intercooler pipes

[ginglesturbo]

I finally got my car runnin good....im having some boost problems...when i boost my intercooler pipes pop off they are the cheap ebay 2.5 kit...i have them all tightened well. with t-bolt clamps. my pipes arnt flanged and they dont have any kind of lip on them....what should i do? get new pipes?....as soon as i hit 6lbs one of them blows off and i dont have anys stock pipes to put on it

 

[MKIIINA]

get a lip welded on and that should fix it.

 

[ginglesturbo]

i thought about doin that but i dono what they are made of...i got a welder and i can weld pretty well should i try it or ya think ill fuk em up?

 

[viper92086]

thats weird, maybe bad couplers? i have the ebay kit with no lips and i am doing 12psi with tclamps

 

[Fozbo]

I'm guessing it's an aluminum pipe kit? I wouldn't try to mig weld them (I'm assuming you have a mig); it's possible with aluminum wire, but damn hard. I've heard of people taking a file and scoring the pipe in rings (dragging the file around the pipe rather than along the pipe) so that the rubber couplers have more surface to grab into. I have 3" aluminum pipes that I'm about to do this to (mine tend to pull apart after a while of boosting 10 psi).

 

[GrimJack]

Make certain the pipes and the couplers are clean. A little bit of oil on there will let them blow off at a much lower pressure.

 

[starscream5000]

6psi???

I'm running about 10 psi without any lips on the pipes, and t-bolt clamps, no pop off issues here...

You need to do what Grim said and clean your stuff some and tighten those clamps more .

 

[gilberjj]

one real easy trick if they don't have a lip on them, or they've been cut, cut aa 1/8th off the pipe on both ends. So you are left with the piping 1/4" shorter than before. So with the 2 rings you just cut off, make a cut right through any part of the ring. Don't cut it in half, just through one side. Then you're left with a ring that isn't fully complete (its been cut and can be slightly opened). Open the ring just enough to get it over where you just cut off, and then weld it on for a lip. your couplers will never slip off after that!

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

What he said...

Except if you got the eBay generic kit, then you can probably just use spare pipe instead of cutting yours.

If you don't weld, you can get stuff for brazing aluminium pretty well, too.

 

[jtran8]

You can also use hacksaw to make some grooves around intercooler pipes where you slide silicone couplers on and don't smooth it , leave it rough . clean inside couplers to make sure no oil , tighten clamps little tighter , put clamps about .100" away from the edge of coupler . i've done mine and they good for over 17psi of boost .

 

[ginglesturbo]

oil is a problem on the one comin out of the turbobut not on the lower one going into the intercooler..they both pop off ..im gonna try to weld on some lips and clean em up this weekend....but they say its gonna snow here and i hate the cold so itl happen when this"storm" moves on outa here....

 

[7MsuprO]

If they're popping off repeatedly they most likely have a bad fit...esp. since your using t-bolts.

 

[ginglesturbo]

ya the t bolts do seem to suck ....i have allready broken 2 of them....i think the regular ole clamps for coolant lines work great! im probly gonna replace all those when i do the lips on em...also i thik im gonna rough em up a little bit so they arent so slick of a surface

 

[hottscennessey]

I've ran 30 PSI on pipes with no lip w/ out them blowing off.. like you said, your clamps suck.

 

[jtran8]

Most of the time T-bolt clamps out perform screw clamps , likely your clamps were on angle when tightened . If clamp was sat angle when tightened ,it come loose easily no mater how tight it was . When tighten T-bolt clamp , try to hold it straight while tighten it and double check it after tightened to make sure it straight .

 

[ginglesturbo]

ya i did that but i broke 2 of them ....i think these t bolt clamps suck...maby i need some stronger ones...they look real cheap30 psi and no lip huh? oil on them must be realy bad plus my turbo has a little blow by oil

 

[jtran8]

yeah , i think those t-bolt clamps you got are cheap China made , they made out of cheap soft material that easily stress and break . You need to order some good t-bolt clamps .

 

[suprafanatic]

easiest solution... sand paper!! lol i know it sounds stupid, but get a tough grit sand paper, cut a thin strip, and super glue it around the end of the pipe and put the coupler over it and tighting it down.. it WONT pop off agian i had to do that to a turbo i had on my celica a while back, worked great. and cut a thin enough piece no one can see it anyway.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

The more of this thread I read, the more I'm glad that I bought the 2.5" IC pipe set from DriftMotion.

Now I've got to learn to weld Aluminium, so that I can get rid of a lot of the silicone couplers that I'm going to have. (I just think it'll look 100% better with some of the visible seams welded. It's not a problem with them being secure.)

 

[Buddafucco]

Short rounded head machine screws. 3 of them equally spaced apart and screwed in about 1/8" from end of pipe. The clamp won't slide over the heads. Quick, cheap, effective.