So the other day i was at a shell station, just simply putting gas in my car, i wasnt being a dick, i was not showing off or doing anything stupid at all. It was night time and i left the shell lot. They have this HUGE ramp thats probally about a 45* angle and i bottomed out the front end of my car.

Long story short the bottom of my intercooler got banged up and a plastic clamp snapped off so the bottom is just pretty much dangling around. My car is in limp mode turbo is shut off CEL is shining bright and my car is slower than a prius.

I took it to the dealer because i had several other warranty issues with it (rear rotors, Intake cam sensor is leaking, and intercooler is all fucked) They didnt warranty **** they did give me a new clamp for my charge piping tho and told me my CEL was on because of an after market K&N air filter.

My car is SLOW as ****, idles like **** pulls like **** runs like ****, its just ****, and the dealers didnt do ****!

So now i have decisions to make, the parts for a new "factory intercooler and MAF sensor" will cost me around $500, i can do all the labor myself. OR i could go after market and get a Hahn or something els.
I can file a claim with my insurance and jack up my rates or i can pay it all myself. i really dont know wtf to do, honestly im thinking going after market but i would lose a big part of my warranty not like it matters cause GM's warranty like i said above is complete ****.

haha So any advice guys would be great, maybe some of yall have been through this already and can help me out.
If i go aftermarket i heard all the aftermarket intercoolers are too big for the stock turbo?
What intercooler would any of you guys recommend?
Thanks guys, sorry for the long post, grammatical errors and spelling i have work in 10 min and wanted to type this out fast. ill rework it after work.

Thanks all!

 

Slow down on the ramps lol, you should have been able to tell if you were going bottom out lol. The dealer has a right not to warranty your car if you bottom out, it is considered abuse or road hazard and it is not warranty. I would get the Synapse intercooler, from my understanding it is cheap and works great. The only way they will void your warranty for it is if it is a dick dealership and that is your call.

 

i think the crazysteves intercooler is the cheapest but its huge....really huge but its $250 http://www.genuinesaab.com/catalog/p...roducts_id=648

 

synapse turbo can get you the intercooler piping and intercooler for $1000. I can proudly say after nearly one year everythings been great.

also, im pretty sure your MAF sensor is fine. I would fix the intercooler first. I have heard though that the filter oil can get on the sensor, so maybe thats it.

 

Right i should have been able to tell if i was going to bottom out or not, however i couldnt, it was dark and i didnt see the drainage cover that dipped down another inch. Yeah they dont have to warranty my intercooler, i got that im not saying they needed too. I know its car abuse road hazard also, i get that.

Thats not the point tho, i know i have to dish out money and im trying to figure out the best thing to do. obviously the dealership ive been going to is **** since they wont warranty my rear brakes and blame any type of air flow problem on my K&N drop in filter. which is stupid bullshit.

Anyways, i dont understand i need to get more intercooler piping? do you mean the charge pipe? i can still use the stock piping for now i have enough money to dish out atm.

So how do i figure out if my MAF sensor if fucked up or not? and will i need a tune witht he aftermarket intercooler to get the car running well again?

 

This exact thing happened to me... night... gas station... Houston...

I'm guessing you're the guy David called me about today?

Feel free to PM me if you've got any questions or anything.

 

Yes, you can use the stock intercooler/charge piping with the intercooler. Be warned, you push a lot of boost or really rev the engine you might snap off a piece of the plastic tubing. I don't no specifics about how you could find out whats wrong with the MAF, but i would try these things
1.) fix the intercooler and see that CEL goes away, if not disconnect and reconnect battery
2.) pull out the MAF sensor (just upstream of the intake box) and carefully check and lightly clean the MAF

NOTE: no tune is needed for adding an aftermarket intercooler

 

I'd also add that my turbo was threatening to overspool with the loss of backpressure due to the big hole in the IC. Keep an ear out for it. I'm surprised you can drive yours. Mine wouldn't go too far before going limp. I basically had to get flatbedded out.

 

Haha yeah man im the guy David called you about!

I think ive got it figured out, im going to get the Synapse Intercooler and work with that.

I shouldnt need a new MAF sensor should i? and im hoping i dont need a tune just yet either. money is tiiiigght for me atm but i have to do something my car is slow as **** im embarrassed to drive this ****.

I actually was saving for the GM stage kit and now that i dont have a GF i was starting to get a pool of money going.. **** it.

 

Cool ok.

No, your MAF and MAP should be just fine I would imagine. We'd need to look at your IC hangers though to make sure they aren't bent. With a new IC you should be back in business. I'd recommend running over to Modern Performance maybe and grabbing some T-bolt clamps though.

I kinda wonder if it was the same gas station . Let me know if you need some help if you decide to fix it yourself. I've done the IC, boost piping, and even messed with the MAP in that area so I'm pretty familiar with how everything fits, connects, and attaches.

 

Dude yes man any help from you would be great, im 98% positive that you could come into the shop at north harris college and help me and David work on it.

Im going to PM you my number, i cant wait to get my baby running strong again!

Ill be ordering the IC tomorrow! let me know a good day for you.

ps: it was the shell station at the very front of Kingwood dr near cici's pizza. The dealership said he gets alot of people bottoming their cars out there and dmaging oil pans and such.
really there is no hole in my IC and my turbo is completely shut off. Thats what makes me think it could be a sensor..

 

Sounds good.

 

hmm i wonder if this is why i threw a cel...the k&n filter from my hahn intake..maybe i should clean it too but with what??

 

K&N has a little kit to clean the filters out with, its like an oil and you hose it off.. My dad had it and i used his, they shouldnt cost much.

There is no way a K&N drop in filter is throwing a code, the dealership saw the after market filter and is just too scared to mess with any kind of CEL that is affiliated with the air management, and since my inter-cooler is fucked im willing to bet thats the cause of the code.
They just have strict guide lines, in this case its drop in filter + air flow code = leave it the **** alone or get fired.

 

You shouldn't get a code with a K&N Drop-in. Mine didn't like it at first right after I installed it, but it compensated for it and runs like normal now.

Be careful when cleaning/oiling them though, since that's when people have the oil-in-the-MAF issue and mess up their MAF. Out of the box though the K&N is properly oiled and no MAF issues have happened due to a stock oiled K&N.

 

I have never had any problems with my K&N, i got the CEl like 10 min after bottoming out and ******* up the IC

 

While I'm thinking about it. Make sure you remember to disconnect/reconnect the ECU or battery to reset the ECU. Your trims are guaranteed to be all over the place and it's probably going to run bad just because at this point even if you fixed everything and forgot to reset it.

Yeah, same here. CEL, many codes, and reduced power. I wasn't making much power after the IC hole anyway, so reduced power mode actually meant nothing above 10mph...

 

So the T clamps im about to order right now, its 2.25 right? and how many do i need?

 

my buddy bottomed out and cracked both plastic ends on his intercooler. so i told him hes gotta buy a new one and you cant just fix that, so for now he put a piece of PVC pipe connecting his hot and cold side pipes and he swears his car is so much faster cause hes boosting 21lb's on his stock car.

I told him he ****** fails hard

 

Not sure... MP threw two sets in free with the IC...

You'll need at least 4 clamps total. Two for each side of the IC.

21lbs.... of knock...

Edit:

You may have to trim the bumper plastic to be able to fit the Synapse IC in there. https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/2-0l-lnf-performance-tech-153/anyone-synapse-intercooler-chime-192323/

 

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/problems-service-maintenance-69/help-192130/

check this thread. This is what happend to my intercooler and along with how I fixed it for like 10 bucks.

 

Yeah you have to trim a little bit off, not much it wont be a problem

So my car was still running until this afternoon, i cleared the codes and now my car wont idle without stalling, the fuel trims are all over the place and the boost sensor isnt picking up any boost. The MAF sensor seems to be good.

Could im really hoping all i need to do is get a new IC and charge piping and ill be good, could anybody please give me some advice?

 

Any updates? Are you still planning on doing the mods this weekend?

 

Well i ordered the Synapse IC and Clear Image Performance charge pipes they are suppose to be shipping out today or tomorrow. I doubt Ill have all the parts by this weekend but you never know.

Either way we will be installing this weekend or next, David is going to help me out. You are more than welcome to stop buy ill have beer and pizza!

 

I feel ur pain my car is slow as **** went from beating c5 vettes to cant even beat a prius. I have 2 holes in my intercooler on both sides hot and cold. I was a ******* though ran from the cops while racing hit a guard rail at 45 went to jail and car got towed. would of gotten away but was racing in new area and street turned into dead end. i knw why didnt i just stop well i was going 110 and had 3 cops behind me. Lucky just messed up bumber and intercooler and charges were dropped just had to pay warrants. Think im gonna try that crazy steves intercooler freakin hahn is expensive but probly worth it. just thought i would chime in feel ur pain!! hit me up about some houston meets i go there once a month.