i always thought that an intercooler does increase power. quad said it cools the intake charge, which it does, and that cooler and more importantly denser air will carry more fuel and thus create more power.just as a turbo adds more air to the intake, increasing the density of the air will create more power.

i found this explaination

 

Yes, but adding an intercooler will also decrease the boost for those of us with the turbos on the older PSDs. I tend to trust Quadzilla's information because he gets a lot of it from Dale Isley (Tymar) who knows more about the 7.3PSD than anyone I've ever known.

 

it will decrease boost a little(i am running at 30 psi WOT so it must to be that much)i was stating that an intercooler will increase "power". for instance if you put an intercooler on your truck, and changed nothing else, it would make more power with the incooler installed than it does now, without one

 

Well, not really unless you are going to add more fuel.

 

if the engine were at or near 100% combustion efficiency(burning all fuel in the chamber) than yes you would have to add more fuel to gain performance. i am very confedient that is not the case in any modified diesel engine,(we are not burning all the fuel that goes into the combustion chamber) thus merely adding an intercooler(putting more air molecules in, to burn more of the fuel available) to a modified diesel, will increase power.

 

True, but with my Tymar intake I am taking in more air than I will ever need. Adding an intercooler, while reducing intake temps and providing denser air, will in turn also lower boost and add turbo lag.

 

Cooler air is denser air. Contains more oxygen molicules to utilize in the combustion process. It has a greater effect on turbo gas engines than diesels because the diesels already burn so lean that there is lots of leftover oxygen going out the tailpipe. The intercooler IMO allows a diesel to make more power without exceeding EGT limits. Quadzilla's setup is like an intercooler in that his uses water instead of metal fins to cool the intake air. There are advantages to both setups. Quad's truck has a much faster turbo response time. An intercooled truck doesn't have a water tank to bother with.

 

There must be some misconception about how my truck is set up. I don't have water injection, I have propane injection. I do have a quicker turbine housing than stock. My truck produces the power that it does because of the propane, chip, turbine housing combination. The temps stay down because the turbine housing increases boost at a lower rpm than a stock housing, thereby increasing the amount of airflow. Propane also burns cooler than #2 diesel, so there's a slight decrease in temps because of that.
Since I don't have an intercooler, I need someone who does to tell me what your EGT's are at 2000 rpm. Mine are at 600*F. If your temps aren't considerably lower, I'd have to wonder what the advantage of the intercooler is at that rpm.

 

On a turbo diesel, the pcm reads both mass air and boost to determine how much fuel to supply to the injectors. Though an intercooler will decrease the intake temps slightly, it also drops boost slightly. The benefits of the lower temps are offset by the reduction in boost. If the two totally offset each other, all you've added with an intercooler is turbo lag. Your explanation of how an intercooler works is helpful, but it pertains more to a gasser, which fuels according to air/fuel ratio.

Gale Banks also doesn't think it's necessary to change the airbox or exhaust system of a pre 99 truck until you climb a few notches in his option packages. He's the same guy that wants over $300 for the same turbine housing I bought for $130. You can listen to Gale Banks all you want, and take his word for gospel, but I'd rather do my homwork and make my own decisions.

The biggest challenges facing the marketing department at the major automobile manufacturers is to overcome the public's perception of diesel engines: they smoke, they're loud, and it's a hassle waiting for the turbo to cool down before shutting it off. Modern pcm programming has taken care of both smoke and noise, and the intercooler allows you to shut the rig down sooner than if you didn't have one. Maybe there's your reason.

 

You're suppost to wait for the turbo to cool down before you shut off your vehicle?

 

Yep, you shuld let your truck idle down to about 300*F to prevent the oil from coking in the turbo. It's just a longevity thing.

 

My mistake Quadzilla. I thought read somewhere you were talking about water injection on your truck. It was somebody here about a month ago.
I can see an intercooler being useful on a long hard pull with a trailer behind. Unloaded no.

 

Since I am guageless (that will be remedied ASAP) on average how long does it take to get cooled down? Plus I am lucky where I live. The road going to my house is slightly downhill for 200 yards, I can coast all the way down.

 

When I run the bejeeezuz out of it, about 2-3 minutes. Just normal driving down the freeway and pulling in for fuel...generally doesn't take more than sixty seconds. When towing heavy it can take as long as five minutes to get properly cooled down.

 

Preach on brother!! "Overpriced and underpowered", that should be the Banks motto.