Thermal expansion, is not the only culprit. Most who have experienced blown end tanks, have also not upgraded the cold side pipe. Causing back pressure. Detonation in the ic, would do this too. Not unheard of. There was a guy this weekend who missed third and shot lots of flame from his Bov! And popped his piping.

HAHN fails because the welds don't expand at the same rate as the surrounding aluminum. He used the wrong sticks when fabbing, or ran out of o2.

As far as end tanks busting from back to back hard runs, I disagree. 70 passes on stock ic,, no cracks. I usually do three runs back to back, followed by a smoke and soda break. Then more runs. My car has just under 80k, and I run it harder now than ever before.

 

not talking about runs at the track. it happened on a highway. i was playing with a Cobalt SS/SC, was having too much fun whooping his butt and he wouldn't leave me alone. then after the 4th 40 roll run BOOM! there went the cold side endtank..... aftermarket hot side was installed too so that wasn't the case.

 

What is the cost and name of a good not too expensive
Ic
. I am assuming it should not void the gm warranty since this could not possibly harm the engine?

 

i'd recommend going with the one from ZZPerformance.com

not sure of price but they do have a website with that information on it.

 

HAHN and zzp look a slight larger than the stock unit. There is no fitment issue with these two. Both full metal construction, one with past issues.

Talliferro genuine Saab makes one, since these are Saab motors.
again all metal, older tech.

CrazySteve ic biggest of the bunch. Half the cooling area is under the bumper, but by far has the coolest look from up front. All metal, but there are fitment issues


Big note, I don't think anyone has done a volume test between the four.
And I think HAHN and zzp are the only ones who tested thermally.

 

i would recommend the Performance AutoWerks Street IC (what i have) but i know once the price tag is seen, a lot of people will walk away.



i think for someone who is just going to stick with the GMTU but want the piece of mind with upgrading the IC that the Modern Performance unit would be a good option. the core is just a tadbit bigger than the stock unit and the endtanks are metal and the price is good. like i've said before, the only downfall of the stock IC is the plastic endtanks, the core size is good for stock turbo & GMTU setup..... but if you're going to eventually get a custom tune and put out more power, definitely go to the ZZP, Werks, etc.

 

Most of the thermal expansion should take place lengthwise between the tanks. That's where we have problems with our coolers. Welded tank to header failures are rare.

On the stock IC, is the tank itself breaking or are the crimps that hold the tank to the header failing? Has anyone blown up a tank on the fully stock tune? My guess is the tanks were designed for less than 20 psi service and they did not anticipate the 20+ psi GM and aftermarket tunes.

 

it's the tank itself that's blowing up, the crimps are fine.



this was done on the GMTU. what i find funny is that GM will warranty this but they just put another stock unit on.

 

The plastic is bursting, mostly on the cold side

 

yup...... in the below pic you'll see 2 stock intercoolers that failed.... one is my old one and the other is from a friend's Cobalt SS Turbo



almost identical