What did you do to your Polo today?

**Blue9N3** · 27-02-2015, 10:12 PM

Sambb, separate bottle and pump or did you do modify the windscreen washer?

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**sambb** · 27-02-2015, 11:21 PM

I looked at using the existing washer motor, but due to the way the stalk on the steering column works (it reverses pump direction by switching polarity to the pump and doesn't use relays) it wasn't going to happen. Instead I used a holden VS/VT windscreen washer pump (which is actually made by VDO) drawing from the stock bottle. I removed the stock windcreen washer motor out of the bottle and in its place put a T junction which fit the stock grommet. The stock windscreen washer pump was then replaced atop this tee and does everything it used to - it is just sitting a little higher than it did before but still ultimately draws from the same position inside the bottle. The extra height that the stock washer pump now draws to before sending water out to the front or rear windows hasn't affected its operation. The tee output then runs out via a hose to the VDO pump which is mounted lower than everything to prevent cavitation. It then runs through a spraying systems misting nozzle with an integral check valve in its tip so that air can never get drawn back into the nozzle (thought that might be possible when the stock pump first kicks) and so that it doesn't drip since it is all mounted lower than the washer bottle.
Total cost of the controller, pump and nozzle hardware brought it all in at about $150 for me (but I had a few bits laying around like relays and have access to some other stuff that I needed). Trickiest bit was just sorting where to get switched 12v from, and deciding where/how to make a few of the connections since getting the loom/cables to go where you want them in the confines of the car is a bit of a challenge.

**Blue9N3** · 28-02-2015, 03:45 PM

Hmm forgot that the polos washer bottle is mounted quote low. Tried using the windscreen washer bottle on my r32'skyline years ago and it just all dribbled out. I take it that you don't put detergent in your windscreen washer bottle?

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**sambb** · 28-02-2015, 05:13 PM

No i'll be using distilled water from work so that I don't scale the intercooler.
I drove the car for the first time today in some decent temperatures (it was 30 degrees ambient here in sydney) and I was able to test the system with the manual override that I wired in. I have a thermocouple mounted inside the fins of the core so that I can monitor core temps. Normally the intercooler in off boost conditions would be somewhere between at ambient or 3-4 degrees above. When I was loping along if I gave the pump a little squirt using the momentary switch, within about 50m the core temp would drop to 3 degrees below ambiant and stay that way for about the next kay so its pretty effective. Equally if I was stuck in traffic and then at the lights I have seen core temps get to nearly 10 degrees above ambient just from heatsoak. So today I'd just give it a tiny squirt before pulling away and again within a short distance the core temp would drop right down to atleast ambient.
But the auto operation blew me away. First up what is really cool is that when you first start the car the controller will give the intercooler a little squirt - not necessary all the time but great if you've just parked up the car and heatsoaked the intercooler, so that its as cool as it can be for when you move off again. What really impressed me was how well it worked when I was giving it a bit. I could be cruising along with the core 3 degrees above ambient give the car a burst through second and third and when I looked down to see what the core temp was doing it was actually on its way down and was able to get 4 degrees below ambient for a while if I then continued cruising along. The controller learns how you are driving too. If you give it a quick blat here and there it will really only squirt while you are in the act of hammering it, but if you are consistently nailing it, it will spray for longer durations to prevent heatsoak that can happen after the boost event is over. Also because it uses fuel injector duty cycle rather than a boost switch as its main input it is a pretty cluey module. For example I go up a long gradual hill that I take easily in 5th and the boost will be sustained anywhere from 0-5psi for a long time. Previously by the time I got to the top of that hill (especially if I then got a light) the intercooler would be cooking - even on that low boost. But twice now I've seen that the controller seems to know whats up based on the injector duty cycle input and has the spray cutting in and out as I go up and my core temperatures now don't move.
The caveat here is that all these findings are based on core temperatures, not actual inlet air temperatures. The system is obviously working well at keeping the core cold, but whether a 20cm by 20cm core even if its at ambient, can drag lots of heat out of the inlet charge in real time, can't really be known until I get it scanned during some 3rd gear pulls.