Industry News

What's the effect of a broken intercooler

2024-02-26

In order to cope with the trend of energy saving, emission reduction, lightweight and miniaturization, many models are equipped with small-displacement supercharged engines. This type of engine requires higher productivity of the cooling system during operation, and the structure is more complex. The intercooler is a necessary thermal management component for intake cooling of supercharged engine, which plays an important role in the productivity of supercharged engine. So, what happens if the intercooler leaks? When the engine is broken, what abnormal symptoms will appear? What is the common fault of intercooler? Let's look it up. What if the intercooler leaks, the role of the intercooler is to cool the compressed and heated air, so that the volume shrinks, to ensure the filling efficiency of the engine intake. The inlet of the intercooler is connected with the output end of the supercharger, and the outlet is connected with the throttle valve, so if the pipeline connection port leaks or the intercooler has air leakage, the intake pressure drops, and the intake volume of the engine is insufficient. In addition, the intercooler is mostly installed in a low position on the vehicle, close to the ground, and is located at the front of the engine compartment, so it is vulnerable to the collision of external hard objects, resulting in damage to the appearance, which leads to leakage. In addition, if the intake air is not effectively filtered, foreign objects such as dust and sand particles may enter the intercooler and cause damage to the inside of the intercooler. Therefore, the use of high-quality air filters and replacement according to the specified cycle also helps to protect the reliable operation of the intercooler. What are the symptoms of a car with a broken intercooler? One of the principles of supercharged engine fuel consumption is to push more air into the cylinder and improve the filling efficiency of the air. The air tightness of the piping and interface of the intercooler is not good, if there is a leak, the inlet pressure generated by the supercharger will be discharged, and the amount of air entering the cylinder will be lower than the benchmark. The amount of air inhaled is insufficient and the amount of fuel injected is small, so the power output of the engine will be attenuated. When the leakage is serious, the vehicle is difficult to drive and the engine failure alarm is issued. Some models use water-cooled intercoolers to dissipate heat by bringing the high temperature air emitted by the supercharger close to the coolant. Therefore, if the vehicle uses inferior coolant or tap water instead of the coolant, the water route of the water-cooled intercooler may be blocked by accumulated scale. At this time, the high-pressure air does not dissipate heat, and enters the cylinder in the state of expansion at high temperature, and the intake volume of the engine is reduced and the power is weakened.

The working state of the intake cooling parts is very important to the operation of the supercharged engine. Due to the structural damage caused by collision, the internal damage caused by excessive intake impurities, the air tightness of the distribution pipe connection, and the scale blockage on the water-cooled intercooler, the work of the intake cooling parts may be abnormal.

1, the failure of the intercooler will cause the uncooled pressurized air into the combustion chamber, in addition to affecting the engine inflation efficiency, but also easily lead to the engine combustion temperature is too high, after the pressurized high temperature air directly into the engine, it will cause engine damage or even dead fire due to high air temperature.

2, the symptoms of air leakage of the intercooler are reduced power, increased fuel consumption, slightly increased exhaust temperature, insufficient combustion will emit black smoke, and a long time is easy to lead to a large amount of carbon accumulation of the valve and cylinder head. The supercharger does not work, and it will cause oil channeling at the pressurized end of the supercharger (but the supercharger is not damaged).

3. Most of the different intercoolers that follow the production materials include two forms of air cooling and water cooling. Damage to the intercooler: After the damage of the intercooler, the inflation efficiency of the engine is affected and the symptoms caused by the engine knock are easy to affect the normal use of the vehicle.

4, the damage of the intercooler is related to the efficiency of the engine inflation, which is easy to cause the symptoms of detonation caused by the engine start, and the normal use of the vehicle

5. The symptoms of the vehicle after the intercooler is broken are quite numerous, most of which include reduced vehicle power, rising fuel consumption, black smoke from the exhaust gas, serious wear of the engine cylinder, and serious carbon accumulation of the engine. When the vehicle's intercooler comes out of the problem, it must be detected and repaired immediately to avoid the normal use of the vehicle.

2 What symptom does the intercooler break

1. The symptoms of damaged vehicles include reduced vehicle power, rising fuel consumption, black smoke from exhaust gas, serious wear of engine cylinders, and serious carbon accumulation of engines. The following is the specific introduction of the automotive intercooler: Function: The intercooler is a turbocharged accessory only used on vehicles equipped with turbocharged engines.

2, the symptoms of air leakage of the intercooler are reduced power, increased fuel consumption, slightly increased exhaust temperature, insufficient combustion will emit black smoke, and a long time is easy to lead to a large amount of carbon accumulation of the valve and cylinder head. The supercharger does not work, and it will cause oil channeling at the pressurized end of the supercharger (but the supercharger is not damaged).


3, after the intercooler is broken, the vehicle has a lot of symptoms, including vehicle power decline, fuel consumption rise, exhaust gas produced black smoke, engine cylinder wear serious, engine carbon deposit serious. When there is a problem with the vehicle intercooler, it should be checked and maintained in time, so as not to be unrelated to the normal use of the vehicle.

4. The symptoms of the vehicle after the intercooler is broken are quite numerous, most of which include reduced vehicle power, rising fuel consumption, black smoke from the exhaust gas, serious wear of the engine cylinder, and serious carbon accumulation of the engine. When the vehicle's intercooler comes out of the problem, it must be detected and repaired immediately to avoid the normal use of the vehicle.

5, the inflation efficiency of the engine is related to the intercooler, if the intercooler is damaged, it is easy to lead to abnormal phenomena such as engine knocking. Therefore, when the vehicle has abnormal phenomena such as power decline, increased fuel consumption or black smoke from the exhaust, the intercooler should be checked in time to see if it is damaged.

The intercooler is an important part of the automobile turbine heat dissipation, its function is to reduce the temperature of the pressurized gas, so as to increase the power of the engine. When the cooler is damaged, it will cause the engine inflation efficiency to decrease, and it is easy to cause the engine to produce knocking symptoms, affecting the normal use of the vehicle. Therefore, if the vehicle has reduced power, increased fuel consumption or black smoke from the exhaust gas during use, it is necessary to carry out a detailed inspection of the intercooler to avoid further damage.


The fault performance of the intercooler mainly has the following points:

1. Power reduction: When the cooler is damaged, it will lead to a decrease in engine inflation efficiency, thereby reducing the power of the vehicle.

2. Increased fuel consumption: Damage to the intercooler will lead to a reduction in engine intake, which will result in incomplete engine combustion and increased fuel consumption.

3. Exhaust smoke: damage to the intercooler will lead to incomplete engine combustion, resulting in black smoke emissions, polluting the environment.

If the above symptoms are found in the vehicle, the intercooler needs to be tested in detail to determine whether it needs to be replaced or repaired.

In addition, the cleaning of the intercooler is also very important, which can improve its work efficiency. The method of cleaning the intercooler is as follows:

1. Add an aqueous solution containing about 2% soda ash to the intercooler at a temperature of 70 to 80 degrees.

2. Fill up and wait for about 15 minutes, shake back and forth several times, then pour out the lotion.

3. Rinse with a clean water solution containing about 2% soda ash until it is clean.

4. Add hot water with a cleaning temperature of 80 to 90 degrees until the water is released.


Through regular cleaning and testing of the intercooler, the normal operation of the engine can be ensured, its service life can be extended, and the performance and efficiency of the vehicle can be improved.

The air cooler affects not only engine power, but also fuel consumption, which is extremely important for many drivers. Too high a temperature of compressed air can cause an accidental explosion of the mixture, which is very harmful to the power plant. Intercoolers effectively solve this problem by lowering the air temperature before supplying it to the combustion chamber. The solution improves engine efficiency.

This type of solution is becoming more and more common in the market with single-sided intercoolers. This is a cooling device worth mentioning. They have proven to be less efficient than double-sided coolers because they feature a greater drop in air pressure at the outlet of the cooler. Therefore, if you want the highest efficiency and the best combustion, choose the double-sided version.

What are the dangers of driving with a damaged car? An intercooler?

The symptoms of damage to the intercooler should not be underestimated. Driving with faulty parts can cause many problems and, in the worst case, serious damage to the engine, which is one of the most expensive parts to repair. Consequences of driving with a damaged air cooler include:

There is a significant decrease in engine power, which is usually caused by an increase in air temperature, which reduces the amount of oxygen supplied to the combustion chamber,

Fuel consumption increases as the engine works harder to provide enough power,

The resulting engine damage and overheating,

Performance deteriorates due to uneven engine operation,

When the air temperature is too high, the injection system often has problems.

In the context of the damage we may suffer, it is worth mentioning that it may occur that there is oil in the intercooler. This is one of the most common problems reported by users. This oil usually comes from a pneumothorax and the failure of other components of the charging system. A small amount of oil should not worry us, but if it is too much, it may be a symptom such as oil depletion.

The result of air leakage in the pipe of the intercooler is incomplete combustion, which will produce a large amount of carbon deposit in the valve and cylinder head for a long time. The following is the relevant introduction of the intercooler:


1. Function:

The function of the intercooler is to reduce the intake temperature of the engine. The temperature of the exhaust gas from the engine is very high, and the heat conduction through the supercharger will increase the temperature of the intake air. In the process of compression, the density of air will increase, which will inevitably lead to an increase in air temperature, which will affect the efficiency of the engine. In order to solve the adverse effects caused by the heating of the air after supercharging, it is necessary to install an intercooler to reduce the intake temperature.

2. Maintenance:

Since the intercooler is installed in the front of the car, there may be debris such as mud and leaves, so that the intercooler heat sink channel is blocked, so it should be cleaned regularly.


We use cookies to offer you a better browsing experience, analyze site traffic and personalize content. By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Privacy Policy
Reject Accept