Spoke w/ Peter of M7, I am going to send him the unit for cleaning and I will send him a sample of the junk for a looksie :impatient . Like always Peter/M7 try to be very helpful.

Regarding the melting of this stuff which I asked Peter about. He points out that the SC gets hot but no where near as hot as an open flame.

 

Cool. Peter is the man.

 

The SC material shouldn't be flammible either. There is no way the interior would ever get hot enough for a fire but it could reach +250f ( still not even close to what the coating can take ). Do you still have the OE IC that came off the car? If so take a good look at it......

 

Yes, while this has nothing to do w/ M7, he has opted to try and help. While we discussed several cleaning possibilities, he encouraged to let the manufactuerer do it. I am additionally sending him some of the "junk" for he is just as curious to find out wht it is.

While still bumming - a lot less so.

 

Unfortunately I do not have my original or first aftermarket IC. Yes, I'm on my 3rd! All material has a burning point, while the coating is designed to withstand +250F, how hot does a propane torch get ? 1000+?

 

The only time I have ever seen that on the couple hundred or so different supercharger/intercoolers I have seen apart on the MINI's was in a water induced case...Flood car to be specific.

If the coating is off of your supercharger, then the dealer may have the chuckle due to the mods that you have done to the SC...

Good luck anyway

 

Very true, however things like plastic, wire insulation, filter foam, paint chips and the like are have lower burning points where the coatings are not easily ignited. From the look of the material & the description of how you extracted the material ( exit side of the IC ) it would seem not to be material from the SC or the IC, rather something thatcame from a different source.
Example: a plastic bag that was put on or in the CAI, without the filter, while washing the underhood.
If the material burns easily it can't be IC or lobe coating

 

Bart! I Have my OEM IC if it can help you !Only a few miles North

 

Anything organic will burn, or at least decompose, at the 2000+ F of a propane torch. If the junk keeps burning with a flame after you remove the torch, it is probably not SC coating. Be careful burning this stuff, though. If it is "teflon", it will generate HF, which is not friendly to your eyes, skin, or lungs: it is used to etch glass!

 

Chuckle? may fall on the floor busting a gut laughing. We shall see

 

While the firts junk was found on the exit side, we have subsequently found it inside the IC. Perhaps if sections of the IC were clogged in the center and junk passed thru other channels it might have swirled and stuck to areas in which air was not coming thru? conjecture on my part.

The filter has never been off and clearly this stuff is not plastic bag type stuff. Its smooth, greyish paint like chips - very thin. Now when the DFIC arrived it was not packed in anything similar. Nor do I have anything in the garage like it. Nor does any of the DFIC componets come in a plastic protective coating (discussed with Peter/M7). So based on this it sounds like SC coating but until peter gets to look at it or I have the dealer look at it we won't know for sure.

 

Thanks DarlkMiniS let me borrow his until this gets sorted out.

 

How about some action instead of on-line chat; it’s now been 12 days since this has been reported. During that time you knew there was some contaminate in the charge air pathway but instead of investigating you chose to continue operating the vehicle and in one of the harshest environments also, on the dyno. You want long distance diagnosis because you’re not willing to spend a couple of hours finding out for yourself. Perhaps you have a physical limitation; that would be acceptable, continuing to operate the vehicle in the face of possible damage is not. If you need instruction on how to access the supercharger I will be glad to help. Involving yourself in the process will give you the assurance of knowing all avenues have been investigated.

 

I appreciate it is one of the more boring threads here.

1) I had DOUBTS that the car was underperforming and the Dyno confirmed those doubts.
2) Swapped out IC to test if it was the DFIC. Confirmed the return of 14lbs boost and since that test make every attempt to stay out of boost and not drive the car.
3) I have taken steps to get the material identified, have my DFIC prof. looked at and cleaned.

My family and the car reside in Miami however I work in the Bahamas so I am only home weekends making it very difficult to remove the front and take a looksie and then put it back together. This I have $$, time I don't.

You are right, I need to get to the heart of the matter. Since I am home only on weekends this is as fast as I can advance. My next step is to see what Peter says the stuff is. If Peter is not convinced that it is SC material then I will drop it off to a mechanic to do exactly what you suggest. If Peter says it is SC coating I will take it to the dealer and see if they will repair under warranty. If the dealer won't replace then I have another decision - replace out of my own pocket or upgrade to a M62.

In the mean time the car is sitting and I will reframe from posting.

 

UPDATE

Peter of M7 received the DFIC yesterday. Peter has been really great and wants to try and help me put here. THANK YOU, M7.

The good news is that it is NOT SC coating.

The bad news is we do not know what the stuff is or how it got there or how much is still inside the IC.

Peter is going to have the manufacturer look at it and see what creative solutions could be applied to "cleaning out" the DFIC.

 

try acetone, and failing that, an acid that is DFIC compatible. To identify what the stuff is, you could try a lab like Charles Evans Associates (analytical scientists for hire)...... Sad thing is, if you can't get it out the IC will be hosed. It will have more pressure drop.......

If things get desparate, you can see if an ultrasonic cleaner will break up the grey stuff, and if so that might be the key to cleaning the core....

Matt

 

Hey, this is good news.
Just curious, how long was this IC on the car before the "stuff" was discovered?

 

Peter tried acetone but it did not melt this plastic material.

what type of acid? Ultrasonic cleaner?

 

6 months perhaps.

 

I figured out what it is, Bart was trying bomboasy's Nerf Ball mod
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...&postcount=208

 

Busting my ***** with my own ball busters.

Dam your good.

 

I remembered you guys talking about it, figured i'd throw it in to liven up the joint.

 

On our message board, one of our members cleaned out his stock IC... Found a bunch of junk. Took the IC off, sprayed some brake cleaner through and cleaned out a bunch of oil & junk. I did the same thing and cleared it out. Not really related to the M7 DFIC, but still something to think about. I'm sure there is a link or info on NAM about this as well.

 

you have to know what it is. Acetone is good for a lot of stuff. The acid would have to be chosen to nasty to what the goo is, and fine for all the parts of the IC.

An ultrasonic cleaner uses high frequency sound to provide local agitation. It can be very agressive, even punching through aluminum foil.... If the stuff will come apart into smaller bits you have a chance of reducing it to dust and flushing the particles out, even if you can't dissolve it.

Not fun, and you may want to just consider punting and replacing it. But I'm with Keith, look into your SC and intake path....

Matt

 

Acid? The core is electricly bonded on a DFIG, Yes? If so Acid would be pretty risky business for the iner & outer core if dipped. Any Acid on aluminum that thin is not a good idea.
A high presure wash is out of the question, the inner core is too dence & thin. Some directed low presure water, like a water pick kind of thing, would work, slowly & gently remove the debris............