F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler

   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler #1  

jejeosborne

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Finally got around to drilling my intercooler. It is recommended on an f150 forum and I am glad I did. I did it directly after a 6 hour trip in continuous rain so this is showing the worse case scenario. I am happy to see that after more than 42,000 miles, there is very little oil in the water. As some may know, I experienced my one and only shudder incident this fall on a rainy 7 hour drive this fall. After driving all day Saturday in the rain I thought it would be a good day to drill the hole and see what I collected. I am very pleased with this truck and think this is an easy 5 minute improvement that everyone should make. The link is to my YouTube video where I put my truck in gear and created boost. I was amazed the amount of air that exited the 1/16 inch hole. Picture is the puddle it left and I estimate the volume to be about 3-4 ounces. It had a slight oil sheen.

F150 ecoboost 1/16" hole in CAC drilled: http://youtu.be/QXP1KBXSny8



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   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler #2  
Could a guy hook up a solenoid to only drain during certain conditions and do it from the cab?

Even something as simple as the old push / pull choke cables would be made to work pretty well.
 
   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler #3  
Finally got around to drilling my intercooler. It is recommended on an f150 forum and I am glad I did. I did it directly after a 6 hour trip in continuous rain so this is showing the worse case scenario. I am happy to see that after more than 42,000 miles, there is very little oil in the water. As some may know, I experienced my one and only shudder incident this fall on a rainy 7 hour drive this fall. After driving all day Saturday in the rain I thought it would be a good day to drill the hole and see what I collected. I am very pleased with this truck and think this is an easy 5 minute improvement that everyone should make. The link is to my YouTube video where I put my truck in gear and created boost. I was amazed the amount of air that exited the 1/16 inch hole. Picture is the puddle it left and I estimate the volume to be about 3-4 ounces. It had a slight oil sheen.

F150 ecoboost 1/16" hole in CAC drilled: http://youtu.be/QXP1KBXSny8



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Not having a F 150 but can see one in my not to distant future what is the idea behind this?
 
   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler #4  
Not having a F 150 but can see one in my not to distant future what is the idea behind this?
In the right conditions (high humidity, low boost), the intercooler can cool the air down enough that it will condense water out of the air and leave you with a slug of water in the intercooler. If you suddenly call for more airflow (such as when you stomp on the gas to pass someone) it can suck the water out of the intercooler and into the engine. Being as water is not very compressible, you can hydrolock the motor and bend rods if it ingests enough of it at a time.

Aaron Z
 
   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Could a guy hook up a solenoid to only drain during certain conditions and do it from the cab?

Even something as simple as the old push / pull choke cables would be made to work pretty well.

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe something on a timer that would open for a couple minutes every two hours of running time. Maybe an ice maker type valve but 12 volt.
 
   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler #6  
In the right conditions (high humidity, low boost), the intercooler can cool the air down enough that it will condense water out of the air and leave you with a slug of water in the intercooler. If you suddenly call for more airflow (such as when you stomp on the gas to pass someone) it can suck the water out of the intercooler and into the engine. Being as water is not very compressible, you can hydrolock the motor and bend rods if it ingests enough of it at a time.

Aaron Z

Ok that makes good sense, Thank you!
 
   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler
  • Thread Starter
#7  
In the right conditions (high humidity, low boost), the intercooler can cool the air down enough that it will condense water out of the air and leave you with a slug of water in the intercooler. If you suddenly call for more airflow (such as when you stomp on the gas to pass someone) it can suck the water out of the intercooler and into the engine. Being as water is not very compressible, you can hydrolock the motor and bend rods if it ingests enough of it at a time.

Aaron Z

Yes this has happened but I have only heard of one story with the thousands produced. More common is a misfire code that gets triggered. The one time mine took a sip, I just had a loss of power for about 5 seconds but no codes. Figured this was an easy insurance policy.
 
   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler #8  
Could a guy hook up a solenoid to only drain during certain conditions and do it from the cab?
Even something as simple as the old push / pull choke cables would be made to work pretty well.
Could, but if it got water in it, then it froze (such as when shutting the truck off) it could crack something.
If you are worried about something getting in it, you might take a check valve like Amazon.com: Dorman 47149 Vacuum Check Valve: Automotive cut the nipple off of the "intake" side and epoxy the valve over the hole.

Aaron Z
 
   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler #9  
That was going to be my question Aczlan...........maybe it is dumb question but is there potential for this changing to ice when long drive in rain then overnight freezeup temperatures...and then hunk of ice in it, can it damage impellers etc ............can this ever happen in the cold environments like Canada ?
 
   / F150 ecoboost drilled my intercooler #10  
That was going to be my question Aczlan...........maybe it is dumb question but is there potential for this changing to ice when long drive in rain then overnight freezeup temperatures...and then hunk of ice in it, can it damage impellers etc ............can this ever happen in the cold environments like Canada ?
The intercooler is after the turbo, so it wont affect the turbo, when running, the intercooler should be warm to hot as the air heats up when it gets compressed by the turbos.
The point of the intercooler is to drop the air temp before it hits the intake as cooler air is more dense and produces more power.
This can happen with ANY turbocharged vehicle that has an intercooler, it is more likely on the Ecoboost (my guesses here) because the intercooler is somewhat oversized for "normal" unloaded use (so that its the right size for when towing and working it hard) and as such, it is able to cool the air to the condensation point.
As I understand it, the "worst case scenario" would be a chilly and very humid (or rainy day) when running unloaded (such as a long run unloaded down the interstate under minimal boost) as then the intercooler is most efficient (lower ambient temps and low airflow mean that the intercooler can cool the air more) followed by a period of heavy boost which pushes the condensation our of the intercooler and into the intake.
So, drive it like you stole it and you should be fine :D

Aaron Z
 
 
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