Bd pro WTA intercooler efficiency?

ez-ryder · Oct 6, 2018

How low of intake air temps are possible on a boondocker pro turbo with a water to air?
Do they work as good as an HM or boost it WTA cooler?
And is the core a proper water to air core?
I have a feeling they just pumped water through the air to air core.

Ricks 32 · Oct 9, 2018

I've never had a temp gauge on mine, neither can I compare to any other kits other than BD, but the core does have direct contact to snow and works well. I had an air-to-air on my 2015 and a water-to-air on my 2016 and you can a difference in deep snow when your under boost for a long time.

ez-ryder · Oct 9, 2018

When you say core you mean the radiator/heat exchanger side.
The core I'm referring to is in the airbox.
The BD box has a temp recall doesn't it?
Thank you for your post.

MarleneeSteven · Oct 10, 2018

On the pro, you can choose water to air or air to air. The Air to air was most common.

Spaarky · Oct 10, 2018

ez-ryder said:
When you say core you mean the radiator/heat exchanger side.
The core I'm referring to is in the airbox.
The BD box has a temp recall doesn't it?
Thank you for your post.

I believe the air box is the same. not 100% sure though. I do not have two sitting here to compare. Maybe wading through the online instructions will help you.

Yes there is a max charge temp recall.

sorry, without both airboxes sitting here I can not compare. I have a air to air if you can find water to air.

Stutz · Nov 10, 2018

I have a water to air from a Pro laying on my bench. I could post a few pics.

I really like the boost-it heat exchanger. Thought about swapping the BD 'radiator' out for it. The location of the BD 'radiator' under the motor feels like it leaves something to be desired for effective air/snow moving through it.

I honestly havn't had my BD kit on the snow so I don't have experience with how works. It definitely had me scratching my head the first time I looked at it.

richracer1 · Nov 10, 2018

Here's a thought, but it requires engine removal, some brass fittings and the requirement to buy a bulk head cooler that comes on the SKS 800HO models to replace the non-cooler bulk head on your Pro-RMK. This is the biggest expense of this isolated water-to-air inter cooler system.

You'll need (2) 5/8 to 3/8 brass fittings and possibly some 3/8 to 5/16 fittings as well depending what type of heater hose your using.

Some 5/8 heater hose, possibly some 3/8 heater hose, and about 10' of 5/16 heater hose ensure you have enough. Of course some hose clamps to secure all of it.

Route the coolant hose from the coolant bottle to the turbo as per BD's instructions, but do not plumb it for the inter-cooler side of it. Route the other turbo coolant hose to the throttle bodies or to the head directly if you choose not to run coolant through the throttle bodies.

Mount the BD supplied water pump as instructed with the fitting that points straight out from the water pump pointing towards the rear of the sled, the other fitting needs to be angled towards the turbo.

Connect the required hoses 5/8 to 3/8 and so on from the lower bulk head cooler fitting to the water pump fitting that points straight back. Connect a 5/16 hose from the other water pump fitting to the lower inter-cooler fitting. Connect a 5/16 hose from the upper bulk head cooler fitting and route the hose up towards the upper inter-cooler fitting.

To fill the system, have a 5/16 T-fitting (use one from the BD inter-cooler kit) temporarily installed between the upper inter-cooler fitting and the hose coming up from the upper bulk head cooler fitting. Connect a 6" or so piece of 5/16 hose to the T-fitting and use a funnel to start filling the system. Once full, clamp the hose from the bulkhead to cooler about 2" back from the end of the hose to prevent anti freeze from coming out and letting air in. Remove the T-fitting and the small piece of hose from the T-fitting to inter-cooler, then connect the hose from the bulk head cooler, of course don't forget to put a hose clamp on before connecting it to the inter-cooler.

Now you have an isolated inter-cooler system that does not get any heated fluid from the engine's cooling system.

All of the hose used, 5/8" and 5/16", is from HPS Silicone Hose.

HPS Silicone Hose

Here's some pictures of this inter-cooler system I helped to install.

Bulk head cooler hose connections. The black hose is 5/8" and the clear hose is 5/16". The 5/16" hose fits great on the 5/8 to 3/8 brass fittings.

Water pump mounting and plumbing.
The clear to black hose in the second image is the coolant feed hose from the coolant bottle to the turbo:

Inter-cooler plumbing. Some abrasion protection will be added to the hose that's against the cold air intake tube. The upper hose goes to the bulk head cooler, lower hose comes from the water pump:

sledhead9825 · Nov 10, 2018

richracer1 said:
Here's a thought, but it requires engine removal, some brass fittings and the requirement to buy a bulk head cooler that comes on the SKS 800HO models to replace the non-cooler bulk head on your Pro-RMK. This is the biggest expense of this isolated water-to-air inter cooler system.

You'll need (2) 5/8 to 3/8 brass fittings and possibly some 3/8 to 5/16 fittings as well depending what type of heater hose your using.

Some 5/8 heater hose, possibly some 3/8 heater hose, and about 10' of 5/16 heater hose ensure you have enough. Of course some hose clamps to secure all of it.

Route the coolant hose from the coolant bottle to the turbo as per BD's instructions, but do not plumb it for the inter-cooler side of it. Route the other turbo coolant hose to the throttle bodies or to the head directly if you choose not to run coolant through the throttle bodies.

Mount the BD supplied water pump as instructed with the fitting that points straight out from the water pump pointing towards the rear of the sled, the other fitting needs to be angled towards the turbo.

Connect the required hoses 5/8 to 3/8 and so on from the lower bulk head cooler fitting to the water pump fitting that points straight back. Connect a 5/16 hose from the other water pump fitting to the lower inter-cooler fitting. Connect a 5/16 hose from the upper bulk head cooler fitting and route the hose up towards the upper inter-cooler fitting.

To fill the system, have a 5/16 T-fitting (use one from the BD inter-cooler kit) temporarily installed between the upper inter-cooler fitting and the hose coming up from the upper bulk head cooler fitting. Connect a 6" or so piece of 5/16 hose to the T-fitting and use a funnel to start filling the system. Once full, clamp the hose from the bulkhead to cooler about 2" back from the end of the hose to prevent anti freeze from coming out and letting air in. Remove the T-fitting and the small piece of hose from the T-fitting to inter-cooler, then connect the hose from the bulk head cooler, of course don't forget to put a hose clamp on before connecting it to the inter-cooler.

Now you have an isolated inter-cooler system that does not get any heated fluid from the engine's cooling system.

All of the hose used, 5/8" and 5/16", is from HPS Silicone Hose.

HPS Silicone Hose

Here's some pictures of this inter-cooler system I helped to install.

Bulk head cooler hose connections. The black hose is 5/8" and the clear hose is 5/16". The 5/16" hose fits great on the 5/8 to 3/8 brass fittings.

Water pump mounting and plumbing.
The clear to black hose in the second image is the coolant feed hose from the coolant bottle to the turbo:

Inter-cooler plumbing. Some abrasion protection will be added to the hose that's against the cold air intake tube. The upper hose goes to the bulk head cooler, lower hose comes from the water pump:

Just buy a Boost-it or MTNTK heat exchanger. https://www.mtntkperformance.com/engine-performance/polaris-pro-rmk-tunnel-cooler Close loop it with one of these. I use a Bosch recirculation pump out a of a VW. You can get the pump from the wrecker, get the pig tail from the wiring harness as well. Uses a funky locking plug. I had a Boost-it auxiliary heat exchanger on my Boost-it Pro to try and help with overheating problems. Basically the same thing as a BD or Silber exchanger. Didn't do anything for cooling. Its in the air out of the snow when you need it. Cant imagine it would cool the core efficiently. I have Bell intercoolers building me a new airbox with there water 2 air core material for my MTNTK Axys kit. Also I closed looped the exchanger on my MTNTK kit. Shooting for super cold charge air. It makes a world of difference on the big pulls.

Stutz · Nov 10, 2018

Sorry for thread jacking here, I know we are a little off course but was the pro water to air kit intended to be an isolated system? Did the BD instructions say to tie it in with the engine coolant system??

I don't get why they want the axys kits to run engine coolant through them. System already has a dedicated water pump so why not make it an isolated system between heat exchanger and the intake??? Seems like running 120-130deg engine coolant though your air intake isn't going to cool your intake charge a meaningful amount or at all. Thermodynamics equations require a bigger temp difference on the cold side of a heat exchanger to make much of a difference. In theory system volume might have something to do with it but I can't believe that is the reason.

I am the second owner of a pro with a BD water to air kit on it. When I got it the intercooler system was isolated from the engine coolant. I still question the effectiveness of the little heat exchanger under the engine with an isolated circuit let alone with engine coolant running through it.

sledhead9825 · Nov 10, 2018

Stutz said:
Sorry for thread jacking here, I know we are a little off course but was the pro water to air kit intended to be an isolated system? Did the BD instructions say to tie it in with the engine coolant system??

I don't get why they want the axys kits to run engine coolant through them. System already has a dedicated water pump so why not make it an isolated system between heat exchanger and the intake??? Seems like running 120-130deg engine coolant though your air intake isn't going to cool your intake charge a meaningful amount or at all. Thermodynamics equations require a bigger temp difference on the cold side of a heat exchanger to make much of a difference. In theory system volume might have something to do with it but I can't believe that is the reason.

I am the second owner of a pro with a BD water to air kit on it. When I got it the intercooler system was isolated from the engine coolant. I still question the effectiveness of the little heat exchanger under the engine with an isolated circuit let alone with engine coolant running through it.

I agree 100%. They do this so you don't need to run a pump for the intercooler.
Playing devils advocate here. After the coolant has gone through the factory exchanger then the secondary exchanger how cold is the coolant when it hits the airbox core material? In the MTNTK system it goes to the core then the engine.
I talked with Neil from Boost-it years ago about this and he said it was not cold enough so he went with closed loop on his kits. I ran the the little Bosch pump for the last 2 years with no problem and very little electrical draw. The Bell engineer says he wants to see ice water going through the core.
As far as that little exchanger under the bulkhead. I have no Data to say how that exchanger works other than Boost-it built them to go in series with your stock cooling system. Didn't help my sled run any cooler. It might have helped when I was sitting parked in deep snow with the nose buried. When I look at the size of the exchanger that Boost-it and MTNTK uses and it is covered in snow. Thats what you need to make the system really shine. Well in 30 days I should have the number on intake temps. Last year after close looping the MTNTK system I was still seeing 195 after a big Pull. Shooting for 95. Im on my second cardboard airbox. LOL. Bell guys have been awesome. I make changes and he sends me a new CAD drawing. Well back to cutting up cardboard

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Bd pro WTA intercooler efficiency?

ez-ryder

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Ricks 32

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ez-ryder

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MarleneeSteven

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Spaarky

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Stutz

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richracer1

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sledhead9825

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Stutz

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sledhead9825

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