2010 Jetta Intercooler Icing Again!!!!!

Every winter it is the same issue - intercooler icing. Last year it sat at dealer for 5 months waiting for retro fit intercooler kit and having to be rebuilt twice for bent rod and new head when it blew up on dealer test run after 1st rebuild, Vw canada provided extended warranty as good will gesture.
Car has run great until operating in sub zero conditions this winter. Warmed up to plus 5 degrees celcius last Saturday- started ran for 3 seconds then quit - deja vue to the previous 2 winters. Tried to restart engine started to turn then locked up solid- towed to dealer - sucked in large chunk of ice blocking the intake- did not enter engine. Dealer thinks there is something wrong with modified intercooler kit = wants to try another one.
Dealer is trying to solve issue indicated not seeing the issue in all of the same model year.
My Question is does anyone on this site have a solution?
This is the only place I know where I can get a straight answer.
Thanks in advance

check 2micon's drain http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=4028162#post4028162

I would suggest you need to block the air flow to the intercooler some way on the extreme low temp days. The problem you are experiencing will not be solved by a drain. Icing will occur while running under the right temps from the temp differential and the dew point factor in fast moving air across a supercooled surface and it is hard to know when the ice is going to start building up. The reason you didn't experience it when the temps were lower is the air was drier or the ice was actually built up in the cold and then when things got warmer it all came loose (I think this might be why it happened so fast after you started it). Down where I live we use dehumidifiers in the summer and that is how they work. By condensing the moist air on a cooled coil. What happens in your engine is it will start restricting more and more at the coldest most restricted place until the stuff warms up with the reduced flow, warmer outside temps and/or the engine heat and then break off in chunks. With a water cooled turbo you can control it with a thermostat but VW has everything wide open. The air cooled intercooler works under most conditions. I think if you block off the cooler and the temp gets too high you may just loose a little power. Someone else may know more on this part of the plan but for sure you will not destroy your engine with ice. My old 1.6 turbo diesel had no intercooler and it ran just fine.

The solution is to tune it and eliminate the EGR. Call Mr. Malone.

Yes, the egr removal probably is a better solution but the blocking off the intercooler can be quick and cheaper and I am sure a dealer or many mechanics would not do this do to the legal problems (at least in the USA). If you remove the egr with no tune then your mileage will suffer a little and possibly throw a code. The way the system is set up is like a little refrigeration unit. You compress the air, blow off the heat in the intercooler and then run it through the egr venturi that acts like the orfice in the refrigeration cycle. Then as the air moves through the restricted part there is a pressure drop at the center of the venturi. What little heat the air had at first, which was not a lot at sub zero temps, has now dropped way below the outside air temp. This will produce some very cold air with some moisture in it hitting an already very cold intake manifold. It probably looks like a snow machine inside the intake until things warm up.

update on intercooler icing issue

Thanks for your imput
Here is an up date.
Engine locked up due to ice loosening in the intake moved from intercooler into intake manifold completely blocking it. Being a high compression engine could not draw air and would not rotate by starter. Ice did not enter combustion chamber and did not do any damage- if it had been warmer out would have been smaller ice particles or water- can you say engine rebuild for the 3rd time.
Vw's tech support to dealer - modified intercooler kit may be defective install another one. When asked service manager any difference in the kit- no had no other answers- I suspect it will keep happening.
Requested meeting with VW Canada rep to discuss replacement of this defective product through VW Canada customer service -didn;t even return my call as they said they would. Their response we have repaired your car again as per the warranty requirement the issue is closed.
Sending registered letter to VW Canada president- don"t expect much of response but you don't know unless you try.
Just want Vw Canada to deal with this engineering defect and replace the defective product with a diesel product not effected by this issue.
VW is number 3 in the world shooting for #1 by 2018 they are going to have the support the consumer better and take responsibility for issues such as this when it is so wide spread, if they want to get there!
My wife no longer feels this car is reliable or safe as it would not go more than 30 km / hr on the hiway while it was ingesting water- you never know when it is going to happen but one thing is for sure it will happen in the winter time.

Any possibility to create a 1/4" or 3/8" diameter stainless steel coolant powered heat tracing that would line the intake? The coolant heat would actively warm up the ice turning into small amounts of liquid water that could either be drained out of the intake plumbing via an automatic drain or burned through the engine during normal combustion. Shouldn't be too difficult to construct, and heck even copper tubing could work. Make all fluid connections outside of the intake plumbing so there would be very minimal possibility of coolant entering the intake. Also make sure the pipe doesn't rub on anything inside the intake that way no holes are rubbed in the tubing. Just a thought.

I spoke with Jeff about this and he said that the low pressure EGR (which is the one that introduces air and therefore moisture into the system) cannot be shut off with a tune. It resets its duty cycle every time you start the car. One solution he's thought about is creating a module that plugs into the OBD port to shut it off every time you drive.

I was in PA last Wednseday (9F out when I parked) and in NC the next day (23F) and SC on Saturday (50F). It honestly made me happy I'd driven IBW and left the Golf at home.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

I spoke with Jeff about this and he said that the low pressure EGR (which is the one that introduces air and therefore moisture into the system) cannot be shut off with a tune. It resets its duty cycle every time you start the car. One solution he's thought about is creating a module that plugs into the OBD port to shut it off every time you drive.

I was in PA last Wednseday (9F out when I parked) and in NC the next day (23F) and SC on Saturday (50F). It honestly made me happy I'd driven IBW and left the Golf at home.

Click to expand...

Good info! Thanks for the correction - I've been telling people it was possible.