Christov

When I had a Volkswagen TDI diesel it was recommended to occasionally remove the intercooler and clean the thing out. Is this recommended on the Cummins also?
Thanks.

quantum610

I'm not sure if it is recommended from dodge but I think it is a good thing to do. One of the easiest ways to do it is install a water injection kit from snow, or make your own. Peruse ebay there are several knowlegdable people on there that have kits. All it takes is water.

packard8

Something is seriously wrong with the air filter if enuf dirt gets by to soil the intercooler......any dirt getting into the intercooler is going straight into the engine.

stang

are we sure there not talking about cleaning the bugs off the cooler? only reason you would have anything in the cooler is if one filter is bad or two your turbo is leaking oil around the seals and you know what happens then. and no water/meth before the cooler needs to be in the inlet air horn or you will be buying a new intercooler.

quantum610

Its not dirt that needs cleaning out of the intercooler. Most of the newer diesels have some kind of exhaust recirculation valve. So add soot and oil and you have nice paste to plug just about anything up that also coats the inside of the intercooler making heat exchange nil at best. Thats why running a water injection kit is highly reccomended. Esecially on the above mentioned TDI. They get so much crap in them that the intake manifold will almost completly plug up at around 80k. Leaving only a quarter size hole to breath through.

stang

water meth and soot whats that make? Acid new intercooler on its way. now can it been done yes but you better dry it out before you shut the truck down. Truck needs to run for 5 min. after last time water/meth has been shut down to dry out intercooler. best way is to pull intercooler off clean out with acatone dry it out and reinstall

Jeff in TD

Well, that makes me happy to not have a EGR system...

Christov

This is my first Cummins, and I know with the TDI the engine did have an EGR valve that would vent right back into the oil. This was an issue that needed maintenance from time to time to clean the intercooler. The Cummins to my knowledge does not use an EGR valve, and hopefully will be a lot cleaner.

qmcdt

I had the TDI as well. The intercooler cleaning was due to the PCV tieing into the turbo suction and the turbo blowing all of the blow by gasses and the entrained oil mist from the crankcase into it. There were low spots in the TDI air loop where the oil would collect. Your CTD PCV vents to atmosphere through a scrubber. Forgetaboutit. (and the egr comes back through to the air horn on the tdi and most everything else, not through the intercooler)