Bell Auto Services Hi-flow Intercooler. Any comments or reviews?

OK, mine is received & fitted! A few observations, in no particular order - not trying to write an install guide (there's plenty of those), just a few points that are on my mind that might assist others.

Also, my car is a MY10 110 2.4, factory A/C, pretty much standard apart from a BAS re-map. I fitted the new BAS intercooler and kept the standard/original hoses.

- FWIW, you can do the remove/install without removing the rubber LR A-bar/nudge bar, if you have one fitted. You need to remove the top brackets, but that's it.

- The intercooler hose clamps have a "tooth" that holds them to the intercooler hose - it "bites" on the inside edge/end of the hose. So, after you have loosened the clamps you can't rotate them until you remove the hose and pry this tooth open a bit to release it.

- It is difficult to remove the old/insert the new intercooler on an A/C car. I clumsily broke off one of the tabs that holds on the top fan cowl as I lifted the old unit out. My bad, but there really is not much room. After breaking the tab, I decided to remove the two bottom bolts (as well as the single top bolt, already removed) from the "A" frame that holds the A/C condenser. This made fitting the new (larger) unit easier but it was still a tight squeeze. I was trying to make sure I did not grind fins against fins/projections, on either the condenser or the intercooler - it was (for me) nigh on impossible without a bit of movement in the condenser. I was nervous about moving the (rigid) A/C pipes even that small amount but (so far...) it seems to be OK. Use GREAT care here, in any event - watch the fins AND the A/C pipes, if you go this way (or, someone jump in and let me know what I missed! Surely there's a better way?)

- The intercooler hoses: ahhh what joy. :p The backs of my hands and my wrists are chafed raw... I found the clamps loosened off easily enough, just with a long screwdriver (perhaps they were a little too loose before starting! :eek: ). I also put a SMALL smear of rubber grease on the inside of the hose and the outside pipe edge to simplify slide-on (I was ambivalent about doing this, until I noticed there was already a bit of oil around the hoses & the old pipe stubs anyhow - time will tell if this was a bad call...). In any event, it was still tough - the pipes are LARGER on the new unit - which is good, but challenging at installation. The LHS hose (furthest from air cleaner box) was much easier than the RHS (nearest air cleaner) - I took off the air cleaner box lid to help a bit (and even thought about removing the box itself - every millimetre counts!). Basically, it was a matter of slow-steady perseverance until the suckers finally went on. I also re-positioned/rotated the clamps slightly (note comment above about the "teeth") so that on re-fitting the clamp screw was straight up-and-down - this meant clamp tightening was simple, via a long screwdriver - I made sure they were good & tight, past the ridge on the pipe. Hopefully, the larger pipe will mean that the hose blow-off reported by others will not occur on these new BAS units.

So, road tested, all good! No noticeable power gains, but then I wasn't expecting any - I want the lower EGTs for longevity. There is a bit of an improvement in rev-ability, so that's good.

All in all, for me, about 3 to 4 hours. Quite fiddly, but do-able. Definitely not a job to rush.

I put the Bells 170 BHP remap, the Bells intercooler and silicone hoses into our 2013 Defender twin cab 130 about 2 months ago. 58000 kms on the clock. The remap went in easy as. The Intercooler nearly fitted perfectly except having to elongate the top mounting hole on the intercooler on the passenger side to get it to fit. The silicone hoses were a doozy to fit! Very tight to get onto the spigots due to not being able to get access to get your hands in there without removing airbox, hosing etc.
The remap is awesome. The defender is nearly always at GVM when we go camping and our camper trailer would be very close to it's 2 ton gross weight. The power from the engine is heaps better. We tow our camper up to Logue Brook Dam quite often here in WA and with the stock engine going up the hill to the dam we would get back to 2nd gear by the top, doing about 30 km/h. With the remap we could pull 5th most of the way up and went down to 4th towards the top and the Defender pulled 4th easily, could even accelerate.
Now to the Intercooler. What I have noticed with the remap is that when you are giving the engine a bit of hiding up hills and overtaking the coolant temperature starts to rise. We cannot notice it on the Defenders standard coolant temperature gauge but we have a Scangauge II connected permanently and the highest temp I have seen is 104 degrees Celsius. You can watch the coolant temp steadily climb the longer you give the engine a hiding.
Has Bells Hi Flow Intercooler helped keep the temps down? I am unsure. I never ran the 170 remap with the original intercooler. I can't say either if the engine temp climbing also is cause EGT's to rise as I am not measuring those temperatures. With the standard intercooler would I being seeing even higher temps. Unsure??
As I side note, the engine also went into limp mode and threw up 3 codes, and died when we pulled over coming back from Jurien Bay last week. Everything seemed fine up to this occuring and we weren't flogging it. Just sitting on 100 kph fully loaded with the camper. We also tow in 6th on flat ground and slight short uphills and have done for yonks so the engine revs weren't high. Will keep you posted if blow 6th up! The engine wouldn't start, until I cleared the codes. Unfortunately I didn't check what the codes were before I cleared them. Dumb ass! We have never had the engine go into limp mode before. Hasn't done it since. Will see what happens and I'll take notice of the codes next time and check what they are before I clear them. Fingers crossed they don't return.

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One of the easiest jobs done to date. As always it claimed it blood tax, although that’s just me willing to shove my hand into spots I’m going to get cut up against.

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I’ve got a 2015 110 that I’ve put both the 150 and 170 BAS Remap into. I’ve got a scanguage11 permanently in the OBD and also have a redarc EGT/Boost Gauge fitted with the latter not connected for some reason (previous owner). I run the 170 mainly, as now the weather is getting cooler, and monitor the EGT making sure I don’t cook the engine as I don’t have a BAS Intercooler.
I’m considering the BAS Intercooler as well as the silicone hoses but unsure whether to proceed as I’m quite happy to run the higher tune with the EGT. One consideration is that I also have driving lights/bull bar which doesn’t auger well for freeing up the front for unrestricted airflow which seems to make a difference apparently. I do have a Safari RAI. So the dilemma is, do I go the BAS Intercooler or not........

I havent used the BAS ones, but...

*I've fitted Alisport intercoolers and have added them to the list of Defender TDCi things to do.
*While I havent had a chance to dyno the results of the Alisport intercooler it is another item that seems to smooth out the engine and make it run so much nicer.

My BAS intercooler installation was pretty straight forward. The hardest bit was fitting the BAS silicon hose to the throttle body inlet.... not much space and the 5 ply hose is reasonably stiff.

The engine defiantly breaths better. I'm happy with the outcome.

Thanks BAS !