I need help on how to flush my stillen intercooler.

VKNismo · 12-01-2016, 01:10 PM

Hey guys! I have been a member for a while but this will be my first time asking for help. I'm planning to service my fluids but not sure on how to properly flush the stillen intercooler system. Has anyone done it? Is there a drainage plug? What brand of coolant works best for the system? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks

VKNismo · 12-02-2016, 02:55 PM

Help?

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bewhitey · 12-02-2016, 08:06 PM

Maybe peepoles do not know what you are asking? I sure don't

are you asking radiator flush? Intercoolers usually only have air in them

Radiator flush... last page shows where drain plug is coolant change.

I have a stillen supercharged Z that had a stillen "aftercooler" system to cool the supercharged air (some call this an intercooler but it really isn't) it just used regular radiator fluid. Alot of people like the redline water wetter additive (you can buy at any auto parts store). As for changing the fluid on this thing there are some hex head drain bolts on either side of the radiator toward the bottom, or you can just pull a hose off and drain it that way, or take it to grease monkey and have them do it in like 5 min for 30 bucks or something stupid like that......because radiator fluid is sticky and not fun to spill everywhere

I just took all that aftercooler stuff off and went to a true air to air intercooler system supplied by TOPGUNZ here on the 370z.com.

if you post a pic of what you are calling an intercooler maybe someone could help better too

VKNismo · 12-02-2016, 08:55 PM

That answered my question. Thanks bewhitey!

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VKNismo · 12-02-2016, 09:07 PM

So it's called a stillen "aftercooler" system, I did not know that.

One quick question about the water wetter additive, how much do I need? Thanks again for your help.

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bewhitey · 12-03-2016, 10:05 AM

I see this switched to the "forced induction section" instead of DIY.... I am just making sure, you have the stillen supercharger kit correct? Otherwise diregard all the stuff I am about to tell you haha

Here is redline water wetter:
https://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74&pcid=10

You won't need much at all, I just read stillens instructions... they call it an intercooler too haha. They said if you are in freezing climate then use 50/50 antifreeze (this is what I used with like 3-4 cap fulls of water wetter) If you never plan to take your car / do not live in a freezing climate then use 1 cup of water wetter with plain ol distilled water.....just using water with water wetter is supposed to cool better but I don't know by how much.

Here is a pic of the stillen cooling system. If you have not looked into TOPGUNZ's sytem I would highly recommend it! Topgunz - air to air upgrade

bewhitey · 12-03-2016, 10:08 AM

Here is the drain on the radiator (heat exchanger)

bewhitey · 12-03-2016, 11:09 AM

This little water to air cooler box here is one of the main reasons to get rid of the stillen cooling system. This is mounted inside the intake manifold, directly on top of the engine. The engine gets hot, this little radiator will get hot (heat soaked). Not to mention it is all of 3" wide. There is no way hot compressed air that is moving really fast from your supercharger is going to get cooled in the milliseconds it is in the 3" of the radiator. So basically all this thing does is restrict air flow and maybe cool the temp by 1 degree. If I had two temp gauges I could use a heat gun to blow air through it and run water from my faucet into this radiator to measure how effective it is.

Another reason this setup sucks is because the MAF sensors that measure air temps are right behind the air intake, then the air is compressed at the supercharger (heated) and then supposedly cooled at the intake manifold. By the time the air is in the engine your car really does not know what temperature it really is. The air is really way hotter than what the MAF is reading

Thirdly, lets say your water pump for this stillen cooling system fails. How will you ever know? you could drive it for thousands of miles and probably never know. It would be interesting to see how the car drives with the pump off. That would be hilarious if it was the same. It is sad how much this stillen kit costs and this is what you get.... my cousin had a supercharged kit installed on his porsche (water to air too), about the same price and the water to air intercooler is a big box. Take a look at frozenboosts website. They have a cooler that is 4"x10", the air is flowing in the direction of the 10". The air will be in contact with the cooler 3 times longer than the stillen cooler .... this is rated for only 300 hp!!!! And is already way better than the stillen cooler
Air/Water IC

Honestly it is better than nothing, as long as you do not up your boost and stick with a modest tune.

bewhitey · 12-03-2016, 11:13 AM

I may have been confused on the whole intercooler aftercooler thing

For some reason I always thought water to air cooler system was considered an aftercooler and the intercooler was an air to air cooler setup. Sorry mane!

VKNismo · 12-04-2016, 11:42 AM

That was very informative. Thanks!

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12-01-2016, 01:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
VKNismo Base Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 13 Drives: 10 Nissan 370Z Nismo Rep Power: 10	I need help on how to flush my stillen intercooler. Hey guys! I have been a member for a while but this will be my first time asking for help. I'm planning to service my fluids but not sure on how to properly flush the stillen intercooler system. Has anyone done it? Is there a drainage plug? What brand of coolant works best for the system? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks

12-02-2016, 08:06 PM	#3 (permalink)
bewhitey Base Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Denver Posts: 78 Drives: 370z 40th #704 M6 SC Rep Power: 10	Maybe peepoles do not know what you are asking? I sure don't are you asking radiator flush? Intercoolers usually only have air in them Radiator flush... last page shows where drain plug is coolant change. I have a stillen supercharged Z that had a stillen "aftercooler" system to cool the supercharged air (some call this an intercooler but it really isn't) it just used regular radiator fluid. Alot of people like the redline water wetter additive (you can buy at any auto parts store). As for changing the fluid on this thing there are some hex head drain bolts on either side of the radiator toward the bottom, or you can just pull a hose off and drain it that way, or take it to grease monkey and have them do it in like 5 min for 30 bucks or something stupid like that......because radiator fluid is sticky and not fun to spill everywhere I just took all that aftercooler stuff off and went to a true air to air intercooler system supplied by TOPGUNZ here on the 370z.com. if you post a pic of what you are calling an intercooler maybe someone could help better too __________________ Vortech SC\|Stillen Sway Bars+Facia+Skirts+CB Exhaust\|Z1 Clutch+CSC Elimination Kit\|ACT LW Flywheel\|Tein Coils+EDFC\|SPL Camber Arms\|RJM Clutch Pedal\|TWM Short Shifter\|Morimoto Switchback LED's\|Z1 34 Row Oil Cooler\|AIR 2 AIR\|E85 Flex Fuel\|460 whp TheBoostCreep

12-03-2016, 10:05 AM	#6 (permalink)
bewhitey Base Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Denver Posts: 78 Drives: 370z 40th #704 M6 SC Rep Power: 10	I see this switched to the "forced induction section" instead of DIY.... I am just making sure, you have the stillen supercharger kit correct? Otherwise diregard all the stuff I am about to tell you haha Here is redline water wetter: https://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74&pcid=10 You won't need much at all, I just read stillens instructions... they call it an intercooler too haha. They said if you are in freezing climate then use 50/50 antifreeze (this is what I used with like 3-4 cap fulls of water wetter) If you never plan to take your car / do not live in a freezing climate then use 1 cup of water wetter with plain ol distilled water.....just using water with water wetter is supposed to cool better but I don't know by how much. Here is a pic of the stillen cooling system. If you have not looked into TOPGUNZ's sytem I would highly recommend it! Topgunz - air to air upgrade ChaseZ likes this. __________________ Vortech SC\|Stillen Sway Bars+Facia+Skirts+CB Exhaust\|Z1 Clutch+CSC Elimination Kit\|ACT LW Flywheel\|Tein Coils+EDFC\|SPL Camber Arms\|RJM Clutch Pedal\|TWM Short Shifter\|Morimoto Switchback LED's\|Z1 34 Row Oil Cooler\|AIR 2 AIR\|E85 Flex Fuel\|460 whp TheBoostCreep

12-03-2016, 10:08 AM	#7 (permalink)
bewhitey Base Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Denver Posts: 78 Drives: 370z 40th #704 M6 SC Rep Power: 10	Here is the drain on the radiator (heat exchanger) wideglideleon and ChaseZ like this. __________________ Vortech SC\|Stillen Sway Bars+Facia+Skirts+CB Exhaust\|Z1 Clutch+CSC Elimination Kit\|ACT LW Flywheel\|Tein Coils+EDFC\|SPL Camber Arms\|RJM Clutch Pedal\|TWM Short Shifter\|Morimoto Switchback LED's\|Z1 34 Row Oil Cooler\|AIR 2 AIR\|E85 Flex Fuel\|460 whp TheBoostCreep

12-03-2016, 11:09 AM	#8 (permalink)
bewhitey Base Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Denver Posts: 78 Drives: 370z 40th #704 M6 SC Rep Power: 10	This little water to air cooler box here is one of the main reasons to get rid of the stillen cooling system. This is mounted inside the intake manifold, directly on top of the engine. The engine gets hot, this little radiator will get hot (heat soaked). Not to mention it is all of 3" wide. There is no way hot compressed air that is moving really fast from your supercharger is going to get cooled in the milliseconds it is in the 3" of the radiator. So basically all this thing does is restrict air flow and maybe cool the temp by 1 degree. If I had two temp gauges I could use a heat gun to blow air through it and run water from my faucet into this radiator to measure how effective it is. Another reason this setup sucks is because the MAF sensors that measure air temps are right behind the air intake, then the air is compressed at the supercharger (heated) and then supposedly cooled at the intake manifold. By the time the air is in the engine your car really does not know what temperature it really is. The air is really way hotter than what the MAF is reading Thirdly, lets say your water pump for this stillen cooling system fails. How will you ever know? you could drive it for thousands of miles and probably never know. It would be interesting to see how the car drives with the pump off. That would be hilarious if it was the same. It is sad how much this stillen kit costs and this is what you get.... my cousin had a supercharged kit installed on his porsche (water to air too), about the same price and the water to air intercooler is a big box. Take a look at frozenboosts website. They have a cooler that is 4"x10", the air is flowing in the direction of the 10". The air will be in contact with the cooler 3 times longer than the stillen cooler .... this is rated for only 300 hp!!!! And is already way better than the stillen cooler Air/Water IC Honestly it is better than nothing, as long as you do not up your boost and stick with a modest tune. ChaseZ likes this. __________________ Vortech SC\|Stillen Sway Bars+Facia+Skirts+CB Exhaust\|Z1 Clutch+CSC Elimination Kit\|ACT LW Flywheel\|Tein Coils+EDFC\|SPL Camber Arms\|RJM Clutch Pedal\|TWM Short Shifter\|Morimoto Switchback LED's\|Z1 34 Row Oil Cooler\|AIR 2 AIR\|E85 Flex Fuel\|460 whp TheBoostCreep

12-02-2016, 02:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
VKNismo Base Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 13 Drives: 10 Nissan 370Z Nismo Rep Power: 10	Help? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

12-02-2016, 08:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
VKNismo Base Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 13 Drives: 10 Nissan 370Z Nismo Rep Power: 10	That answered my question. Thanks bewhitey! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

12-02-2016, 09:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
VKNismo Base Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 13 Drives: 10 Nissan 370Z Nismo Rep Power: 10	So it's called a stillen "aftercooler" system, I did not know that. One quick question about the water wetter additive, how much do I need? Thanks again for your help. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

12-03-2016, 11:13 AM	#9 (permalink)
bewhitey Base Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Denver Posts: 78 Drives: 370z 40th #704 M6 SC Rep Power: 10	I may have been confused on the whole intercooler aftercooler thing For some reason I always thought water to air cooler system was considered an aftercooler and the intercooler was an air to air cooler setup. Sorry mane! __________________ Vortech SC\|Stillen Sway Bars+Facia+Skirts+CB Exhaust\|Z1 Clutch+CSC Elimination Kit\|ACT LW Flywheel\|Tein Coils+EDFC\|SPL Camber Arms\|RJM Clutch Pedal\|TWM Short Shifter\|Morimoto Switchback LED's\|Z1 34 Row Oil Cooler\|AIR 2 AIR\|E85 Flex Fuel\|460 whp TheBoostCreep

12-04-2016, 11:42 AM	#10 (permalink)
VKNismo Base Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 13 Drives: 10 Nissan 370Z Nismo Rep Power: 10	That was very informative. Thanks! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

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