[Bagelfast]

Helping a friend buy a used FMIC been looking at a few.

Best advice i gave him and been looking at is there isnt alot of frontal damage from road debri and not alot of bent fins.
Also that the internal of the IC hasnt been cleaned with anything as many people clean them incorrectly.

What else should we look for?

Holes around the core? or within the core?

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Unless you pressurize it yourself you really never know... roll the dice.

All new intercoolers are pressurized before they ship out. A small leak somewhere that the naked eye cant see and your bleeding boost.

[Syndicategt]

No holes. I'm not kidding either, I know someone who had a big hole in his which caused all sorts of low pressure/boost codes.

[Brentis]

Bent fins are common - even seen new ones with several

[Bagelfast]

Originally Posted by Jeff@topgearsolutions

Unless you pressurize it yourself you really never know... roll the dice.

All new intercoolers are pressurized before they ship out. A small leak somewhere that the naked eye cant see and your bleeding boost.

Yea that def the most worrying thing about buying used..
I thought maybe there is somehing else i should be looking for except damage or crushed fins.. holes in the fins or within the core can be easy to spot but smaller holes can be a problem.. i guess just gotta trust the buying :/

Is there a DIY pressure test? of some sort.

Originally Posted by Syndicategt

No holes. I'm not kidding either, I know someone who had a big hole in his which caused all sorts of low pressure/boost codes.

Yea bigger type holes are gonna be easy to spot.. juss worried about small holes that might be or have developed from debri hitting the intercooler..

Originally Posted by Brentis

Bent fins are common - even seen new ones with several

Yea im sure juss from normal driving my oem had alot of bent fins aswell and it didnt have alot of mileage but im thinking excessive crushed and bent type fins.. i know to look for that and that isnt good lol

[cn555ic]

I would just buy it new. If your going ets what's 200 more for a new one. Safe mind frame knowing its new. If something is wrong with the used one you would kick yourself in the ass.

[Tzu]

I had two 2" couplings kicking around. Picked up two 2" PVC caps. One side is plain, and clamped on, the other side has a tire fitting and a 30psi pressure gauge. $20 if you already have the couplings.