Intercooler or no intercooler?

[D2000]

I'm putting in a VW 1.9 TDI 1Z engine into a Suzuki Samurai. Originally, the 1Z engine had an intercooler. I don't have much room to play with as I already have an oil cooler that will take up a fair amount of room in front of the radiator. The 1Z has a lot more power and torque than the stock Samurai engine so I don't need the intercooler for that. I live in Canada, BC and I work in the bush and there are a lot of mountain passes and steep climbs. My buddy has a diesel landcruiser that is always over-heating and I want to avoid this issue. I have a large radiator and twin electric fans and aforementioned oil cooler. My questions are:

1. Is the intercooler necessary to keep temperatures down for a stock 1Z with upgraded injectors (DPC 520 nozzles)?

2. Would I get better fuel economy with an intercooler?

3. What would be an adequate intercooler for a 1Z engine with the 520 nozzles?

4. Would a top mount intercooler get heat saturated when driving at slow speeds in weather 30 celcius or warmer?

5. The turbo air output is right beside the intake on the manifold. If going without an intercooler is it ok to just connect the two with a short 180 degree pipe or should I lengthen the air route a bit before connecting to the intake manifold?

I greatly appreciate the help of any experts out there. Thanks!!!!

 

[Owain@malonetuning]

Definitely worth having an intercooler, if packaging is a concern an air water system shortens the intake run and gives you room to relocate the radiator (plus you can get away with a smaller one).

AWIC is better for low speed crawling since you won't have much airflow over the rad, the thermal capacity will help in low speed situations.

 

[oilhammer]

You for sure want the intercooler. Otherwise the ECU will pull boost and fueling and the engine will lose power.

 

[D2000]

You for sure want the intercooler. Otherwise the ECU will pull boost and fueling and the engine will lose power.

Sounds like the consensus is to put in an intercooler. The engine is now fully mechanical. I have a mechanical injection pump on it.

Thanks!

 

[Mongler98]

Water to air probably is going to be your solution here. You can mount the water cooler coil anywhere. Better than none. An option is also to inject a small fog of water from a water I injection kit but then you run out of water in about every 100 miles or so. Ofcourse you would be injec9pre turbo.
The stock intercooler would suffice if you cant fit a larger system.

 

[1.4TDI PD]

If you have bigger nozzles and you are planing on going uphill with higher engine load i definitely recommend to install the intercooler.

 

[flee]

My go-to for AWIC hardware is Frozenboost.com. They have all the bits you'll need.
I have a spare IC on a shelf...

 

[COTTOB-44]

Anyone know where I can get a small intercooler to fit in the very small opening of a Samurai grill? Somewhere in the 12" x 12" x 2.5 / 3" range 2 or 2.5" inlet and outlet. I have looked all over and can not find one that will fit without major modifications.

 

[Ol'Rattler]

I would be inclined to ditch the oil/air cooler. You should already have an oil/water cooler that the oil filter screws to if I am not mistaken. I had a non turbo 81 Benz 4 cylinder and that thing was a real dog.