I'm thinkin about upgradin my intercooler and have heard a lot of guys goin to a powerstroke intercooler. Off of what year of fords do most guys take them from and put them on these trucks? Or what other intercoolers fit fairly good without too much cuttin and fabbin? what about a 2nd gen or 3rd gen dodge intercooler? thanks

 

'99-'02. They have aluminum tanks.

 

MB, you are 3/4 correct. Smokin, just make sure the sides of the IC you get from the dismantler/ebay/etc. are alum. Reason I say all this is my 2002 PSD truck(yes I own a Ford) has plastic sides. Some 2002's are alum, not all. Be safe and request for a 2000 or 2001.

 

I should have mentioned 'make sure it has aluminum tanks'.

 

Are intercoolers older than 99 no good? Or were they smaller.

 

IIRC Ford trucks didn't come with intercoolers before 1999.

Unless you're referring to a second gen dodge cooler. In that case, yeah some guys use them. They are better than the first gen cooler as far as I know.

 

The older 7.3L Ford's (94-98) had no intercooler? Wow, did not know that. This little tidbit was not mentioned in my thread asking how first gen's do against the 7.3's..

I wonder if people with those trucks add an I/C.

 

Not alot of room on those fords if you are not willing to make alot of modifacations. I saw a guy install one that was on the side and he ran the heater hoses to it like an old Mack or big cam 855 cummins with it in the intake manifold.

 

Correct 94-97 1st Gen Powerstrokes were not intercooled. The turbo dumped straight into the intake. There were also other differences in the injectors. The reason for the non-I/C is because there wasn't enough room to easily fit it in there, and the lack of room is also why the downpipe on them from the factory was a very flat oval and why a 4" exhaust is dang near impossible to install without "modifying" the firewall.

 

well i found an 99-00 year powerstroke intercooler with the intercooler pipes and the stock intake for $100. Do ya think that's a pretty good deal? I probably won't be able to use the intercooler pipes or that intake, I already have a set of 3" coolertubz. The stock pipes and intake may be nice to have for some extra parts layin around though.

 

Yes, buy it.

 

Mine's going in right now. I'm looking forward to seeing how it changes things.

 

Just curious how you all(Smokin and Head) are tying your IC piping to the 3 1/4" inlet/outlet ports on the powerstroke IC. If I may offer advice, you can order or go to your local diesel performance shop to obtain the Ford IC blue hump hoses that are 3" to 3 1/4". (I am assuming you are both upgrading to 3" ic piping and not staying with the now restrictive 2 1/2" stock piping)The latter source changes stock powerstroke IC's out all the time to Spearco's, ATS's, etc. and may have used Ford IC hoses around for cheap. Those will work if you plan on mounting the PSD intercooler in between the radiator and a/c condensor like the stock IC was designed. The Ford hoses are roughly 5, maybe 6" max in length. If you plan on installing the psd the way Ace and I did, which was at the most front of the truck directly behind the grill, those boots will be to short in getting the ends of the hoses all the way to the bead on the intercooler ports and intercooler piping.
Check out the 8" long, blue, 4 ply silicone boots from www.dieselpowerproducts.com. They are spendy, but will easily give you at least 2 1/2" lap on the intercooler and the piping. Search for these boots in the intercooler/accessories section. Good service on that site, BTW.

 

The intercooler i was lookin at got sold... So i'm keepin my out for another good deal on one. I already have 3" coolertubz so i was just plannin on buyin two different boots where the intercooler pipes connect to the intercooler. And i was thinkin about puttin it in front of the ac condenser if i got it to fit okay instead of in between it and the radiator.

 

Big Ragu,

For the IC inlet and outlet boots, we used radiator hose It's pretty sturdy though, and it looks ok.