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1. Where is the bottle for the intercooler system located?
2. Is there ready visibility to it?
3. Best way to look at it and try to evaluate excess air? from the top? from the bottom?
Look at the gap between hood and the air intake at the air cleaner box. Use a flashlight to better illuminate it. Air bubbles should be the size of 2 US quarters according to GM engineers. Unless you tilt the car up at 45 degrees and vacuum bleed it and unbolt and tilt the intercooler reservoir to dislodge the air, the best you can hope for is around a dollar size bill.
Is bleeding you can do yourself? What is the process?
Yes you can do it yourself. I spent a couple years trying different methods and techniques in order to obtain results like show above quickly and easily. The key is to be able to run a very strong vacuum, and surge the cars pump on and off during the process. Eventually I invented The Cooler Bleeder, a tool that totally automates the Bleeding process for you. www.coolerbleeder.com Not inexpensive, but just flat out works.
Tons and tons of feedback from members here, but this review does a really good job of showing the basics of the system.
The alternative requires jacking up the front of the car to extreme angles, removing components and rotating them to purge air and still applying vacuum and manually triggering the pump on and off. It can be done, but even on my own car after several attempts of manual bleeding like this, the cooler bleeder pulled out even more air.
Yes you can do it yourself. I spent a couple years trying different methods and techniques in order to obtain results like show above quickly and easily. The key is to be able to run a very strong vacuum, and surge the cars pump on and off during the process. Eventually I invented The Cooler Bleeder, a tool that totally automates the Bleeding process for you. www.coolerbleeder.com Not inexpensive, but just flat out works.
Tons and tons of feedback from members here, but this review does a really good job of showing th basics of the system. https://youtu.be/WqStHzurmOI
The alternative requires jacking up the front of the car to extreme angles, removing components and rotating them to purge air and still applying vacuum and manually triggering the pump on and off. It can be done, but even on my own car after several attempts of manual bleeding like this, the cooler bleeder pulled out even more air.
Several speed shops have purchased. I reached out to Bosch SPX which is who makes the tools for GM and never heard back. Didn't really push it too much.
As a flat rate tech that works on GM, this would be a huge money maker for them
Several speed shops have purchased. I reached out to Bosch SPX which is who makes the tools for GM and never heard back. Didn't really push it too much.
As a flat rate tech that works on GM, this would be a huge money maker for them
are all the intercoolers (zl1, Cadillacs with the lsa , c6 ls9, and lt5 c7zr all difficult as the c7 lt4 to bleed?
are all the intercoolers (zl1, Cadillacs with the lsa , c6 ls9, and lt5 c7zr all difficult as the c7 lt4 to bleed?
The c7 zr1 seems to be a harder bleed than even the Z06. Cordes just had one come though their doors that dynoed under 500 rwhp due to the amount of air in the system.
LT4 is problematic in all chassis Vette/camaro/caddy because of the brick to bleeder orientation. You cant put a fill or bleeder port low in the system and expect it to self bleed or bleed through normal methods. Then there are air traps all over the system (tilted bricks for one) combined with a pump that doesn't have enough flow to flush out pockets of air, it's a recipe for disaster.
Other engines like lsa/ls9 etc will benefit from a higher quality bleed as well, but it seems their ecm algorithms don't pull timing at the same aggressiveness or aren't influenced as much from air in the CAC circuits. Hooking up to these cars WILL pull out additional air even on a fully bled system. Typically seeing only 1/2 cup or so though of additional coolant getting into the system, where the vette I am measuring in 1/2 quart or more. Any fluid added will be directly proportional to air removed.
With that said my system was designed to be modular. So I have adapters for all sorts of other cars and fitments that work with the cooler bleeder. After the C7 crowd, it seems like the Ford gt500 is also seeing some strong benefits from a quality bleed.
Well, based on what I can see from the top, the level in the bottle is at least another inch down from level shown in the picture on the left. Do I remember correctly that a level that low is likely to affect performance?
Well, based on what I can see from the top, the level in the bottle is at least another inch down from level shown in the picture on the left. Do I remember correctly that a level that low is likely to affect performance?
Mine is also that low. From what I understand it'll affect cooling performance. Which in turn will likely have you see higher temps which will affect performance.
For daily driving, one shouldn't notice it that at all. It's when you try to do consecutive pulls at wot where eqch run gets slower and slower or running on the track where you will either hit limp mode or the car gets slower each lap.
Checked with my dealership this afternoon about bleeding the intercooler system. Service writer that specializes in Corvettes isn't sure that they've ever bled one. This should be interesting.
Checked with my dealership this afternoon about bleeding the intercooler system. Service writer that specializes in Corvettes isn't sure that they've ever bled one. This should be interesting.
Don't waste your time and money. Or get them to guarantee with a cash back refund a proper bleed.
Don't waste your time and money. Or get them to guarantee with a cash back refund a proper bleed.
Good suggestion. It will be interesting to see what kind of quote I get. My guess is that this service is not covered under my extended service contract.
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Intercooler Coolant Bottle visibility
