Driving without coolant in the intercooler

[Othic]

Long story short. I sold my DD to come up with enough cash to buy this guys car and get a loan for the rest. I get approved and tell the guy Im ready to purchase. "Oh, I sold the car over the weekend" :fm::mj::cuss:. Now Im out of a DD and my Mustang has an intercooler leak. A rental is costing me $300 for 5 day.

What, if any, kind of damage would occur if i drained the intercooler, disconnected the IC pump and ran it for a few weeks without going into boost. I know the intake air charge would be a bit hotter. But would anything catastrophic happen in the long run?

 

[fast ford brian]

Where is it leaking ? If it is in the front mount heat exchanger disconnect it and loop the pump hoses together so at least there is fluid in the system .

 

[01cobravortech]

Out of curiosity is your leak from your IC tank or heat exchanger?


I can tell you first hand that I drove my Cobra for many miles when I had a major leak in my IC tank. I don't believe you will do any damage. The computer pulls timing. Car feels like a dog, goes without saying of course.

 

[Othic]

Im pretty sure its in the intercooler intself. I noticed when I was checking something else on the car that the IC reservoir was completely empty. I filled it up and drove home. I got on it a bit and saw water shoot out of the exhaust. When I got home the reservoir was half empty. When I parked in the driveway theres coolant coming from beween the block and bell housing.

 

[TRQJUNKIE]

OP do you thinks its ok to run the engine while water is leaking into it? Use common sense and pull the blower then pin point your leak.

Is the gasket leaking on the front of your lower intake where your IC coolant flows?

 

[watman02]

if coolant is externally leaking then its not your intercooler as that is contained inside the lower intake manifold. could be head gaskets, a coolant hose leak, crossover tube leak, due u have the head cooling mod????? could be that. take a look around and report back. since your resovour tank for I/C was low like its coolant lines going into intake.

 

[Othic]

OP do you thinks its ok to run the engine while water is leaking into it? Use common sense and pull the blower then pin point your leak.

Is the gasket leaking on the front of your lower intake where your IC coolant flows?

Thats why I said drain the coolant and disconnect the pump

 

[Othic]

if coolant is externally leaking then its not your intercooler as that is contained inside the lower intake manifold. could be head gaskets, a coolant hose leak, crossover tube leak, due u have the head cooling mod????? could be that. take a look around and report back. since your resovour tank for I/C was low like its coolant lines going into intake.

No head cooling mod. I may just pull the blower this weekend and report back

 

[fast ford brian]

It sounds like the crossover tube is leaking .

 

[broke7]

It could only be a couple things if its indeed intercooler system. I have been down this road after a deployment, stored my car and my intercooler mix wasnt good enough and it froze and cracked the core. So if its indeed using coolant, here is what the culprit is.


1. The intercooler core is cracked
2. The intercooler rubber O-rings on the tubes are leaking.
3. The Intercooler Tubes are cracked (highly unlikely)


If this is just happening under boost you may just be the intercooler rings if your lucky. Cheap fix.

 

[Anabolic]

call tousley for your seals/rings if you need, the customer service there is amazing, just ordered the 4 coolant x over seals & paid only 11$ shipped for them

 

[hotcobra03]

we drove ours for awhile...under normal driving you would never know..

 

[perry2k12]

I'm also going to point fingers at the coolant crossover tube o-rings. Seen it before... Basically mimics blown head gasket but loses ic coolant instead of engine coolant.

 

[testorossa1989]

Too my knowledge theirs KB, eatons out there on other manufactured brands that run air and no intercooler or heat exchanger. I believe you can do it, just for the life of you dont hit boost ever.

 

[TRBO VNM]

I'm also going to point fingers at the coolant crossover tube o-rings. Seen it before... Basically mimics blown head gasket but loses ic coolant instead of engine coolant.

Can you explain this a little more please?

The crossover tube has 4 o-rings total. Two in the heads and 2 where the tubes slip together. I have seen these leak, but I am trying very hard to understand how these leaking are causing his intercooler coolant to go low. Two separate systems.

 

[xXAzureMach1Xx]

It to sounds like the o rings goin into/out of the intercooler to me. I dont see a problem with running it with no water in the IC just like said, NO WOT pulls. The guy that got my eaton swap drove for months this past winter with the IC pump not working. It was cold out but still dont see it hurting anything.

 

[xXAzureMach1Xx]

Can you explain this a little more please?

The crossover tube has 4 o-rings total. Two in the heads and 2 where the tubes slip together. I have seen these leak, but I am trying very hard to understand how these leaking are causing his intercooler coolant to go low. Two separate systems.

Not the engine coolant cross over but the two small IC lines goin into the lower intake that has the IC coolant in them.

 

[TRBO VNM]

Not the engine coolant cross over but the two small IC lines goin into the lower intake that has the IC coolant in them.

I sure hope that is what he meant.

 

[broke7]

By chance was this car stored in a cold climate that experienced a hard freeze?

 

[Othic]

By chance was this car stored in a cold climate that experienced a hard freeze?

Well Im in Florida so theres no hard freeze here. Id say the coldest night was maybe around 30 degrees if that.