New intercooler time?

[Blue Oval]

Seem to have a few concerning symptoms... I noticed that for the first time in 10K miles, my oil level looks down, I seem to have the odd little drop of what I think is oil in my parking space, and whilst putting my head under the bumper earlier I found an oily residue around a hole in the plastic under the front bumper.

The car has done almost 80K in total (2005 E3 D5) and it's clearly on the first intercooler judging by the manky state of it. I'm thinking a trip to the garage is in order to get it checked, it's due a service in 2K anyway which is about 6 weeks driving at this rate...

So, recommended garages near Brighton/Crawley guys? I was thinking of trying the Amber garage in Southwick. I would guess that pricewise I should be looking at about £450?

Is a genuine Volvo replacement the order of the day or is there an aftermarket that''s better?

[davebb]

With the intercooler leaking , that will not make your oil level go down,
get a pattern part intercooler, and do it yourself, save £350,
Dave

[Blue Oval]

Oh... the intercooler is full of water and not oil then? D'oh!

In that case, I still think there's oil coming from somewhere down front near the intercooler. Will check the area again in the morning when I get to work, it's a 60 mile trip so should show up if there's anything more than a tiny weep...

[wise old monkey]

no the intercooler is for air, the radiator is water

[Blue Oval]

Well I certainly feel like a muppet now then lol, I assumed the pipework had a fluid of some sort running through it. Quite clearly the fact that I've never, ever read up on what the hell it does is obvious!

[owyn]

You do get oil in there but only the stuff that's been dragged in through the turbo seals as the inlet air is compressed. A leaking intercooler will present itself with some leaking oil (its been building up in there since the car was first turned on), you'll also get some hissing noises and potentially some smokey exhaust.

the pressurised air flows through the intercooler where it is chilled before it makes its way into the inlet manifold. Its just a gas-gas (or air-air) heat exchanger. Some other cars do use water coolant to cool the pressurised air they tend to call these charge coolers though.

If you have started using more oil it may be coming from somewhere else, worth a good look underneath.

[harveys]

To be fair if you remove the turbo hoses to intercooler you will fine some oil present , there is a small drain hole in the intercooler to let any build up out .
If you have a boost leak that can cause the turbo to leak a bit of oil into the pipework.

[Blue Oval]

Ah, so it's vaguely possible for it to be leaking a little then

Will have a good check out tomorrow after another run, I wiped the area clean tonight so any more leaking should be obvious.

[Blue Oval]

Thought I'd update the thread to say, the intercooler is indeed knackered.

I put the car in early for it's service, they've confirmed it's leaking and a replacement is being fitted this PM.

Slightly bigger service bill than I'd hoped for but pleased it's an easy fix!