Bushskinz Intercooler Issue?

[JoeMcDermott]

I fitted the Bushskinz underbody armour and was happy with the ease of fitting, the look and the protection it gives.

But…………………………………….

I have found that, in hot weather, the performance is reduced and the fuel consumption increased when compared to the same conditions with the OE tin foil protection for the intercooler.
I am assuming that it is because the airflow over the intercooler is much reduced when compared to stock, but I am not 100% sure.

Has anyone else found this effect?

Has anyone done anything to correct it? That might be drilling more holes through the plate (but this will reduce its strength) or upgrading the intercooler? I have a winch fitted to the bullbar so that second option might be difficult.

[nj swb]

I fitted the Bushskinz underbody armour and was happy with the ease of fitting, the look and the protection it gives.

But…………………………………….

I have found that, in hot weather, the performance is reduced and the fuel consumption increased when compared to the same conditions with the OE tin foil protection for the intercooler.
I am assuming that it is because the airflow over the intercooler is much reduced when compared to stock, but I am not 100% sure.

Has anyone else found this effect?

Has anyone done anything to correct it? That might be drilling more holes through the plate (but this will reduce its strength) or upgrading the intercooler? I have a winch fitted to the bullbar so that second option might be difficult.

Yes, I found I was disappointed with the reduction in intake temperature achieved with the Bushskinz in place (which came with my NT when I bought it). So, when I found myself with much time on my hands, I drilled 128 extra 3/8" holes in my plate.

When the intercooler is clean, travelling at 100km/h showing around 8psi boost, my intake reports 18 degrees above ambient. Higher boost (i.e. headwind) the temperature differential would increase.

When the intercooler is dirty (most of the time) the intake reports 22 - 23 degrees above ambient.

Yes, the extra holes have reduced the strength of the plate. Will that reduction in strength ever make any material difference?

[erad]

I too have noted awhat I think is a change in air intake temperatures with the Bushskinz intercooler guard fitted. At times, on a long steep mountain climb towing my 16.5 ft poptop caravan, I see over 120 Deg C, and I don't really like it. The cooling water temperature is OK - i think 96 Deg C was the maximum I have seen (I have a Scangauge II monitoring the Boost, Voltage and the air and CW temps).

I have looked at the possibility of drilling more holes in the plate, but I am concerned about weakening the plate. I demolished a wombat at 100 km/h, and the plate showed some wombat fur, but nothing else - no damage. I am thinking of opening up the airflow a bit, bu strengthening the plate with a bit of angle iron welded to the inside to stiffen it up where I remove some metal. This is one of the GUNNADO jobs. When I do it, I'll take some photos and try to post them up for others to see/comment.

I will also look into maybe installing a fan eg a 12V computer fan behind the gecko to see if that boosts the airflow. Again, a GUNNADO job. I have had the Bushskinz guard fitted for over 4 years and the other day my wife saw it and commented on the gecko design. Not very observant...

I haven't noticed any significant increase in fuel consumption with the Bushskinz guard fitted - only the inlet air temperature worry me at times.

[twisted32]

Yes this was always a concern for me when I could easily crack 100deg intake temps when not pushing the engine that hard up long climbs (ie 3rd gear locked at 70km with car only weighing around 2.6t at the time). My solution was a front mount intercooler (by Jonny Tigg). Sure keeps the intake temps down (and moves the core to a less vulnerable position), but also put a lot of heat into the radiator charge air. Still working on that one.
I think the Bushskinz plate would be much better if all of the vents were cut vertically (as opposed to horizontal) as there is no clear air path when fitted due to the angle of the bash plate.

[06PAJ]

4mm steel let alone stainless wont dissipate heat anywhere near as well as the MMA ally plates either

If its that big an issue could go front mount

[old Jack]

The PB/PC Challenger suffers a similar problem but not as bad. I have modified my Bushskinz intercooler plate and have seen an improve my inlet temps.

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=50101

I have looked at the Pajero's setup and discussed this with Twisted 32 at length, and have been thinking of options. I have an experimental mod to do on Paj 12's NW before we go away next weekend so if we get this done then we can monitor inlet temps both on and offroad and see if it is successful.

OJ.

[Dicko1]

The PB/PC Challenger suffers a similar problem but not as bad. I have modified my Bushskinz intercooler plate and have seen an improve my inlet temps.

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=50101

I have looked at the Pajero's setup and discussed this with Twisted 32 at length, and have been thinking of options. I have an experimental mod to do on Paj 12's NW before we go away next weekend so if we get this done then we can monitor inlet temps both on and offroad and see if it is successful.

OJ.

I look forward to your findings Jack. The drilling of extra holes was going to be a Xmas project once I am at mates workshop. Not an ideal fix so would be interested to see if you come forward with any suggestions. I read about you remedying your Challenger some time ago. Hopefully a fix for the Paj will be found.

[TC.Barky]

Also following with interest

[Lazarus]

x1

[Scouter1]

Noted the same issue when mine went on after first 6 months of ownership. Ended up resolving this & other issues by installing an HPD front mount intercooler https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum...1&postcount=37.

So far so good in regards to dropping inlet temp and not adding to radiator heat load, will see how we go for summer trips.

[_jp_]

I'm happy to mod my bushskins guard based on your findings OJ. Watching with interest.

[NTPeach]

So you want the protection of the bash plate, but the airflow of standard?
I would assume Bushskinz spent a bit of time trying to find a compromise there but seeing as they can't do it to your standards then take your plate off, go to a fabricator and get them to copy it and you put the holes where you think they should go, then come back and tell everyone how you went.

Edit by admin. Sarcasm not needed.

[JoeMcDermott]

So you want the protection of the bash plate, but the airflow of standard?
I would assume Bushskinz spent a bit of time trying to find a compromise there but seeing as they can't do it to your standards then take your plate off, go to a fabricator and get them to copy it and you put the holes where you think they should go, then come back and tell everyone how you went.

Edit by admin. Sarcasm not needed.

Aside from the tone of your reply, it isn’t such a bad idea although rather than doing the work myself I will give some feedback to Bushskinz.
I know from personal experience that, in developing anything, it is almost impossible to think of everything and getting intelligent feedback from clients is one way of improving your product as well as keeping in touch with the people you sell to.
As others have noted, drilling more holes will reduce the strength of the bash plate and I am not willing to do that, but perhaps Bushskinz will have some ideas.
In the meantime I will take a good look at the FMIC options and see how they go.

[old Jack]

Getting the correct airflow is not just a matter of more holes in your bash plate!

You want smooth airflow with little turbulence going to the face of the heat exchangers, shrouds and air deflectors may be required. Air will take the less path of resistance and an open sided bash plate whilst offering protection and cheaper manufacturing costs, does not promote good clean airflow.

Most designers and manufacturers of bash plates do not have an engineering degree or even an advanced understand of aerodynamic principles. Start talking about positive and negative pressure, static and dynamic pressures, boundary layers, laminar flow, induced turbulence, aerodynamic drag, convergent and divergent ducts, venturi effect or standard wave ratios, and they glazed over, like you are from another planet.

OJ.

[rotare]

Having spent a lot of time beneath my car and looking at the intercooler set up and trying to find a better solution, or at least ways to improve airflow to the intercooler, the options are very limited. For a start the factory intercooler is very small and heat soaks quickly, even when running with no sump guard on (I tried and saw the results on my scangauge). As alluded by someone else, surround the intercooler with 3 or 4mm of sheet metal and the problem just becomes worse as the metal becomes a radiating heat source.

From memory the front sway bar blocks the path of cool air reaching the intercooler, and it doesn't help that the factory intercooler is set well back from the front intakes of the bash plate.

It's been shown before that electric fans on intercoolers and radiators are only effective at low speed (below 25km/hr from memory), above these speeds there will be more volume of air from the movement of the vehicle, however with a fan in place it will block some of the airflow through the intercooler. So installing a fan may provide some benefits at low speeds, but may reduce intercooler effectiveness at road speeds.

The long and short of it IMO, is it will be difficult to achieve any moderate improvements to the inlet temps using the stock intercooler, in the stock location. I tried, and decided the best use of my time and resources to achieve the best outcomes for my effort was to fit a low mount custom FMIC set up. I'm not suggesting people shouldn't try and improve the stock set up, but based on my experience for all the effort the end result may be disappointing.