Intercooler question

[venomouss]

I am wondering if there is a thermostat of some sort in the intercooler system or if there is a special way to fill the system because I installed it on my car and filled the resevoir turned the key and the pump ran and sucked the fluid out of the reservoir I filled again and started the car and the level is staying full but it appears there is no coolant coming back to the reservoir from the intercooler. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

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[Dana]

There is no thermostat in the intercooler system.
The pump is controlled by the PCM and may not come on immediately. The temps have to rise a bit and the car has to run a while for it to kick in, unless it has been modified in the tune.
There is the possibility that it is air bound and may need to be primed or bled, but this doesn't happen too often.

You can jump the relay next to the air intake to force the pump to kick in, to verify that it is working properly.

 

[rocket5979]

You are likely running into a priming issue. If there is allot of air in the system then things will sometimes not cycle. What I do is make sure the IC pump is running continuously. Then I fill and refill till the reservoir of 3/4 full. Then I pressurize the top of the tank and let off the pressure real quick. Do this a few times and it will usually burp the system out enough where it can start flowing enough to cycle the rest of the smaller air bubbles out on its own.

You can pressurize one of a few ways. If I am in a hurry and don't feel like messing around then I just pressurize it with my mouth on the top of the tank. BTW, coolant DOES taste kind of sweet. Make sure you spit all that crap out if any gets on your lips. It will not be bubbling out so none will go in your mouth or annything, just on your lips if any. The more proper way would be to get a larger hose and ensure it has a tight deal when pressed to the top of the tank. Then blow on the other end to pressurize the system. At least that way you don't need to chance getting coolant near ya.

And that is Robs ghetto way of priming an IC system. :clap:

 

[venomouss]

I should clarify my car is a 99 so I made my own intercooler wiring circuit with a relay so the pump runs continuos with key on and this has been verified already that it is running and in the right direction. Im guessing it is just air but I cant get it out.

 

[venomouss]

Any other input?

 

[rocket5979]

Any other input?

Just do what we said and as long as it is performed properly then it should work just fine. I can fill, prime, and top off my KB ic system in less than 5 minutes with the method I described in my earlier post. With the way the systems are designed (with the ic pump lower than the reservoir) they are extremely easy to prime.