How do I protect my intercooler?

Thorny

Active member
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Location
Colorado
TDI
2011 Sportwagon
I was looking at the lower portion of my radiator the other day, which is the intercooler, right? Anyways, I've got 42K miles on my 2011 JSW now and I'd say that approximately 70% of the fins on the front of the intercooler are bent over from being hit by rocks and pebbles off the road here in Colorado.

What, if anything, are you guys doing to protect the fins of the intercooler to protect it and maintain good airflow?

And now that mine is all bent over, is there anything that I can do to re-establish good airflow?
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
Your intercooler is not the bottom portion of your radiator. There are three separate parts stacked together in a kind of sandwich. IIRC, your radiator is in front, your intercooler is behind that, and your AC condenser is behind that. I'm pretty sure that I got them in the right order, but I could be wrong. You can follow the tubes and lines to verify. I know I am right in that they are 3 components sandwiched together and they are all similar in size. I think you are seeing bent fins on your radiator only.

Have Fun!

Don
 
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Jack Frost

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Location
Rural Manitoba
TDI
2009 Clean Diesel
My car has a bra on the front to protect it from flying gravel. The bra has a piece of guaze that covers the intercooler intake.

I also slow down a lot when I see someone coming the other way on a gravel road. That reduces the impact of any flying stones a lot. Theoetically by about 1/4 of what it could be. So far, no physical damage at all after about 17,000 km of gravel roads.

As for repairing the damage. I know that a comb-like device is used to straighten out cooling fins of air exchangers, but looking at the intercooler just now, it seems that might be tricky and you would have to probably remove it to do something as finicky as that.
 

Rutch

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
Location
Seneca Falls, NY
TDI
2011 JSW TDI
Your intercooler is not the bottom portion of your radiator. There are three separate parts stacked together in a kind of sandwich. IIRC, your radiator is in front, your intercooler is behind that, and your AC condenser is behind that. I'm pretty sure that I got them in the right order, but I could be wrong. You can follow the tubes and line to verify. I know I am right in that they are 3 components sandwiched together and they are all similar in size. I think you are seeing bent fins on your radiator only.
They're definitely sandwiched together, but I think the AC condenser is up front and the radiator is in the rear. Hoses coming off the one closest to the engine are too big to be AC lines and too small to be charge pipes. Either way the intercooler is in the middle.

Unless a rock goes all the way though the AC condenser or backwards through the radiator, the intercooler is pretty well protected from the factory.
 

Thorny

Active member
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Location
Colorado
TDI
2011 Sportwagon
Thanks for the clarification.

My concern is still airflow. If the fins are all bent over on the front section, how much airflow am I loosing to it and the cooling devices behind it?
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
Thanks for the clarification.

My concern is still airflow. If the fins are all bent over on the front section, how much airflow am I loosing to it and the cooling devices behind it?
How much air flow is effected depends on how many openings have been closed off. It would be possible to put a piece of screen in behind your grill, but this might have to regularly cleaned and/or replaced. Then the question becomes: how much airflow is reduced by the screen? I do not have an answer for this question.

Have Fun!

Don
 

Jack Frost

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Location
Rural Manitoba
TDI
2009 Clean Diesel
I wouldnt worry too much about air flow. The diesel motors seem impossible to overheat. During the winter, I am always blocking the air flow to keep the engine at its operating temperature.

The biggest impact to your airflow is that during the summer, the air conditioner would be compromised, and to a lesser extent, the intercooler would not be as effective. During the winter, there are no issues as far as I can determine.
 

Cogen Man

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Location
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2011 Golf TDI DSG.
To give any general answer we would need to see a pic of the offending component. The fins are a means to increase the surface area for maximum cooling. A picture would help but might not be possible. I'd say if anymore than 1/4 of the fins are bent then you may need to do something about it.
 

sgoldste01

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2010
Location
Webster, NY
TDI
None; Replaced 2010 Golf TDI with 2012 Subaru Impreza 5-door with manual tranny
Perhaps one solution would be to stop tailgating? If your intercooler fins are bent badly due to rocks, I'm guessing your bumper and hood must be badly dinged too....
 

Thorny

Active member
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Location
Colorado
TDI
2011 Sportwagon
Perhaps one solution would be to stop tailgating? If your intercooler fins are bent badly due to rocks, I'm guessing your bumper and hood must be badly dinged too....
Here in Colorado on the interstate where I spend 95% of my 40K miles you either ride close the car in front or you get cut off constantly. When I can I leave lots of room. The front bumper is getting pelted too, but I put a clear bra on the hood so it's in good shape.

Here's an image of the radiator, you can see the damage as well as the upper portion where it's protected from road debris.

 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
I don't think a little window screen hardware cloth behind the grill will really dampen the air flow through the sandwhiched components, and it'll only help deflect some of that stuff, won't solve all your issues though.

Could you pull the bumper, use a garden hose clean some of that crap out then use a fin straithener on some of them?
 
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