossed 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

But again, at very low speeds, a fan likely has real benefits. There are also dual fan setups out there. Setrab makes OEM-grade fans that I've used extensively and they're extremely reliable.

 

[B22-2023]

Mishimoto makes a high mount intercooler.

I had one in my inventory from early on, and there was a fitment issue with my (then Afe) charge pipes, so in went the CPE) - wish I kept it to swap in after going to Injen pipes.

I've always thought that I.C sprayer setups were a super neat way to combat heat soak. …….clever washer hose re-routing...

Yeah I heard about that on ricer intercooler forums trying to get ideas. You should read those for a laugh, cooling intercooler talk there is like ASS delete or 6 vs 7 qts of oil on this site.
Hmmm the front camera has a washer sprayer. I could use that - but no. Not until I’m slicking Civics down at the drag track.

Anyway - I forgot to mention electrical. Yes it’s an Amazon fan. 5 amps. I’ll put in a Derale or something if this exercise works out. Wired now to wireless relay/switch, eventually to a supplemental bank of Aux switches I’ll need. I don’t see this fan on a thermostat; I’d use it like Towing Mode on my F-150 - just under heavy loads.

 

[B22-2023]

Generally fans improve flow through at speeds below 30-40mph. Above that, they create a restriction.

With that said, and as you've noted, the ducting to get air into the IC has been drastically reduced. I look at the IC ducting and see that as the weak link even on completely stock Broncos.

Are you running the fan off of a thermally activated switch or just a manual switch? I designed a transmission cooler kit for a dual clutch gearbox and used a dual fan setup initially. It had a thermo-switch and would activate once fluids reached a certain temp. After testing in more moderate temperatures, I removed the fans and saw a general overall drop of 4 degrees celsius without the fan. But that was a car that didn't spend a lot of time below 30mph. Even so, below that speed, the stock radiator dual fan setup had enough airflow to keep the fluid temps where I wanted them as even with the engine cold, the fans operated at 10% capacity, jumping to 19% within a few minutes or about the point where oil temps crossed 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

But again, at very low speeds, a fan likely has real benefits. There are also dual fan setups out there. Setrab makes OEM-grade fans that I've used extensively and they're extremely reliable.

Great input. I forgot to mention that I will monitor IAT and IAT2 temps closely under different conditions via my scanner. AND I put a Bluetooth thermometer in behind the IC to watch what happens on pull through and dead space temps. There’s no way to know what this 2.7L Ecoboost will do compared to my other trucks, not even my F-150 Eco. We’ll see, at all speeds.

 

[ScLeCo]

Your intercooler is too thick. It's been a while since my college physics days and I don't remember exactly the width where the air flow is slowed to the point where it creates a positive pressure bubble but I know you're well past (I believe 2.5-3").
The faster you go the less efficient your intercooler is. A fan is not going to help as stated earlier it's just going to create another restriction.
I also realize I'm wasting my breath and anything I say is going to flow like water off a ducks back.

 

[brkdncr]

Your intercooler is too thick. It's been a while since my college physics days and I don't remember exactly the width where the air flow is slowed to the point where it creates a positive pressure bubble but I know you're well past (I believe 2.5-3").
The faster you go the less efficient your intercooler is. A fan is not going to help as stated earlier it's just going to create another restriction.
I also realize I'm wasting my breath and anything I say is going to flow like water off a ducks back.

as long as charge temps show better numbers for their use case it’s probably fine.

I went down a rabbit hole trying to validate this claim and all I got for it was the new desire to upgrade my intercooler to a mishimoto high mount.

 

[B22-2023]

Your intercooler is too thick.

I’m down with that science, I haven’t considered it - thanks. The reason I’m posting here is to learn from input like yours. @Ape Factory too, if I see temps going the wrong way, I’ll pull the POS fan out. I actually hope it works, because those

all I got for it was the new desire to upgrade my intercooler to a mishimoto high mount.

I’m might be headed there too, who knows. I’ll see how this goes this summer.

 

[Ape Factory]

Your intercooler is too thick. It's been a while since my college physics days and I don't remember exactly the width where the air flow is slowed to the point where it creates a positive pressure bubble but I know you're well past (I believe 2.5-3").
The faster you go the less efficient your intercooler is. A fan is not going to help as stated earlier it's just going to create another restriction.
I also realize I'm wasting my breath and anything I say is going to flow like water off a ducks back.

Generally it’s 3” but it also depends on proximity to any heat exchangers. It’s important to have them stacked with as minimal a gap as possible otherwise it’ll take the path of least resistance and go around the corenif the gap is too big.

 

[Ape Factory]

I’m might be headed there too, who knows. I’ll see how this goes this summer.

It's supposed to be 105 here in San Antonio by Wednesday. F*cking ridiculous. Earliest it's been that hot this soon since records were kept. It's going to be a long summer.

I may at the very least, remove the shutters on mine.

 

[B22-2023]

It's supposed to be 105 here in San Antonio by Wednesday. F*cking ridiculous. Earliest it's been that hot this soon since records were kept. It's going to be a long summer.

I may at the very least, remove the shutters on mine.

We’ll get heat in Houston then too.
Today it was cool but I can tell driving around that just the shutters being removed is dropping air temps.

Haven‘t run the fan while driving yet, it was miswired.
Got that repaired, and did a smoke test in the driveway; the fan pulls a lot of air from around obstructions into the IC, and air gets pushed out all different pathways from the skid plate interior and off-axis of the fan output.

Later this week, that high ambient heat will be a good test.

 

[B22-2023]

95 degree highway and local driving and lower than my usual temps. IAT2 recovery to 110 degrees from high boost on punches from 40 to 85 mph was almost immediate (after removing shutters) and traffic/idle never went over 130 (fan), mostly low 120s. I mean it’s not dropping below ambient
like others, but a big improvement for me and just where it probably should be.


I’ll wire the fan to always on/ACC because where it is mounted (see pic) is behind the winch. When on I can feel the front of the IC getting air pulled in through the shutter shroud, and a ton of hot air is of course blasting out; and this location doesn’t get/fan can’t block the direct highway air flow because there is almost none. A few rows at the top of the IC get that air.

These runs were with the (solid) skid plate off; before I button it all up I’m going to have a machine shop punch a few air flow holes in it.

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