Hi All,
 
I wanted to get some opinions on running coolant in W2A intercoolers, some people run straight water, some people use 50/50 water coolant mix and I have also read people adding products like Water Wetter / Motul Mocool to increase cooling efficiency.
 
I was also thinking about adding a IAT  sensor and gauge to monitor the temp in the intercooler, I already have a IAT in the inlet manifold but can't really find a gauge that can read it besides my Microtech hand controller.
 
I have also read some people argue that IAT is a waste of time and just use a AFR gauge but due to MR2's engine bay temps I do like the idea of being able to check the temp of the intake air.
 
Thoughts?

Idealy you would use the same (type of) sensor as you are using for the ECU's IAT, that way they will measure the same, heatsoak the same, response time will be the same ect, so you can compare the temps, rather then have mismatched sensors, see one temp raise higher then the other, is it due to the temp increasing or the other sensor is just slower to adjust?
 
What ECU are you running? if its an aftermarket can u wire in another temp sensor and just log it? I assume u just have the factory dash not a full race dash.
 
Prob the best sensor for turbo cars for IAT, for speed and reduced heat soak is the Bosch 0 280 130 085 exposed wire Air Temp sensor
 
Ill be running 3 IAT sensors, before turbo (outside air) after turbo before IC and the main IAT after IC before TB, as well as IC water temp ect, hopefully when the car is running the data will provide some insight to see how well the w2a IC is working. 

Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking of doing, I have one IAT sensor in the manifold and mount one in the hot pipe and intercooler to see how well it's cooling the air, that way I can try to further improve the system more, like running a spal fan on the heat exchanger or adding a larger reservoir if required.
 
WIDEMR - Are you going to run a reservoir or ice box in your setup ??

Not planning to, but ill let the data tell me if i need to or not.
 
Plans are to have the intercooler mounted inside the car behind the passenger seat in front of the roll cage, keep the weight low and forward a bit more, but also keep it away from the heat.
 
 My IC water pump is under the front bonnet, which i also have there a 'cool shirt' esky there, to cool down my helmet air, if needed i could run the IC water pipe through that and let the ice or dry ice help cool it down, wouldnt add much weight as the esky and ice will already be there.

I guess it depends on how you interpret the feedback from the IATs. If the system is not functioning correctly the IAT is not going to tell you what you need to address to achieve the performance you are after. I would focus on designing the system properly from the start otherwise you might end up chasing your tail. When I say design I mean the diameter of the pipework, getting turbulent flow through the IC and HE and ensuring there is enough volume of water in the system. My advice is dont over analyse it.
 
In regard to the fluid additive, I wouldnt get hung up on this. The temperature of the fluid before cooling is not going to be a lot more than ambient, and you will never get the cooled air at or below ambient without ice or similar. The fluid doesnt need to work as hard as the engine cooling system. I would fully test and satisfy myself that the system is functioning correctly with normal water before I try anything fancy. I found I was pulling apart my system a lot and trying new things, if that was filled with water wetter or coolant it would have been very messy and expensive by the time I got it right. Once you know its optimised, maybe try water wetter or similar and test the difference it makes.
 
 

Water is better than coolant. Unless you're worried about freezing or boiling, coolant isn't needed. Though it might not be a bad idea to run some anti corrosion additives.

I've got a temp sensor mounted to the inlet manifold, where the cold start injector normally is. Its pretty useless to be honest. The response time isn't great, and the manifold will heatsoak, so it tends to creep up while idling and cools down whilst under load. Probably not very representative of the actual air temps. Also I've got a water injection kit at the throttlebody, so when it kicks in the sensor gets sprayed with cool water and drops instantly.
Monitoring intercooler water temperature would probably be much more accurate and useful. Its what I'll be doing when I finally install my kit.

I ran a sensor just before the throttle bottle on my W2A setup, but in the end i changed it to water spray. The ST205  W2A had a water level sensor in it which I blocked off. At one stage I considered putting in a temp sensor, but thats monitoring the water temp not the air temp. I used coolant in mine. When it was running in "The Beast" it was also using coolant. Seeing as that car was running over 300kw and was a HKS engine I thought I would not argue with all that and just follow their example. One thing I had to put together myself was a separate overflow as when you switch the engine off, you get heatsoak ane the cooler boils. So I found it better to have its own bottle I think rather than sharing the stock one.
But Ive ditched that setup now.

I think I will keep my current IAT in the manifold and just add a watertemp sensor the the w2a intercooler to check the water temp inside the cooler.
 
Blue2 - Why did you ditch that setup?

The setup I had was great, never get heatsoak on street driving. On hot summer days, it would always hold boost well because of this setup. Looked stock also. 
 
However the last two times I went track it got heatsoaked. I could have probably done some things to insulate it etc but i pulled it out and in went the boot mount cooler. I got a different turbo, manifold, and stuff done so I thought might as well do this too.
 
The thing about having a water temp sensor in the W2A, is even if its hot there is nothing you can do. Let the water circulate and let the fan blow. This is why I didnt bother with the water temp. Air temp yes, good to know what air temps are going in I guess. Thats just me.
 
Dont get me wrong, I like the setup. If no one buys my W2A setup I might consider keeping it in case I build another MR2 down the track or for a GT4. 

probably a little late, but I use the redline water wetter with water. the pink bottle have anti corrosive shiz in it. no need for coolant/antifreeze stuff.