I installed the larger reservoir for my intercooler yesterday, everything went great. One thing with this larger reservoir is it sits over where the aux battery would normally be. There is no way for me to get this reservoir up higher than the intercooler core itself (which sits on top of the intake manifold). I held the reservoir up a few inches above the core and let it run a few minutes before mounting it in its final location to try and get all the air out. Will it be a problem that my final reservoir mounting location is lower than the intercooler core? I am worried i may still have some air trapped in there, and with my core being the highest point in the system, its going to settle there instead of the reservoir.

The results were not really noticable, and because i am unfamiliar with the characteristics of an A2W intercooler, im not sure what to make of it. With ambient temps of 45* today i was seeing "cruising IATs around 75*. This is of course after about 30 minutes of driving and any heat soak i may be prone to get has already settled in. IATs started at about 54* at cruise, and rose to 75* after about 30 minutes of normal driving, and thats where they stayed. I assume this is from everything warming up in the engine bay. Sitting at idle for 10 minutes, the IATs rose to about 100* and stopped there with the same ambient temps. I noticed that it takes longer for the IATs to rise with the newer reservoir though, thats a good thing. I also (like before) only get about a 6* rise in IATs through a 20 second WOT run.

A week or so ago with ambient temps around 63*, i was seeing cruising temps the same as I do with the 45* ambient temps, is this pretty common with A2W setups? Ambient temps dont seem to be as big a factor with the A2W intercoolers as they do with the A2A setups. Anyway, i was thinking i may have some air still in the system and that was causing the IATs to not be as low as they should on a chilly day like today......or do the A2W systems (after normal engine bay temps are reached) not respond as sharply to ambient temps as A2A systems do? I am trying to find a quality 2 or 3 row heat exchanger too, the one I have seems pretty thin (probably a single row). I would love to get that one that magnacharger uses with the CTS-V if anyone know the price. I am still loving this new setup though, its pretty cool to be driving for an hour and open the hood and the intercooler feels so cool to the touch. Just looking for some opinions from your guys experience with the A2W setups given different ambient temps.

 

i say your temps look good. the best i'd see on a day like this (living in the same area as you) is the exact same as you. I have taken notice a long time ago, between 40 to 60 degrees ambient...the cruising iat is about the same. When the ambient drops below 40* is when i see the big jump to lower iat's (and waaay more power). When the ambinet creeps over 60 to 65 that's when i see my iat's go up quicker.

 

Aren't any of the hoses in the system high, so that you could cut one and install a bleed/fill fitting?
Would it help if you insulated the reservoir?

 

Thanks DEW.

My I/C core is the highest point right now. I could pull some slack from one of the hoses probably and stick a tee in to bleed the air i suppose. I thought about insulating the reservoir, i may do that since its made from metal.

 

If your pumps is pushing the water into the core low, and then removing the water HIGH, when you turn the pump on it will push air out. Now if that is back wards then you could get an air pocket.
One thing to keep in mind is the fill point of the new tank. while the pump is running fill 1/2 way or so.
After a few minutes turn off, and see what the water level rises to. if it does not rise you can add more water.
Just do not over fill tank, its a little messy, especially when you are using antifreeze.

Ricky