It's there for the molding of the end tank. Not sure that it's significant in the failure analysis since you can see examples of both cracking.

Gotta ditch that bottom bar though. It's begging to be hit, which will stress the IC for sure. I took it off pronto, and have never looked back.

 

That was I was thinking..but as you can see, some have em and some don't. Wonder if there was a revised IC that either came with or without that molding?

 

Look at the first pick I posted. Now look at the TIP of the broken piece on the far LEFT. The Molding is right at the crack on the tip. It has a faint *ovel* circle scribed around it.

 

That looks to be where the mold was blown - generally you'll see that "oval" around where the extruder nozzle inserts into the mold. It could be that some of them are left with that part inserted long enough to leave that plastic plug, or that the nub is somehow machined off and his wasn't machined.

 

ahh i see thanks that is weird!

 

What fact's ???? that people are breaking these IC's with tunes but they should be covered because GM stage 1 reaches some of the same boost levels? Have you thought about boost ramp in ..... GM stage 1 compared to other tunes ....creating enough of a shock on the system to cause stress cracks that lead to breaking?

You came in with the holier than thou comment and then said people who say "pay to play" would run to the dealer themselves ....... fact lol.

I could see if we were having an epidemic of blown intercoolers ..... but we aren't .... even tuned there aren't that many . So i would say the defect rate is average compared to other parts on the car .

 

Interesting....perhaps this nub thing is *nothing* then?

 

I had the same exact blow out. Ordered a ZZP intercooler and never looked back. The car feels stronger up top. I hate telling the gf that I have to buy a part because another one broke. Such a shame to upgrade. On another note I don't blame people for wanting to warranty the crappy stock intercooler. Seriously? plastic endtanks?

 

Okay, and I never said we were having an epidemic of blown IC's but there are certainly enough of them to be able to get a good idea of whats going on. Nor did I say that all these IC's should be replaced without seeing if it was user error. But your blanket statement that any IC problem was to be blamed on the driver was way off base.

 

You have to understand that many of the blown ICs here had other mods that contributed.
I bet there are close to 10,000 Cobalts/HHR/Soltice TCs out here now and I'd be surprised if there are more than a *handfull* of cars with blown end tanks. They surely would have done a recall if it was significant. We know for sure that they can break..what we don't know are the conditions leading to this. I don't think this is a design flaw either.

 

What mods could lead to the end tanks breaking, which should void the warranty on the IC? Trifecta Infiniboost, Aftermarket Charge Pipes... That's all I can think of.

 

Lets see, scratches on the lower lip of the car, any tune of any kind, an intake , curbed wheel/tires,

Man a dealership will throw whatever gorilla **** they can to get out of it.

 

Lol I said mods to the car, not a lack of driver mods.... I know what a dealership will say, I want to know what people in here think should void the warranty on the IC.

 

In my first post is said there could always be a manufacturer's defect. No part or part supplier has that good of a record .

I agree with all those things. There really isn't much else that could break it from a mechanical standpoint.

 

Seeing how the OP said:
Would you not agree with my original argument that he should be entitled to a warranty replacement?

 

I think you should see these posts that the OP has made...
perhaps it will give you a better perspective on just what the *history* is

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/4913326-post44.html

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/4885022-post8.html

 

Contributing to the community? So you posted a couple TSB's and all of a sudden you wrote the damn service manual for the car? Lets get real here and get off your damn high horse. /thread

 

You haven't been around here long enough to know what i have or haven't done for this place ...... I and a few others have posted just about every TSB for the Cobalt as of july of this year.... not just a couple ....... ran hundreds of vin's for RPO's and service history for members .

Then there was part numbers .... illustration's and pricing ...... countless hours of time spent for people of this community ..... and I've never mentioned it once till this crap post ..... or asked for anything in return , nor do i expect it . Just don't come in here a say i posted a couple tsb's and think im god .

 

This was the post that i responded to .... it had nothing to do with the OP... after that you jumped on my case . I responded because it irritated me that someone (not the OP) would raise a **** storm at the dealership after they were tuned and blew an IC ....tuned back to stock and EXPECTED it to be covered .

 

The front grille removed has nothing to do with it as the plastic intercooler is covered by the front bumper. If you read my post I also stated I hit the intercooler within the first two months of owning the car.

I'm not hiding anything nor am I saying GM is at fault. I have a modified car, my car broke, and now i'm fixing it.

 

This guy^^

Going all stalkerish and whatnot.

You trying to stir the pot when he already admitted fault and said he'd fix it himself? Let it go. Those posts were also irrelevant to this situation. The plastic wouldn't "dent", it'd crack - the fins would dent on the IC itself.

I blew up my end tank, did I go to GM and cry? Go look up my history.

 

Well then I do apologize for jumping on you by what I said, I still stand by what I said, just not the fact that I directed it towards you and your statements.

 

ZZP intercooler and charge piping came in this morning from the big brown truck. Since I already had the front clip off waiting for the stuff to come the install was easy. With taking my time and a few breaks the car was up and running in less than 3 hours. Fitment is top notch on both the intercooler and charge pipes. Needless to say i'm a ZZP fanboy now

My first drive impressions are that the car takes a tiny bit longer to spool vs the stock parts but the top end more then makes up for it. I'll get the car back on the dyno soon and get some numbers/fine tuning done.

 

Nice, glad to see you will get some numbers posted... Do you have a dyno run for the, "before," comparison?

 

The car put down 291whp and 311wtq on a dynojet with the HP tune and a K+N drop in. Best run was a 13.42 at 110.1 . I added the ZZP downpipe and never got the car retuned...it responded with a 13.32 at 111.0. I'd like to think the car will be in the 310whp range but we'll see. I'll post some pics tonight or tomorrow of the intercooler.