SVHO intercooler

[yjander]

I got this SVHO intercooler off of eBay to change out my SHO intercooler. Wasn't planning on doing it right away, as I just got the boat. But thought it was a good deal so I bought it. Listing said it was from a used freshwater 2014 ski. I got it for $200. When I got it out of the box today to inspect it, it was filthy smell like kerosene or diesel, and also the top with the two relief ports are looked a little burnt or melted. I'm thinking the water coming out of the bypass was hot or something?

I'm worried that this intercooler's been overheated in the past, and it's junk. Is it way to test this before putting it on my boat?

 

[FLBulldogger]

Does the inside of the relief port cover on the air cooler look melted or deformed? I would suspect the ski it came off of either had a fire onboard or some other catastrophic event inside the engine bay making the plastic on the air cooler to melt and bubble. They probably used a strong cleaner i.e. gas or some other petroleum based product to clean the soot off, hence the strong smell.

 

[yjander]

Does the inside of the relief port cover on the air cooler look melted or deformed? I would suspect the ski it came off of either had a fire onboard or some other catastrophic event inside the engine bay making the plastic on the air cooler to melt and bubble. They probably used a strong cleaner i.e. gas or some other petroleum based product to clean the soot off, hence the strong smell.

Thanks @FLBulldogger is there a gasket on that relief port cover? I will remove it and take a look at the underside of it. Do you know a way of testing an intercooler?

 

[Dean P]

I believe @FLBulldogger is right. This intercooler was next to something that was on fire. From your pictures looks like the inside is ok. The only was to find out if it's ok is to make sure water flows thru it. Try hooking a garden hose to it to confirm flow. Good luck.

 

[yjander]

I believe @FLBulldogger is right. This intercooler was next to something that was on fire. From your pictures looks like the inside is ok. The only was to find out if it's ok is to make sure water flows thru it. Try hooking a garden hose to it to confirm flow. Good luck.

Thank you for the information. This makes sense. I will hook up the garden hose to the inlet and see how the water flows. I'll get some documentation of it. I have not even had a chance to take this boat out but once, so looking forward to this summer. I know summers here in Georgia product lake temps in the 80s, so just wanted to be prepared to put this intercooler in during the summer if I start to suffer from heat soak issues. Before I just install it, I wanted to witness for my self how the heat soak causes issued with speed.

 

[FLBulldogger]

Thanks @FLBulldogger is there a gasket on that relief port cover? I will remove it and take a look at the underside of it. Do you know a way of testing an intercooler?

@yjander Here is a Drawing from a '17 195, unfortunately it doesn't show the cover removed, but by that I would "assume" that there is not gasket there. Maybe @haknslash knows or knows someone that does.

 

[yjander]

@yjander Here is a Drawing from a '17 195, unfortunately it doesn't show the cover removed, but by that I would "assume" that there is not gasket there. Maybe @haknslash knows or knows someone that does.

Thanks. I went ahead and took it apart. The plastic on the inside of the relief port cap does look like it is bubbled a little, but it looks like its from the outside and not from overheated water on the inside of the intercooler. I guess this thing was in a fire, just sucks the seller didn't disclose that. I don't really care that the plastic is melted a bit, as this will be under the engine cover, but just want to make sure there are no water leaks. Once I put it back togother, I'll run some water through it with a garden hose and see how things look.

As far as the inside and gaskets, there is not a gasket or o-ring on the relief port cap, but there is an o-ring on the water inlet side. I went ahead and took the whole intercooler apart to take a look at it. I don't really know what I'm looking for, but it looked in pretty good shape. Some of the fins looked a little dented, not sure whats up with that. But it does look like it was a freshwater ski, as I didn't see any signs of salt deposits or anything like that.

Take a look and let me know what you think? THANKS!

 

[tdonoughue]

Not an expert on these things, but I would clean it up (now that you have it apart, you can probably do so better than they prior owner did. Don't touch the coils, but a little brake cleaner or part cleaner on a rag and a wipedown will leave you with some nice mating surfaces. Not sure on that gasket, but I would throw it back together, put it on a hose and see how it does. If it leaks, get a new gasket (you will probably still be ahead). If it doesn't, I think you are good to go...

 

[yjander]

Not an expert on these things, but I would clean it up (now that you have it apart, you can probably do so better than they prior owner did. Don't touch the coils, but a little brake cleaner or part cleaner on a rag and a wipedown will leave you with some nice mating surfaces. Not sure on that gasket, but I would throw it back together, put it on a hose and see how it does. If it leaks, get a new gasket (you will probably still be ahead). If it doesn't, I think you are good to go...

Thanks for the reply. I cleaned it up when I had it apart and hooked up the garden hose to it. Water was flowing steadily out of the two relief ports on top I didn't see any leaks anywhere else, so I think its ok. I'm going to run my stock intercooler this summer for a bit so that I can actually witness the heat soak issue. If I find it unacceptable, I'll swap it out for this one and run a dedicated extra tell tale.

Thanks

 

[haknslash]

If you have the SVHO I wouldn't even bother running a summer with the stock one. You're in the south so it's going to get heat soak. I'd swap it and not look back IMHO.

 

[Gozills]

I got this SVHO intercooler off of eBay to change out my SHO intercooler. Wasn't planning on doing it right away, as I just got the boat. But thought it was a good deal so I bought it. Listing said it was from a used freshwater 2014 ski. I got it for $200. When I got it out of the box today to inspect it, it was filthy smell like kerosene or diesel, and also the top with the two relief ports are looked a little burnt or melted. I'm thinking the water coming out of the bypass was hot or something?

I'm worried that this intercooler's been overheated in the past, and it's junk. Is it way to test this before putting it on my boat?

I would be as much or more concerned about an internal leak. That’s how most intercoolers fail and how they potentially can cause driveability issues and engine damage. A simple pressure test will tell the tale.

 

[yjander]

If you have the SVHO I wouldn't even bother running a summer with the stock one. You're in the south so it's going to get heat soak. I'd swap it and not look back IMHO.

Thanks for the response. I think I'll change it out and see how it performs.

 

[yjander]

I would be as much or more concerned about an internal leak. That’s how most intercoolers fail and how they potentially can cause driveability issues and engine damage. A simple pressure test will tell the tale.

After I took this thing apart and cleaned up the mating surfaces and sprayed off the fins with brake cleaner then ran some pretty good pressure from my garden hose through it, it think its good. I don't see any issues, cracks, or active leaks when it was connected to the garden hose.

 

[BakedZiti]

After I took this thing apart and cleaned up the mating surfaces and sprayed off the fins with brake cleaner then ran some pretty good pressure from my garden hose through it, it think its good. I don't see any issues, cracks, or active leaks when it was connected to the garden hose.

Take it from a former sx192 owner who lives in GA, heat soak WILL be an issue. I swapped my intercooler and it made a world of difference