Here's a little observation of mine. In 14500 miles I have yet to clean my IC or the rubber 'seal' behind it. So, let the pictures tell the story:

Top of intercooler, 2 bugs:


'seal' thing, many many bugs/debrits:


thru scoop, hood slightly open ('seal' shown behind diverter as Andy says):


hood closed, through scoop (note a) space to the side, b) depth of that space, and c) space below seal AFTER hood closed!:


hood closed, note lots of space above diverter:


I believe you will see my point.

 

I was just jokin ya sensative lil gurl.

 

I still see the head behind the IC

 

Perfect! Your bugs have disproved your theory! If air were indeed flowing around the intercooler rather than through it, there would be bugs all over, not just in the area enclosed by the foam seal against the intercooler cover. Notice that there are no bugs on the underside of the seal, which would indicate that air is flowing between the seal and the intercooler cover. As you stated, you haven't cleaned the intercooler so any bugs would still be there.

 

not sensitive at all, d00d! . If I didn't enjoy this, I wouldn't be here. I like learning things, and I like figuring things out too. I am a scientist, first and foremost. I believe we can only learn by this little exercise, and I respect all of you immensely. I just have a hunch and feel like this must be discussed...

 

I agree... it seems like a fan mounted on the IC would do more harm than good by blocking surface area and restricting airflow. It doesn't take much forward motion to get enough airflow to cool the IC down..
Other than drag racing, I don't see any reason to be using a fan on the IC

 

That is a theory, but tell me- how do the bugs get there? And, most importantly, what happens to the air which carries them there? It doesn't sit there passively throughout at speed, diverting other currents away like a high pressure system. The air reaches the seal, some goes through [note it's POROUS, look for yourself...], and the rest filters through underneath. Maybe the big particles get caught by the 'seal' [and their density diverts them up further, catching them there...] but the air most certainly neither swirls around to enter the IC nor stays there. Right?

I believe the air passes immediately downward after going under/through the seal and passes over/under the heatshield near the header.

 

I will never forget this moment, or you guys!

I've always been known for having a high threshold for pain. I would not wish this on anyone. I was so polite in the ER. Not once did I yell or scream and demand a doctor. I just sat there, shaking, perspiring, rolling back and forth trying to endure the agony. Once the vomitting began, a few nurses noticed, and rushed me ahead of others. I remember hearing somethig like, 'the guy with the hurt toe can wait, get this guy in NOW!' Triage baby, I love it. Seriosuly, if you're in that situation, speak-up, sooner...

Apparently it's only about 3-4mm in size, and I should pass it. The wicked thing about the pain is that if it's allowed to return to full force by not taking meds like Vicodin and Motrin, those meds won't do squat; it's back to the hospital for morphine. So, it's meds around the clock, and no time to be macho man...

I've gotta **** in a strainer to catch the bugger when it comes-out. The composition will help better understand how I can modify my diet for prevention purposes, besides drinking more water daily.

 

The reason was to kewl it off more....Thats like saying ( i dont know the reason why they make a bigger IC ) cuz it was found to be efficient than the OEM one.

WTF.....Why do people keep saying " it blocks airflow" ....Its a f*ckn FAN. Its meant to pull and push high amounts of air thru it. theres nothing to block.

And what CFM fan was being used for your test onasled?

 

true about the consistency matter. The doctors hope this isn't an indication of pathology like hyper-PTH [too much serum Ca] or cystinuria. More often than not, it's not too worrying. Best of luck man!

 

Check it out, on my even dirtier IC cover, you can clearly see the outline of the foam seal:



The top of the foam seal touches the intercooler cover all the way around.

 

Well if your argueing the point about if the seal is properly seated i can clear that up also........When we do the JCW kit here they change the black IC cover to the JCW silver one and everyone is b*tching abt the dirty black lines the upper foam leaves on the cover which cant be fixed.

 

Compared to the airflow at speed... a fan that size would be a restriction. I didn't say it wouldn't work in some applications... like drag racing, when you need it to be cool off the line...

 

The fan makes sense to me as you explain it - to cool when the car is not moving forward. However, if the fan is going to be situated in the ambient flow path, while it will help when stopped, it would inhibit flow during motion. I don't think this is a trade-off many would desire...

A water nozzle or two would minimally disrupt flow while cooling things down when stopped/idling also...

 

Fans may be used to move air, but the fan and its motor also take up space. A fan may also not be able to spin as fast as the air going past it. It's kind of a catch-22 in a small space like this. You'd want a fan that would be able to spin fast enough to keep up with the airflow at speed, yet you'd want the fan to be small enough to fit in there in the first place and to not have its motor and blades block airflow. No doubt automotive radiator fans block some airflow and their blades impede airflow when the car is moving quickly, but the engineers design the size and shape of the system to still provide sufficient cooling in all situations.

 

The seal is not perfect in the posterior driver's side near the screw. IF the resistance to flow there and in the opposing corner is less than down through the IC and around the various structures beneath, air will preferentially choose that route. Plus, the engine moves, meaning there will be some variability in the seal. Maybe the oily streak is deposited at that time. It looks diffuse, like the seal moves. Remember, too, that air can flow through thin slits easily if there is somewhere to go.

 

You mean like the thousands and thousands of thin slits going downward through the intercooler?

 

listen kid......give us your lunch money and call it a day!



P.S.......MY FAN MOD "WILL" WORK.

 

Yes, IF there is somewhere to go. That has been my question all along. . This is fun.

PPPPPS: Where can i get some BIM-COMage to test my and others' theories?

 

Exactly how old are you? I'm 23. I'd venture you're being led by some wishful thinking there...

 

nah.....just being a wisea55.........im 29

 

I give up. You're right. The MINI engineers must have sat down and said:

"Let's device an intercooler that works unlike any intercooler on any car. We'll design it to operate via evaporation, and the airflow won't be through it, but rather we'll have the air travel through the threads of a torx head screw located on a decorative cover, with decorative scoops, and a decorative foam seal."

BTW, if you remove the intercooler and look under there, it's not the roomiest place in the world but there is plenty of room for air to exit to the rest of the engine compartment:



BTW, BiM-COM cannot help your misunderstanding of this fairly simple situation.

 

I am sorry to get back on the soap box, but I disagree with one of the statements below.

" but the air most certainly neither swirls around to enter the IC nor stays there. Right?"

The reason why I made my "Split Air Intake" is that I wanted to avoid the swirls that are created on the right side of the IC cover, where you have most of the bugs in your picture. As air enters the IC scoop opening, it enters at the same speed. I finds the IC opening to the left, the compress sponge behind it and the dead space on the right. The air on the right has only the compressed sponge as an escape or the IC. It tends to move to the IC, least resistance. This creates a vortex over that area that just swirls around there. Pushed by the incoming air and the momentum of the previous air that is in motion in that direction. That air moving from right to left is disruptive to the airflow going to the IC. In my view, it is more efficient to remove that area by dividing the airflow that would go to the dead space on the right and allow the air moving from the Scoop to the IC to keep its direction and speed, versus having to deal with the cross air coming from the right side, dead space. I do not like the Alta air diverter, it is better than the stock setup, but it also is disruptive to the airflow going to the IC. Please do a search for SAI or "Split air Intake" for pictures of what I made to divide the airflow. I am working on other application of this concept.

Bomboasy

 

I think we all can agree that the intent of the designers was to direct the incoming ambient air downward, through the IC. The foam about the permimeter is there to create a seal, which traps the air, making for higher pressure, and knowing that it will seek the path of least resistance, down she goes...

The seals are not perfect, some pressure is lost, along with that, not all of the desirable cool air is getting forced down. How much this is happening in our idividual set-ups, I guess we don't know... I feel that whatever we can correct, to make a better seal, our intercooling will be more effective...

I added this high temp (up to 400F) aluminum silicone to the front and back foam of the GRS diverter. This should help prevent air from getting forced into the foam, and out the back... I however later noticed that when the bonnet is closed, this foam just touches the IC in some areas. Ideally, it should compress a fair amount to assure a good seal. I will later source some foam and make sure that it's thicker...

 

TonyB, first I am glad to hear that you are feeling better, enough to follow this great thread. I agree with your comment and earlier comment regarding the seal that the foam makes is not ideal. To improve on this, I incorporated some Aluminum walls to the SAI setup that go from the IC up. They also work as heatsinks

Bomboasy