My tortilla wrapped adventure aka my experience with the TacoTaco intercooler

I just ordered a TacoTaco intercooler yesterday and this is the thread in which I will document its install and do some data logging to see if its truly better than the OEM intercooler.

For those that don't know, the TacoTaco intercooler is an intercooler sold by eBay user ILoveTacoTaco for the 1.8T models, but its supposed to fit our ALH TDIs too. The TacoTaco intercooler is less than $135 shipped in the U.S. at the time of this writing, so if it is in fact better than stock, its a great budget option, but that's a big IF. Here is the eBay link, live and working as of 6/30/2014 http://www.ebay.com/itm/1999-2004-V...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item484b4b10e1


From what I've read, the TacoTaco comes with a small MAP sensor hole. It works fine with 3bar MAP sensors, but if you want to run your stock, larger 2.5bar MAP sensor, you will have to drill out the hole. Since I am going to be wanting to run both 2.5bar and 3bar MAP sensors in my TacoTaco, I am going to have to devise a way of getting a 3bar to seal in the larger 2.5bar hole. so that should be fun. EDIT: JFettig has given this info below 038 906 051B is the small hole 2.5bar MAP. Its used on some 2003 and all 2004-2006 TDI's except for the 2004-2005 Passat TDI which uses a 3bar MAP.

helpful links and info

A great thread from tdiclub user Dorkage who found a 10C (18F) decrease in IATs and a noticeable amount of extra torque: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=357177

INSTALLATION

First impression: This thing was was a fourth of the price of similar products for a reason!

Not a single mount lines up right. I've spent the night bending tabs into place and welding on a few brackets to mount the original plastic scoop that I wish to retain. I had to take a while with a round file to wallow out the holes to make them even reach where the screw holes are and I've made 3 spacers to weld to the prexisting 3 tabs on the interooler to make them line up. One of the spacers is like .75" thick, its just that bad.

Whether or not this is worth all the hassle will be determined by the intercoolers effectiveness. This is definitely a tricky install if ive ever seen one.

Here are some pictures. I know, I suck at TIGing aluminum. It was some weird angles combined with radically different thickness materials.

Old intercooler off



spacers and scoop mounting brackets



scoop mounting brackets welded on



comparison of the two. Frontal area is about the same on both (thus the plastic scoop fits perfectly) but the tacotaco is about 1 inch thicker.



Scoop mounted to the tacotaco


Done!

reserved for data logging

Here are three graphs. I drove around for about 20 minutes to get the car warm, and then did 3 consecutive pulls in the same place at the same time of day when the ambient temperature was within 2 degrees Fahrenheit.

The first is the stock intercooler, the second is the tacotaco intercooler, and the third are the same previous graphs on the same set of axes.

As you can see, and unexpectedly so, the TacoTaco actually hits the highest temp, but cools off considerably quicker than the stock cooler. The stock cooler also does not cool off anywhere close to the same temp above ambient as the tacotaco does, and very quickly!

for both 145 second runs
stock IC average temp above ambient: 28.17C
tacotaco IC average temp above ambient: 23.33C

This means that throughout the 3 pulls, the tacotaco maintained an AVERAGE temperature 4.84C (8.71F) COOLER than the stock IC, despite having higher peaks. Was it worth the $135 and all the hassle installing it? I really dont know. Its a cheap option if you need a new intercooler, but really it doesnt seem to be a huge improvement.

It looks like there is about a 10C (18F) degree difference when just cruising on the highway, so I guess that's worth something.

SOME THINGS WORTH MENTIONING
#1: The MAP (and therefore IAT) sensor is not the same for both runs!! Next time I have the bumper off, I will test both MAP sensors to see if they are reporting the same temperature. This is a crucial variable in my tests. I cannot run the same MAP sensor, as they have different diameters.

#2: There is no way to GUARANTEE identical test conditions. How much heat is being retained in the engine bay, the wind speed, etc etc, so really, this is just a guess. I have no way of knowing just how accurate these tests were.

038 906 051B is the small hole 2.5bar MAP. Its used on some 2003 and all 2004-2006 TDI's except for the 2004-2005 Passat TDI which uses a 3bar MAP.

Let us know what adapters you need for the IC piping - I don't think you need anything IIRC.

I just put the TACOx2 in a couple weeks ago. Went pretty easily, just had to remove the washer bottle and fender liner and loosen the headlight.

A step drill works to hog out the mounting holes. However, if you need to drill the MAP bung out the bit is the same size: 18mm or 11/16". I taped up the ends of the IC, then punched through and taped in a hose from my shop vac so I could pressurize the IC while I was drilling and keep most of the chips out.

When you move to a 3 bar map, some of our vendors sell them with an adapter for the large hole. Here is one example: http://www.idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=655

The TacoTaco has the bung for the map in the front rather than the back, so be sure to route the connector up there before you lift it into place. Also the screws needed for the MAP are 6mm x 1.0 and I think 16mm long IIRC.

There are no mounting ears for the duct, but the sides grip the core and I added some duct tape (the real foil stuff, not the gooey gray kind) to hold it in place.

I did notice a used Forge SMIC on ebay about the same time and noticed that was more plug and play. The bung is in the right place, the mounts for the duct are there, and no drilling. It was going for about the same price used as the new TacoX2.

Overall I am pretty happy with the mod. For me this is foundation for later work so I may not see any results yet. But I also figure that when I am "cooling" the SMIC with 130 degree air off the Phoenix streets it will help me retain stock performance.

Jfettig and 3turboz, thank you for the info. That clears up quite a bit.

I didn't realize that the 3bar came with an adapter, so that's nifty and should no longer be an issue.

I have a Miller TIG and I plan to weld tabs or bracketing on to accommodate the ducting, because I feel like it would really help cooling by not allowing air to go around the intercooler. I'm sure I can find a way to accomplish this and of course I will document it.

for me it is also a foundation type of mod. I'm hoping to upgrade my wee bitty stock turbo pretty soon along with the charge piping and I'm sure this intercooler will only help those mods be more effective.

Thank you for doing this and documenting things. Hope you can post pics too of the progress and install. I'm planning on doing this down the road so I very much appreciate you creating this thread.

dlai said:

Thank you for doing this and documenting things. Hope you can post pics too of the progress and install. I'm planning on doing this down the road so I very much appreciate you creating this thread.

Click to expand...

Don't worry there will be plenty of pictures! Hopefully it'll get it by the end of the week so that I can install it over the weekend.

Signing up for this one

Intercooler should be here tomorrow, but on wednesday I am leaving for a trip to niagara falls, canada, and michigan and I dont want an untested part on my car when im going to be 1000 miles from home.

I will install the intercooler next week.

I am also trying to get my hands on a 12mm 2.5bar MAP sensor so that I don't have to drill out the sensor mounting hole, but maybe ill just drill it out and then use that adapter that comes with a new one if i get a bigger turbo.

Just update your tune for a 3bar map when you install the ic

JFettig said:

Just update your tune for a 3bar map when you install the ic

Click to expand...

I would, but I'm in the process of selling my Kerma Q-loader to switch and try out a different tuning company. This means that there might be a period of time in which I would have the stock tune, which would not work with the 3-bar MAP.

I guess I could always put the stock intercooler back on if this were the case, but I could avoid all this complication by simply getting a cheap, used, small bore 2.5bar MAP and then just swapping the sensor if I have to go to the stock tune.

How about some before and after IAT logs?

I have this same basic intercooler installed on both of my TDIs but since I never took before & after logs I don't know if they're actually any better. Fitment is definitely not as good as OEM.

runonbeer said:

How about some before and after IAT logs?

I have this same basic intercooler installed on both of my TDIs but since I never took before & after logs I don't know if they're actually any better. Fitment is definitely not as good as OEM.

Click to expand...

Will do. User Dorkage found a 15-20F reduction in IATs on his with no scoop installed. Hopefully I can mount the scoop up too.

I plan to do

-stock IC logs
-tacotaco no scoop logs
-tacotaco with scoop logs
-tacotaco with no fender liner logs

to see just how much effect guiding air through, and letting air escape has on the cooling.

I've got scoops. Lots of drilling plastic and zip ties.

Bumper cover on the golf seemed to clear easier than the Jetta.

Results section updated with the first log

Joester said:

reserved for data logging

STOCK INTERCOOLER LOGS

Did a IAT log on the way to work today. My method was to observe ambient air temp on a thermometer as I was walking out the door to my car, and then subtract that from my logged IATs.

My 20 minute, half backroads, half highway at 70mph trip to work revealed the following

ambient temperature - 25.56C = 78F
average difference - 10.8C = 16.2F
max difference - 15.85C = 23.76F

I will do the same thing on the way home from work to see if I get similar results. It should be a hot one today.


TACOTACO INTERCOOLER LOGS

Click to expand...

So you are testing at steady state cruise? I think a couple 3rd gear pulls from 2-4k RMP would be more telling.

3turboz said:

So you are testing at steady state cruise? I think a couple 3rd gear pulls from 2-4k RMP would be more telling.

Click to expand...

No this is about 12 minutes of backroads (stop signs, slowing for turns and accelerating) and 8 minutes of steady cruise on the highway. I plan to do pulls as well on the way home from work today.

Got home to a package on the porch!

Heres the box it comes in


Heres how its packaged. Would have liked a little more but its not damaged so i guess it did its job.






First thing that struck me was how heavy the thing was. 10.4lb on a super accurate, ultra scientific bathroom scale.


inlet and outlet are both 60mm +- .5mm



So far, no complaints. Seems like a surprisingly quality piece just looking at it and knowing nothing of fitment. I held my hands over the inlet and outlet and sucked on the MAP hole (if you know what I mean) and there's no apparent leaks or anything.

If I had to gripe about anything so far, it would be about how short the actual round part of the inlet and outlet are. If I upgrade my intercooler plumbing to 2.25", I might hack off the inlet side and weld a longer, 2.25" piece on there, but who knows what I'm going to do.

Also check the data logging post at the beginning of the thread. I will update with data from my ride home today.

Leave your piping at 2in, no need to go bigger.

LNXGUY said:

Leave your piping at 2in, no need to go bigger.

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I am aware of this, but the reasoning for 2.25" was to avoid piping size changes at the intercooler...

But now that I measure it... I think I might have a great idea.

I may end up picking one up. If it's more efficient and doesn't lag badly, it's worth it to me.

Joester said:

I am aware of this, but the reasoning for 2.25" was to avoid piping size changes at the intercooler...
But now that I measure it... I think I might have a great idea.

Click to expand...

2in pipe with silicon adapters.. You're done.

Will a 2" silicone stretch to 60mm? I've never really worked with them so im not sure how pliable and stretchable they are.

no, they make adapters for that...

JFettig said:

no, they make adapters for that...

Click to expand...

and reducing adapters create turbulence with some pretty serious pressure drops. Thats what Im looking to avoid, and what my beautiful MS-paint artwork "solves". It would take no more than 15 minutes to weld that up. Also solves the stubby inlet and outlet.

not quite as serious as you think.

Well, regardless, I can do it with no reducers at all and achieve what I think will be superior airflow to a reducing coupler. Not saying a reducing coupler is a bad idea at all, because thats how any logical human being would go about this, but I'm pretty stupid and overcomplicate everything I do.

Pretty sure I'm using the regular old stock boots on mine.

Iirc you have to cock the boot a little for the pipe to fit. It's like the aim is just a touch off on the IC inlet/outlet.

runonbeer said:

Pretty sure I'm using the regular old stock boots on mine.

Iirc you have to cock the boot a little for the pipe to fit. It's like the aim is just a touch off on the IC inlet/outlet.

Click to expand...

Yes, to my knowledge the tacotaco fits the stock piping just fine. I was discussing a situation in which I upgraded all my charge piping to 2" mandrel bent aluminum.