Originally Posted by umop-apisdn
What I cannot understand is the fact that the weld split instead of failing on either side. A proper weld should be stronger than the surrounding material. The "crowbar theory" sounds sound ( :reechy: ) but it reared its ugly head through the weakest link, the weld. Had the weld been stronger, failure would have happened elsewhere.
Not for aluminum. An aluminum weld is always weaker than the parent material. Also, corners are stress risers, so if the intercooler is bending, then the largest stresses are going to be right on that corner.