Lacking performance low down

[jonny81191]

I've noticed the last couple of days that my bus seems a bit laggy and lacking low down, and also that there is more turbo noise than I'd expect. Once above the 2krpm mark, she pulls well, but get the wrong gear and it's embarrassingly slow, feels very laggy.

So tonight I had a look under the bonnet to see an oily intercooler I rigged up a test rig with a bike pump and sure enough there's a leak at even very low pressure from the bottom of the cooler (see video). While I was there, I cleaned the MAF sensor with contact cleaner and I intend to decat and straight pipe the backbox as soon as I get round to it, to free up some more low end talkszz

Can anyone think of any other reason for the sluggishness? Answers on a postcard please!

[youtube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZkHkPmaY08[/youtube]

EDIT: Can someone with more knowledge than me please explain how to embed youtubes on this forum

[Doggy]

Just paste the link....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZkHkPmaY08

Seems you definitely have a leak - well proven sir! How did you attach the pump?

[Quinny]

Changing the intercooler is a doddle. I did mine 2 weeks ago, and now I'm leak free:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21260

Cost me £10 from a local guy breaking a 406

[jonny81191]

Basically I blocked the air intake and then used a bike innertube over the top if the intercooler with the valve sticking out. I'll take pictures at some point.

I'll replace the cooler and see what happens

[Doggy]

I'd be interested to see that - I may have a similar problem.

[Captain Jack]

That oily residue has been there for a good few years now, though it didn't seem to cause too many issues. Would be good to see if a new intercooler fixes the lag.

[jonny81191]

That oily residue has been there for a good few years now, though it didn't seem to cause too many issues. Would be good to see if a new intercooler fixes the lag.

Has it always been "loud" on boost? Like low ish revs through town with the window down you can hear it quite well.

[Captain Jack]

Do you mean before it hits the turbo, like it's labouring at around 1400rpm? Then yes. Otherwise, I never noticed anything out of the ordinary after the turbo kicks in.