{"id":12411,"date":"2012-04-21T22:34:01","date_gmt":"2012-04-22T03:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caddyinfo.com\/wordpress\/?p=12411"},"modified":"2012-04-21T22:34:01","modified_gmt":"2012-04-22T03:34:01","slug":"cadillac-sts-v-intercooler-heat-exchanger-install","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.caddyinfo.com\/wordpress\/cadillac-sts-v-intercooler-heat-exchanger-install\/","title":{"rendered":"Cadillac STS-V Intercooler Heat Exchanger install"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I\u00a0 planned,<\/a> today I replaced the heat exchanger for the intercooler on my 2008 Cadillac STS-V.\u00a0 The stock or OEM heat exchanger is a radiator type single pass (one row) heat exchanger.\u00a0 Each drop of water goes past the cool air 1 time.<\/p>\n

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Here is a shot of the front end of the STS-V removed and the stock Heat exchanger in place:<\/p>\n

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My replacement choice was a Flexalite 45321<\/a> oil cooler used here as a intercooler heat exchanger.\u00a0 It is a tube and fin type heat exchanger, and has 6-passes but one flow tab instead of the multiple rows in the radiator type OEM unit. I ordered this one from Amazon for $120.\u00a0 Here is a view installed:<\/p>\n

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Although I considered running the two units in series, after studying fitment I decided it was best to simply replace the stock unit with the Flexalite.<\/p>\n

The only tricky area of the install was that the Cadillac needs to have the front end in the air and both front wheels off to reach every plastic rivet to get the various mud shields and air deflectors off to get in to do the work.\u00a0 That and a portion of the bodywork on each side actually slides a tab in a slot then can be removed from the car.<\/p>\n

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The flexalite comes with a bag of mounting parts, but none were very useful.\u00a0 I picked up some brackets with holes at the hardware store and was able to use those to get the new heat exchanger installed where I wanted it.\u00a0 Although I was able to re-use the hose leading from the heat exchanger, the hose for the flow to the heat exchanger was not long enough and had to be replaced with heater hose.\u00a0 The hose was 1″ outer diameter and 3\/4″ inner diameter.\u00a0 I also purchased 1\/2 NPT to 3\/4″ hose barb fitting to adapt the heat exchanger for hose fittings.<\/p>\n

The instructions suggest running the engine for 10 minutes to check for leaks.\u00a0 My intercooler pump is set using HP Tuners to run when the car is on battery power, so I was able to keep it running and let it slowly push the air out of the system, which allowed me to add more 50\/50 dexcool as the system burped itself.\u00a0 No leaks were observed.<\/p>\n

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Once everything is buttoned back up the new HX is invisible<\/p><\/div>\n

Unfortunately I did not have time to do any tests today, so we’ll have to wait to see how the unit performs.<\/p>\n

Project list:<\/p>\n