Just noticed this when I parked my car at home after work. How bad is this? Do I need a new intercooler or just a bracket? Can I temporarily hold it up with a metal zip tie until my new intercooler comes in if I need one? What's the best place to get one?

Any suggestions welcome.

 

That's not a bracket thats a condesation collector. You either need to rip it off the rest of the way and patch the holes in the bottom with Jb weld, or get a new intercooler

 

I have a ZZP intercooler for sale...about 3-5k miles on it. Great shape, just upgraded!

 

How much? No issues with it? Comes with all connections and all or will I need to get anything else? PM me.

 

I was talking about the plastic piece holding the condensation collector to the intercooler. It still seems to be attached well to the intercooler, just bent.

 

Also, I haven't driven it since I noticed it. Would my boost drop way low if it's actually broken? How can I tell (besides a boost leak check) whether it's actually broke or purely cosmetically damaged?

 

if it's leaking the boost leak should be big enough to throw a p0101 code. If it's running fine and not leaking, I would just jb weld it back in place

 

The plastic that holds it to the IC seems to be the only thing broke...I would just do what tommy said.

 

Ok. Since no codes popped up while driving today (and I'm positive it didn't happen today because I didn't go over anything), I did just that, I put it back in place as a temporary solution.

Couldn't find my JB Weld, but did find my stainless steel zip ties. Looped three of them together, bent the piece back in position, and left it at that.

Doubt they will replace it under GMPP, are there any recalls or TBs out for this? I believe previous owner's wife did the same thing, and it looks like there are many people on here who have damaged theirs too. Sounds like a design flaw to me.

Come on, GM reps, I know you are reading this! (hint - hint, Sarah)

 

Pictures of the fix:

 

Yea you would be better off to buy a aftermarket one, GM will prolly say you hit something.

 

They will say you hit something. I can guarantee that especially considering how scraped your lip is. Aftermarket will be your best bet

 

Get an aftermarket, stock intercooler is POS anyway..

 

So I looked at a ZZP regular sized and smaller sized for better clearance (priced at $349), HAHN intercooler (still advertised on their site at their Black Friday price of $349, regular price $499), and Turbo XS unit, but that one is priced at $524 on their site, so probably wouldn't be a go.

At this point, it's really between ZZP unit and HAHN unit (if they'd still honor their advertised price, that is)..

Any thoughts?

 

Mine looked just like that this summer after bottoming out. I didnt notice any noticeable loss of boost etc. but figured id change the IC anyways and when I did noticed it was cracked on the inner side of the end tank(only way to see it was by taking the IC off). I was stuck between Hahn's and ZZP's as well. In the end decided to go with ZZP's extra clearance IC and am glad that I did, its a quality piece.

I should also mention I was on vacation 2600miles away at the time and drove home with it like that without any issues at all. Im sure you'll be ok with it on for the time being.

 

What made you lean towards the ZZP extra clearance IC?

 

When it came down to it I just felt a little more comfortable buying it off a company that spends a little more time in the Cobalt community doing R&D etc., maybe its just my ignorance. If im buying Sushi Im getting it from a Japanese guy, not a Chinese guy. With that being said I also found more 'complaints' about the Hahn IC's end tank cracking than I did the ZZP one.

 

From the looks of it it seems like both units have metal built in tanks... Not sure how either one would crack.. could someone clear it up?

Thanks ahead.

 

Hack!

What would make you say such? The only other manufacturer that I can think of that provides a FMIC is Mitsu on the Evo's. GM provided you with a FMIC from the factory as well, that's much better than VW, Subie, Mazda, Mini, Audi etc. Second, the FMIC is not crap as you say. It does a great job for daily use and a couple of runs. Now, if you're going to be doing track days(25min sessions) at WOT or going down the Drag strip multiple times then heatsoaking will effect the stock intercooler. In no way though should you misinform people that the stock intercooler is a POS though. Just my 2 cents.


I've never seen or heard of end tanks on the hahn intercooler crack. Their intercooler is very well made.

 

The welds cracked. Someone can correct me if im wrong, but I do believe they 'fixed' the issue? Regardless, id rather go with one that (to my knowledge) has never really had an issue with other than some people complaining about how low the regular ZZP one hangs. But like I said earlier my main issues wasnt really with the quality of the Hahn IC.

Heres one thread I was able to find after a quick search...

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/hahn...nk-wtf-250583/

 

Hahn fixed the problem. lol I know a LSJ-T running one with 400 and hasnt had a problem. ZZP is also a very nice piece.

 

Anyone got pictures of how low either one is when installed?

Also, 40rty, I think he's talking about plastic brackets and end tanks that are so easy to break, not the quality of the actual intercooler... Correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, HAHN just emailed me back and said they'd honor that price if I order immediately (so the next few days)... Will do a little more research...

 

40rty is absolutely correct when he says the stock intercooler isn't a POS. We had the same discussion on the SRTforum more than once, lol (SRT-4). The stock intercooler was fabricated from a well-known company called Valeo. Sure, because of its size, it was prone to heatsoak if doing anything more than a few runs on the dyno, or auto-x. However, WAS it necessary to replace it with an aftermarket intercooler?! Absolutely not. The Stage 3 kit didn't require you to replace the intercooler. 350 whp was the usual dyno as well, so it did well for its size. Hell, one guy made 400 whp on the stocker, and he only lost 2-3 hp in-between runs. At times, it's form over function with some people. I trust the engineers/builders to mate the correct intercooler to an engine/turbo, etc. Some thought actually went into it. I could go on, but have work to do. Just my two ugly pennies.

 

Both are good points. Stock intercooler is enough... When it's in one piece.

Now that my bracket is broken though, rather than putting money into another stocker (that would be a third one between me and the previous owner), I'd rather put that money into an all metal until and upgrade.

Quick question, should I returne once I get the aftermarket intercooler?

 

I agree that if it needs replacing, then replace it with an aftermarket one. I think the point they were trying to make is that if it's not broken, and you're sticking with the stock turbo, there's no need to replace it other than peace of mind for having metal end tanks. The stock one flows pretty good.