Hey everyone, I was out racing yesterday and damn, I blew my lower intercooler charge pipe. The upper pipes are upgraded to dejon with the hks blow off valve that's starting to come loose. I've also got the dejon CAI with MPX full 3 inch exhaust (catted) system and last of all a 23psi tune from Trifecta. Anyways, I was racing from a roll on 2nd gear going 40mph. Everything was fine until I got towards redline in 3rd. The tune allowed my rev limiter to go up to 6750 but I only took it to about 6400 and used the no-lift shift to 4th and right as I did that I heard a nice loud pop! I thought my upper charge pipe clamps came off again cuz they usually always pop off but I got them upgraded so they've been fine but I was looking everywhere and didn't notice anything loose. All the hose and everything was fine. I was so scared it would be my turbo but I remembered that it should be able to handle up to 25psi so 23 shouldn't be an issue. So as I checked my intercooler everything still looked fine too but when I jacked it up, I noticed the lower charge pipe that connects to the intercooler blew out. Stupid cheap plastics! What is GM thinking! LOL Anyways, I was wondering if I could just drive my car (daily driven) around until I'm able to buy a new aftermarket lower charge pipe. Might be about 2 weeks or so until it actually arrives at my door. Will that damage my vehicle if I drive it like that? It will still run, just no turbo spooling whatsever. LOL any help would be appreciated.

 

Any one wanna chime in? Please? LOL

 

You can't use it, it's sucking in unfiltered air only time it wouldn't is under boost. And it'd be running like crap.

 

What if I cover it up with a microfiber towel to hopefully prevent it from sucking up too much dirt? LOL Damn, I ordered the new part already but it's probably gonna take a week or 2. This is my only car so I'll have to drive it to work. No escaping it.

 

GM was thinking that lightweight plastic is sufficient for the amount of boost the car came with. Going higher than that is a you problem, not a GM problem.

I'm not even gonna ... on driving around with a towel wrapped around it.

 

Can you carpool? I really wouldn't drive it any sort of distance

 

if its just a crack, wrap it in duct tape and stay out of boost totally. or if its a small section, cut it out, and clamp a coupler to connect both sides, and again stay out of boost. that little redneck fix should work to hold it safely together till u get a new one, if u baby it.

 

more like gm is cheap and makes cheap quality crap and charges the same price. u never saw this much plastic crap in older cars as we do now. like my bro in laws vortec v8 motor. I was shocked to see a plastic intake manifold on that thing. total bs. but ford does the same thing.

 

Right. And older cars are heavier, get worse gas mileage and absorb less energy in an impact. That's not cheap, it's engineering. But let's say you're right. Let's say they used heavier and more expensive material - would you pay more money for a heavier and slower Cobalt that got worse mileage?

 

Or hyper expensive super car prices.

 

Ummmm.... I'm not really trying to put the blame on GM or anything dude. I know that it is MY own fault for boosting really high and I accepted the consequences hence my upgrade to ZZP's intercooler. I was just stressing out the fact that MAYBE it would be nice if GM wasn't so cheap. Also, like the other guy commented too, I guess apparently Ford does it too so yea, you have no choice but to upgrade with an after market part if you want performance. Also, I double checked and it's not my lower charge pipe, It's the freaken plastic part from the intercooler. I wish they would've just came with forged metal from the factory, I wouldn't have minded paying a little more for sturdier parts. As with the weight issue you mentioned.... Ummm, yea... A few more pounds will really make my 300whp car go slower. Well, I guess I've got no choice but to car pool like what was suggested. Goodbye freedom to go any where and any time I want. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

 

It's a pretty big crack. The plastic parts from the IC exploded to pieces and when I played with it, a nice chunk fell out along with some small little pieces. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to put it back together like humpty dumpty. Guess i'll just have to car pool and wait patiently for my new IC to come from zzp. Thanks for the help anyways. Appreciate your help and concern bro!

 

Yes, Yes I would pay a little more if that means less plastic that I wouldn't have to worry about breaking out on me and eventually having to upgrade it later anyways. And seriously? Heavier, slower and worse gas mileage for upgrading your plastic parts to sturdier metal parts? I'm guessing you're going to remain bone stock? Cool, as for me, I'll pay to play. No point in buying a fast car if you're not gonna have fun with it. Even if it means that it's gonna burn a hole in my wallet.