Eaton swap coolant leak

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

Question for the folks who have eaton swapped a car, or removed and re-installed an eaton and intercooler off a motor.


I have a low mile eaton and brand new LFP intercooler that has been on my car for a couple of months now. On this setup initially, for the sakes of not having to wait for shipping on the o-rings, I bought the ace-hardware 013 o-rings locally available. Seemed to work at least for a while, some time later (not many miles on setup) I noticed a somewhat lower level of supercharger coolant in the reservoir. Seeing as how hot the day was when I drove it and noticed this, I naturally figured the o-rings were not holding up to the heat. I purchased McMaster-Carr o-rings which others have used, rated for 450+ or so degrees. These o-rings were on for a few weeks until this last weekend under a full boost (12psi) hwy romp, the car shot out a ton of white smoke from the exhaust, and sure enough when stopping, the tank was only about 1/4-1/3 full when I had verified it full the morning of.

Is it possible the intercooler can be installed incorrectly? Too far back? Or the new o-rings not greased enough when installing them? I did notice these rings made the tubes a hell of alot more snug when installing. Somehow the boost is getting into the 'sealed' system and causing a massive leak.. should I replace the o-rings and rtv the **** out of the tubes when installing? Thanks for any advice, I can't seem to find any similar posts regarding this issue happening again after changing the o-rings.

 

[01yellercobra]

If boost is getting into the cooling system then you have a leak in the intercooler. The coolant should be isolated from the boost.

 

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

How can a leak spontaneously develop? It hasn't even been cold enough for it to freeze. This is actually a brand new intercooler as the first one had a leak and would easily go through coolant wheras this one holds the coolant until now when boosting.

 

[01yellercobra]

Weak weld, thin spot in the metal, etc. Just because it's new doesn't mean it's perfect. If you can adapt a cooling system tester to the reservoir I'd do that and see if you can find the leak.

 

[Zemedici]

Could be the O rings, but I doubt it. Mine had a hairline crack as well running down the back of it.

 

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

I notice threads where there is a leak at the expansion tank cap, the o-rings are blamed as boost gets in there and causes the leak the weak cap, even spraying onto windshields. Well on the Marauder eaton swaps, the inlet and outlet directions are reversed(coolant flows from bottom of intercooler up) and am wondering if bad o-rings would instead cause the leak to go into the lower intake instead of the expansion tank.

I just can't believe the intercooler itself would be bad. I am contacting my vendor for warranty information. I will try to swap o-rings this weekend and report on findings. Thanks for the replies guys.

EDIT: Just found this further solidifying the fact that the o-rings could be more of a culprit than we think.
http://www.cobraengineering.net/IC adapter.html

 

[01yellercobra]

They're just trying to sell their part. My buddy has a 3.4 at 27psi with the stock coolant piece. I'm betting it's an issue with the intercooler. I've seen it before.