OK I have read too many intercooler posts, so I will post my question.

87 F250 Supercab dually with ATS Turbo and exhaust. I would like to install an intercooler on my truck. I can find used intercoolers on EBAY and on CAR-PARTS.COM for around $100. Now what I need help with, is will a newer turbo innercooler like off a 1999 7.3 or 6.0 fit into the front of the radiator? and if so what tubing can I use. I am looking to cool air intake not so much for more power but to try and lower my EGTs when towing my 5th wheel trailer. Recently during a hot day while climbing a hard hill my EGTs were near 1200 and ending up having to slighlty back off the throttle to keep them around 1100. I know that if I want more power I need a newer truck i.e. power stroke, but I am not getting rid of this truck, I have had it for 14 years and something my father gave me. He passed 5 years ago. So now I have a good truck engine is about 16,000 miles since I rebuilt it 5 years ago. Complete rebuilt with 20 over pistons. So the engine is very low mileage. Recently painted and I have new seats and carpet.

The help I need is knowning what cooler lines I can use, and what intercooler will work for the lowest cost.

Thanks in advance. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

i belive if u have the room for the intercooler i wouldnt see why it wouldnt work ... i actually have the same question which i hope since u posted it will be anwsered... the only question to myself is if the intercooler off a 7.3 or the 6.0 is to much since these turbos dont hit hi numbers of boost in the stock settings ... i also found myself wondering would it be better to get an after market intercooler that they use on say a 4cyl s10 turbo ... which their intercoolers are much smaller but there boost numbers are around the same. and if that would work they sell intercoolers on ebay with universal piping hardware so that might work or atleast speed up the job. sorry to burst out this long post but i was also very interested in the idea for the same purpose not so much in power but egt's hope u find what ur looking for!

 

there is very little room in front of the radiator for an intercooler if you have air conditioning.

if you remove the AC, you may just be able to stuff an intercooler in there.

 

It can be done. I have a one-off intercooler that I bought on ebay years ago.
I can't remember where or who made it. It fits tightly between the grille and rads, even with the AC rad still there.
My set-up runs high EGTs towing up hill, I don't know if it would be any different without the intercooler.
When I have time and $ I have a complete wastegated Banks sidewinder waiting on a parts truck. I hope that will be more efficient than my homemade unit.

I'm probably going to try it first w/o intercooler.

 

Any chance you can send some picts when you have time?

deleontow@msn.com

Thank you

 

At one time I knew who made this setup.
It might be Hypermax.

As far as the S 10 intercooler, to small.
The boost numbers might be the same, but the displacement of the IDI needs a lot more CFM flow than they could handle.

 

It's common for the engine to heat up in the summer, especially when loaded and and on a long pull. Also common to back out of the throttle, drop gears and light foot the throttle when the temp starts to rise.

I don't know about the newer engines. If the computer and electronics change timing, amount of fuel ect as the engine heats up. I know when a diesel starts to get hot, back out of the throttle and drop gears as needed.

The warmer a diesel runs, the better it runs, better it runs the hotter it gets and the better it runs so the hotter it gets, till it doesn't run anymore

If it's getting too hot on a short pull, likely there is a problem with either the cooling system, fuel system, maybe both.

 

What is about right for the egt's on these. I don't seem to come close to the temps you guys are quoting. Also where should the probe be taking the reading from, I have a factory turbo but aftermarket pyro that is installed after the turbo I think.

 

Pistons start to melt at 1250 degrees and are the fist thing high EGT's will damage.

My logic says that since the pistons are what you are protecting, the pyrometer thermocouple should be as close to the pistons as you can get it.
If the thermocouple is in the exhaust manifold, that is about as close as it can be installed, and the readings will be as close as possible to the temps the pistons are seeing.

The farther the thermocouple it located from the pistons, the more compensation for heat loss you have to add to the pyrometer reading to estimate what temps they are seeing.

The general consensus says a turbo and the exhaust plumbing before the turbo absorbs about 300 degrees, so a thermocouple located after the turbo showing 950 degrees is indicating the pistons are about 1250 degrees.

Notice the averages and compensations and abouts in the above statements.

Why not eliminate them by installing the thermocouple in the exhaust manifold.
Faster and more accurate readings, no pipes and turbo to heat up before you reading are close to right.
Also if you have the exhaust plumbing and turbo hot, when you back off the throttle now you have to wait until the plumbing and turbo cool down before the EGT readings drop to the new level.

 

Is there a port in the exhaust for the thermocouple and if so do you have any photo's because I can move it to a better position especially since it's quite hilly here and I tow more often than not.
Also dave in the second photo you have a filter minder on the filter housing. can you buy them for my engine and are there different ones for turbo's. My truck used to have one in the cab but it always used to max out when you put the boot into it. Even with a new filter. The parts guy said it was probably not for a turbo engine so I took it out and used the hole for a temp gauge.

 

No port for the thermocouple in the manifold, I used a drill and tap to install mine.

As for the filter minder, that was stock on the ATS filter box, and yes even with a new filter I could max mine out as well just reving the engine, right up till I installed the ram air.

Now I can actually have a dirty filter before I trip the filter minder.

 

Just a note on the filter minder, the factory ATS comes with it, on my truck if I run a new filter at 10PSI Max boost the thing would be in the yellow, but once I installed a K & N filter the thing never moves. K & N is the way to go with the filters.