It appears the end tanks of the intercooler are now plastic. Has anybody had a problem with this yet? I have my boost turned up to about 38-40 psi and haven't noticed any problems. How would you be able to detect a small leak or crack in the intercooler?

 

You're right on the ragged edge. I haven't seen one fail, but I've heard they blow out pretty good in the mid 40 psi range.

John

 

Can someone give me a good reason why dodge decided to go with a plastic end tank instead of the metal one? I'm guess cost but I'm not sure.

 

It's another way for them to try to stop the bombing. They are designed to blow at ~45 psi, so DC knows that if it gets blown the boost had to be up there, so bye bye warranty.

 

Ahh. Sneaky bums. Oh well. I'd go and find me an old metal one, run it, and when I need work, put the factory one back in. I know it's wrong, but if what you say is 100% true, then that's BS. I don't want to start another mod vs. warranty thread, just stating that I think it's BS.

On edit, they must allow for some room for bombing because if they really wanted to keep it tight, they could have it blow at say 25-30 psi.

 

Yes they will blow easy. We blew one on the dyno running around 40 lbs of boost with a B1 turbo. It blew the rubber out of the where the plastic meets metal. Were able to replace it with one from an 03. Just had to modify the mounts a bit.

 

Thanks for the info, I quess better start looking for a 03-04 intercooler.

 

kdawg,
Did the boost drop way off or was still able to make some boost?

 

It still made about 20 psi

 

Stock Ford 6.0s blow out the plastic intercoolers pretty often from what I've been reading on the Ford sites.

 

Well my intercooler gave up. What mods need to be done to adapt a 03-04 intercooler to the 05?

 

If you hurry, you may still be able to get a cheap one here....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

 

Some interesting info

03 part # - 52028881AB -- supersedes to 52028881AC (22 lbs) -- Then again to 55056593AA (39 lbs)

BUT read this off of the dealer part site:
55056593AA is temporarily unavailable. Per DCX engineering use 55056672AA (29 lbs) in the interim and also order 4 of bolt p/n 06507566AA. The lower mounting brackets on the A/C condenser will need to be relocated one mounting hole lower. If more specific instructions are required, contact your DM or TA andask them to procure the instruction sheet from CAG

PS - the 55056672AA is what is on all the 05s I have seen

The BIG question is what the heck is the 55056593AA -- It says model year in = 03, and model year out is 04 -- could this be the last of the metal intercoolers ????????

I bet this is a retro fitted plastic one to go fit on the 03-04.. DARN THEM!!!

PS - all the intercoolers the $384 cost - $640 list

hmm... I hope I do not ever break mine

 

lit up - call Griffin Radiator. They will make you whatever you want...one off stuff. They maybe making one for the 03's now. I inquired about one last year when I was considering performance upgrades. He stated that they were not making them yet, but would make whatever I wanted if I sent specs or a blueprint.

If they new all of you 05 guys that bomb needed new coolers, I bet they would jump at the opportunity to get some market share. JMO - JKE

 

I'm sure Griffin would make you one, but whooo I bet it'd be expensive compared to finding a used stock one.

You know, I've never noticed anyone mention upgrading their stock intercooler, at least on the 3rd gen trucks. Is the stock unit that good? It certainly looks good to me. Or, perhaps ultimate thermal efficiency of the intercooler is not as important to a diesel as it is to a gas motor?