A while ago I noticed my intercooler piping had some rust on the outside surface. I'm assuming it's made of mild steel. Question is, if I have rust on the outside, surely it is likely to be on the inside where it isn't even painted....Right? The car hasn't been driven since long before I noticed any kind of rust, but I'm now very worried that when I do drive it, there's a possibility my engine could ingest a whole lot of corroded metal! The obvious thing to do would be to pull some piping off and have a look, but the car's been in the paint shop for three months and it's driving me nuts Any thoughts? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

dont worry man, if you have driven it at all with that piping chanches are it hasa thin film of oil on the inside and wont rust or corrode, and personally i have hardly drivven my car in 7 months and it has mild cooler piping, no rust at all, main reason being it takes water and oxygen to rust, unlikely you have water in your cooler piping

yeah...makes sense. *sigh of relief*

Quote: Originally Posted by E-Z ....main reason being it takes water and oxygen to rust, unlikely you have water in your cooler piping Unless you live in place with 0% humidity, there is always water vapour in the air. As you said though, there will be a thin layer of oil through the cooler and pipework so it's not an issue.

should use aluminised, got it for my cooler pipe and no rust at all Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Its all sealed... Or at least it should be... So I dont think it would happen at all... The inside doesnt see the same conditions as the outside...

Quote: Originally Posted by Hingo Its all sealed... Or at least it should be... So I dont think it would happen at all... The inside doesnt see the same conditions as the outside... It's not sealed and it does see the same conditions as the outside (minus the dust).....how is air going to get to the engine if it is sealed? Air and water vapour will get in through the filter, then through the compressor housing to the piping. The thin film of oil will protect against any rust though.

yeah but not as much as if the pipes were out of the engine bay, apart fromt the filter and turbo and sitting outside on the grass, it will see minimul humidity. and very unlikely to rust but your are right, it will still see humidity, just not enough to worry.

I'd add you dont want to do very short runs as that would allow the moisture to condense and not get evaporated and drawn through engine. So let it warm up normally and you will be fine for years,

i had slight amounts on my old mild steel piping... i wasnt too comfortable with it.. stainless FTW Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Aluminium all the way, Gotta keep the weight down Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Alloy is the best but not everyone can afford it. The only thing i would steer away from are those cheap kits which the chrome or metallic plating- some of that flaking off in your intake would be bad news.

I've ran with my mild steel piping for ~5years and just over 150,000km's. :P Its still all good inside. I clean out the FMIC every year or two; amazing how much oil and **** comes out of it. :S Next time I will go stainless though. Looks better, outside doesn't rust etc.

Whats the best way to clean it?

I've only ever used petrol. A couple of freezer bags on one end of the fmic with rubber bands; poor petrol in one end and swish about quite a bit. Poor it out; do that 2-3 times and by the 3rd the petrol that comes out is usually clean. The petrol doesn't sit around long enough to melt the freezer bag plastic.