Intercooler icing

japedo

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Moncton New Brunswick
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI CL 6MT
I am new to VW and have been reading lots on their strengths and weakness's. In regards to the intercooler icing problem, i have a question/ theory.

I have had 5 turbo volvo's with air to air stlye intercooler's similar to the MK6 jetta. Volvo intentionally puts a small hole in the bottom of the intercooler. The hole is tiny, about the size of a small needle. so there is very little boost lost.

I found out about this tiny pin hole in the volvo's intercoolers one day when i noticed my car had developed an oil leak. It was leaking out of the pin hole. Talked to a mechanic who said my PCV system was clogged and thats why i was also getting the oil in the intercooler, and he was correct as cleaning the pcv/flametrap system stoped the oil from makeing its way to the intercooler.

Maybe Volvo designs it this way to drain moisture as well? I'm not sure.


So after reading about intercooler icing on mk6 Jetta's, I wonder if a simmilar pin hole in the bottom of the intercooler would allow the accumulated water to drain when the ice thaws.

In saying that, I have had my car for 6 weeks and havent had the splash guard off the bottom of the car to actually look at the intercooler, maybe it is set up a little different and the "pin hole" wouldn't work.

It would be hilarious if it was that simple to fix though! interested to see what you all think of this theory.

.... Posted this in a longer thread and didnt get any feedback so gave it its own thread, hope that's ok. Thanks!
 
Last edited:

opticalmike

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Location
edmonton alberta
TDI
2011 Jetta tdi highline nav
Perhaps a guy could punch a small hole in the bottom hose to check and see water come out. if no water escapes a guy could put a small screw in the hole to plug it.
 

japedo

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Moncton New Brunswick
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI CL 6MT
Perhaps a guy could punch a small hole in the bottom hose to check and see water come out. if no water escapes a guy could put a small screw in the hole to plug it.
Yes that may work, I was thinking using a tiny drill bit and makeing a hole in the intercooler just in front of where the lower hose attaches to the intercoller.
And you could always use a screw or something to plug it if you wanted. But I doubt the tiny hole would leak enough boost to affect the cars performance.
I could be wrong.
I still have another 10k kms to go before my first oil change, will have a better look then.
 

bennybmn

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Location
Long Island, NY
TDI
(Formerly) '11 Jetta 6 speed, Alltrack 6MT
That's how lots of small air compressors decompress the line between the head and the tank, a leak somewhere. That's also why mine takes FOREVER to hit 150 PSI... Something removable would be ideal, but a pain to do after every drive in the cold :)

Side note: What are some symptoms of icing?
 

ebrobb

Veteran Member
Joined
May 18, 2010
Location
Pleasantville, Iowa
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI/DSG
I had not even heard of this before, I did a quick search and came up with a whole bunch of threads on it, not sure how I missed it. But not looking forward to this as we are just getting into winter driving, what a PITA!!

I haven't had time to read much on it, but it seems the main problem is with the EGR being fed back into the intercooler....Can the EGR be shut off using VCDS??? I did this on my 01 so as to save the turbo and intake from being plugged with crap. But I'm sure the computer's are much more sophisticated now, and it's probably not even possible. Just wondering, I might have found the answer with more time to read up on it.

Maybe a winter front is the answer, keep the intercooler warmer, so as to keep the water vapor flowing thru.

Seems like it's been a known problem since 2010 or so, you would think VW would just hang the new parts on the new cars, without them having to be retrofitted on a case by case basis.
 

Softrockrenegade

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Location
Howellbama, NJ
TDI
None...2011 Golf DSG (replaced by VW W/) 2013 Passat SE 6M(bought back) Current 2017 sportwagen TSI 4Motion.
Hard start , no start , worst case moisture forms or the ice melts and you take a slug of water into your engine causing hydrolock.
 

bennybmn

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Location
Long Island, NY
TDI
(Formerly) '11 Jetta 6 speed, Alltrack 6MT
I had no problems last winter, and I was worried because there was SO much humidity after the blizzard with the ice melting off the roads, but this year is supposed to be colder too...
 

JBell

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2012
Location
None
TDI
None
When inquiring with VWoA about our '12 TDI, they informed me that the vehicle had the modification needed to not worry about condensation build up in the intercooler.

I looked in the bay and unless they are doing something different than previous years, it looks exactly the same as all of the other unmodded ones.:rolleyes:
 

Revpeach

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Location
Monticello, IA
TDI
2012 Jetta
I have a '12 Jetta and when I pulled the IC hose to install my frost heater at 35k miles, the hose was perfectly dry. I went through all of last years WI winter without any problem. My car sits outside and not in a garage.
 

Bigwhitebeast

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2012
Location
New York
TDI
2012 Jetta
When inquiring with VWoA about our '12 TDI, they informed me that the vehicle had the modification needed to not worry about condensation build up in the intercooler.
I looked in the bay and unless they are doing something different than previous years, it looks exactly the same as all of the other unmodded ones.:rolleyes:
I purchased my 2012 Jetta in May of 2012 so near the end of the model year and it did NOT have the updated intercooler set-up. My car gave me the hard start scenario after it was -17 degrees one day and in the 40's the next. The dealer said since it was running they wouldn't do the update:mad: I raised hell and they said they would do it just to keep me happy:rolleyes: I haven't had an issue since but we haven't had the real cold weather either.
 

Savageman69

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2007
Location
ontario
TDI
2012 Highline Touareg TDI
no mk6 jettas come with anything to stop this....heck even the fix that they do after you push them for it doesnt work...i know mine still got water in it....mines fixed now and more fun lol
 

detroitmike

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
Location
Take a guess.
TDI
2013 Passat DSG
i think it was 2micron that was working on a drain valve connected to the IC pipe that was easily accessable via an operating rod.
 

RDC98tdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Location
Louisville KY
TDI
'13 Jetta 6MT Prem / (RIP) '98 Jetta 5MT [280k+mi]
It is getting to be that time of year and these cars are a year older......expect to see a lot of this in the coming months
Yup, there are at least 3 of these open in the top of this sub forum now. It's funny how no one reads the other discussions before posting :D
 
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