Uprated single oil-cooler - anyone done this?

[Smifta]

Hey Guys,

I was thinking about removing the twin coolers and putting in a larger single cooler on the passenger side. I have a huge intake with the GT-C front bumper, so I can\'t see air-flow being an issue. This would free up the driver-side intake for a direct cold feed to the filters. Has anyone else done this?

From memory, I believe that a company in the US used to make a kit, but they have now closed down (I can\'t remember the name). Rotary Extreme or something rings a bell. I seems to recall that kit having a thermostat on it, as cold/pressurised oil didn\'t flow around the large cooler very well. I could be remembering wrong though!

Otherwise, I guess I could fabricate a kit up, does anyone know the size of the fittings on the engine/sump oil pipes? Might the following be a something to start from:
http://www.pitbay.com/auctiondetails.php?id=1794
Or is that too small?

Ideas / Thoughts ?!

Alex.

[allstaruk]

I was thinking of doing the exact same thing I need a better cold air feed too.

Alan

[dubber91]

in my experience the stock coolers are very good. Mazda knew that rotaries cannot be cooled with water alone, and required substantial oil cooling to take the load off the water cooling system.
I would say you would need to run oil coolers CONSIDERABLY bigger than the one in the link. I Am planning on running one 50 row cooler and one 19row cooler on my 13b bridgeport NA (FC motor), although airflow over them is more of an issue in my application.
Looking at sotck FD coolers, i would say that each is equivalent to around a 25row cooler. On a turbocharged motor (where the turbo is not a sealed unit) it is much better to have a system capable of overcooling, although it should not do so; a thermostat from mocal or similar is essential to ensure a quick warm up and prevent premature wear.
Expect to spend out on decent oil lines as well...its not just down to the cooler cost. Most local hose specialists can make them for you.
finally dont expect to be able to scale down your oil cooling system in capacity and overall size; only expect improved packaging (i.e. the ability to free up a cold air feed). Aftermarket coolers do not cool far better than stock ones do, they sometimes perform worse as they rely upon airflow rather than surface area to dissappate heat.
Good luck!
:Santa

[Smifta]

Great info there, thanks! I have been looking at the Rotary Extreme kit, and pricing up the componants myself. If I used decent hardware and fitting throughout (Earls), the it comes to £567.44 without any mounting hardware. Here\'s a rundown:


Cooler 34 row =       43410   34 Row Oil Cooler-10 AN Ftgs      each      163.11

150 degree hose end (2 of) =    815010   -10 150 Deg. Swivel Seal      each      35.52
Straight male fittings (4 of) =   840110   St. -10 AN To -10 Swivel Seal      each      29.72
90 degree hose end (1 of) =   809110   -10 90 Degree Tube Swivel Seal      each      32.79
45 degree hose end (1 of) =    804610   -10 45 Degree Tube Swivel Seal      each      32.79
Metric adapters (2 of) =   9919FFKERL 18mm x 1.5

Hose (2 metres) =       400100   -10 Perform-O-Flex         per metre   36.21

Thermostat =          501   Oil Thermostat            each      76.41

[Smifta]

Although I didn\'t get a huge amount of interest in this when I originally posted, I thought it might be worthwhile to update anyway :-)

Here\'s a pic of the bits I ordered from thinkauto and mocal... both companys were very helpful and easy to deal with.



I am planning on fitting this soon, but before I do I want to get accurate readings of oil temp and pressure so I can compare to the stock setup.