Intercooler change DIY

**Lucas_R** · 10-01-2014, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by brad

Thanks Lucas

You must have an excess of good karma around you if your helpfulness is any indication.

**blushes**

Happy to help anyone if i can. Mind you, after immobilising my own car last week due to not plugging the dash cluster back in correctly, im not sure i should be giving advice to anybody

Re karma, i actually have terrible luck, so im not sure i believe in it unfortunately.

**brad** · 10-01-2014, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by zei20t

Im not sure anyone has tried Matti. Worth a go I rekon.

As for the plastic and metal end-tank versions. The plastic tanked version is thicker?

I didn't know that, was going to buy the all metal one. glad I kept reading this thread!

Here's the process of how I ended up with the plastic tank Golf R/ S3 IC. A lot of my info comes from the internet, so it's more like a "serving suggestion" than the gospel truth.

Found info in this thread at GolfMkVNB: partnos are very important in this process.

1.8tsi comes out with the 32mm core. This is the same as the original MKV GTI & a truckload of other turbo Golfs. There is a possibility that the 32mm core on the MKV GTI was Euro & North America spec & AU & South Africa came with 38mm core - I have no idea what the flow of the plastic end tanks is.

MK6 Golf = 38mm core + plastic end tanks partno 1K0 145 803 T

pre-April 2010 S3 = 40mm core with 47mm metal end tanks. partno 1K0 145 803P. Price varies enormously from $400 - $700. About $250-$350 s/hand.
Some say the metal end tanks help with cooling, others say that because they aren't in the airflow that initially they help & when they get hot they do nothing or add to the heat. Either way, they are still a good upgrade from the 32mm core. I'm not sure those that have gone

post April 2010 S3, Golf R, Audi TT-S & others = 38.7mm core with 40mm plastic end tanks. Partno 1K0145803BE or 1K0145803BP (or 1K0 145 803 AK Audi TT-S). Price new from $195 through to $350ish. 2nd hand - I've seen them offered anywhere from $80 - $250. I paid what I thought was a fair price & the seller bent over backwards to get it delivered to me from 200km away. So I'm a happy camper.
Supposed advantages over the S3 IC:

4 more bars spaced more closely together
* More equivalent frontal surface area, as well as internal cross sectional area - improved flow capacity

The plate design inside the bars are more closely packed
* Improved efficiency due to greater rate of heat transfer

Smoother flowing end tank ports
* Improved flow characteristics compared to the S3 fittings which have steps in diameter causing turbulence.

And it looks dead stock.

From what I can see, there isn't much advantages going from GolfR plastic to S3 metal tank or vice-versa. One might be better than the other but thgere wouldn't be much in it. If you have an S3 or a Golf R then the logical upgrade path will be a quality aftermarket IC.

For me with my 32mm IC the 38mm plastic tank IC is a logical & definate upgrade is it's ~20% bigger.

Mk V GTI intercooler - 1K0 145 803 S (TFSI & TSI all markets)
Mk VI GTI intercooler - 1K0 145 803 S (US) 1K0 145 803 AK (ROW - 210hp)
Mk VI R intercooler - 1K0 145 803 AK (ROW)
Audi S3 intercooler - prior to MY 2010 1K0 145 803 P, MY 2010 built before 4/19/2010 1K0 145 803 AK, after 4/19/2010 1K0 145 803 BE
Audi TT-S intercooler - prior to MY 2010 1K0 145 803 P, MY2010-11 1K0 145 803 AK, MY 2012 1K0 145 803 BE

**brad** · 10-01-2014, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by Lucas_R

Re karma, i actually have terrible luck, so im not sure i believe in it unfortunately.

Eventually, things all come together.

**gldgti** · 10-01-2014, 10:00 AM

With regard to end tank type - the only advantage you might get with plastic is that you might take less time to cool it back down again after heatsoaking at traffic lights etc - but even then, the difference will be marginal and I bet you'd have a lot of trouble even measuring it.

People often fail to realise the reality about just how much air an engine actually ingests... compared with the heat capacity of the air being sucked through the engine, and the heat capacity of the air moving through the intercooler core, the heat capacity of the end tanks is very small.

However, the big advantage of aluminium end tanks is that you know you'll never have a leak there, or blow them off if you are running high boost pressures.

The THS copy one looks like a really good buy!

IMO, the 'upgrade path' for intercoolers (on VAG cars atleast) is diminishing returns these days, as the engines are quite highly tuned in the first place now, and hte factory bits are great.

A few more years and I wouldnt be surprised if its 'twintercoolers' or nothing!

re-karma - if you believe in luck, isnt it bad luck not to believe in karma?

**brad** · 10-01-2014, 10:28 AM

I thought about blowing off the end tanks but I can't envisage that being an issue for me.

I believe the plastic tanks flow better as it's easier to plastic mould curves, etc. I've seen enough metal casting to know that you can almost anything with metal - maybe it's just the fact that plastic is cheaper.

As part of this "fine tuning" exercise I just bought this on ebay.

**zei20t** · 10-01-2014, 10:55 AM

I got a set of them from ebay also

quite easy to fit, a hoist makes it 1000000000 times easier.

the right-hand pipe with the sensor flange didn't fit the sensor for me. the thread is wrong for the factory bolts. so buy some beforehand that fit in the holes.

**brad** · 10-01-2014, 11:19 AM

great - thx for the heads-up re: bolts. I have a terrible habit of blundering in half-arsed & then running around like an idiot trying to get things right with the car in a million pieces.