"KIMI" - The RPM 1st Gen S2 (with bits of S3...)

[David Nock (RIP)]

BTW, is it standard to have the oil cooler sitting just in front of the main rad on the S2? There\'s some VERY new (I\'d say brand new) hoses connecting the cooler to the engine.

.

What\'s happened is that the S3 radiator has been retained in the S3 chassis. The S2 rad is shorter (by the height of the oil cooler, which normally bolts into place under the radiator). The S3 didn\'t use a front oil cooler, instead an engine mounted \'beehive\' cooler.

So, given the taller S3 rad the fitter has chosen to loop the oil cooler pipes round to the front of the rad and mount the cooler there, low down. Unusual to say the least. I would guess cooling will still be satisfactory but if there\'s any untoward temperature rises it might be be necessary to re examine what\'s to-do here.

[Steve-A]

I had no cooling issues running an oil cooler in front of the lower potion of my radiator on my 13b mx5.

If the oil cooler is still at stock height, then basically you should have an s2 sized amount of air flow to the radiator and any flow you get from behind the oil cooler will be a bonus over the standard s2 cooling!

[David Nock (RIP)]

I had no cooling issues running an oil cooler in front of the lower potion of my radiator on my 13b mx5.

If the oil cooler is still at stock height, then basically you should have an s2 sized amount of air flow to the radiator and any flow you get from behind the oil cooler will be a bonus over the standard s2 cooling!

Yep, makes sense.

There is a difference in the cooling method though.....air cooled (S2) versus water cooled (S3).....I doubt that it will cause the slightest problem though.

[Steve-A]

At the risk of going off topic.... Is the s3 water oil cooler meant to be more or less efficient than the s2 air oil cooler?

[Ian65]

common consensus is that the air cooled oil cooler is more efficient.... although I\'ve never seen any evidence to convince me one way or another.
What is apparent though, is that most performance rotaries, whether factory designed or enthusiast builds, use an air cooled cooler.
I\'d say  that if you\'re were just going to use a 12a in a pretty standard road car and drive it normally, a beehive would be fine.
If you\'re going forced induction, porting the engine, going racing, doing track days etc etc... air cooled is the way to go.
Although it was probably cheaper to produce, Mazda dropped the beehive for the 2nd gens and turbo 2\'s ....which maybe tells us something ( or maybe not!)

[CHC (RIP)]

At the risk of going off topic.... Is the s3 water oil cooler meant to be more or less efficient than the s2 air oil cooler?

I\'ve no proven answer to this but would put my thoughts into the ring for debate:-

The S2, being air cooled, will rely upon forward motion (along with a minimal assistance from air drawn towards the radiator by the viscous coupling fan) to reduce the ambient air temperature along with the oil heated by the engine - yes?
The S3 water cooled engine will maintain the oil at a constant temperature which is governed by the hot water of the radiator - yes?
Therefore my powers of deduction would lead me to believe that the S2 cooler in theory should be slightly more efficient based upon the air temperature being far less than the engine/water temperature - but then again, I\'m not an Engineer.

Cliff

[David Nock (RIP)]

I figure you\'re all correct guys; I think that\'s the consensus.

Having said that, in a few full-on traffic jams the S3\'s we\'ve owned have behaved perfectly. So I figure that with the S3, if the rad cooling and water pumping is OK then the beehive oil cooling is bound to function.

And it\'s so simples.......

[seanp]

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[seanp]

I know we got two copies of the Mazda Service manuals, but I couldn\'t resist a bid on eBay and won this:

[CHC (RIP)]

I know we got two copies of the Mazda Service manuals, but I couldn\'t resist a bid on eBay and won this:
 

Well done - and what sort of price did you pay for it?

I also have two copies:-
a softback which I use
a hardback which is still in its\' original wrapping unopened - sad or what?
Cliff

[Ian65]

Well done - and what sort of price did you pay for it?
 
I also have two copies:-
a softback which I use
a hardback which is still in its\' original wrapping unopened - sad or what?
Cliff

essential reading!
2 copies are a must as well.... one for in the garage when your hands are covered in oil and a nice clean copy for in the house...
my \'garage\' copy is one I\'ve had for 25 years!

[CHC (RIP)]

essential reading!
2 copies are a must as well.... one for in the garage when your hands are covered in oil and a nice clean copy for in the house...
my \'garage\' copy is one I\'ve had for 25 years!

 
and isn\'t there an electronic/pdf copy floating around too!  Only the best for us proud owners.
:cool

[seanp]

It\'s a "used" copy (a few oily finger prints - probably sold by somebody hereabouts!), but got it for under a £10 including postage. A veritable bargain - others and new ones going for ~£25??

Now I know what the "beehive" looks like too -- and ours definitely doesn\'t have one of those :-)

[CHC (RIP)]

Used or not Sean - still a bargain for under a tenner mate, well done.

[Casey]

Things have been quiet as I\'ve been on holiday and then away again for last Bank Holiday (which took in a visit to the Spring Rotor Show at Brooklands). However, myself, Will66 and Hypothermia have set aside a few hours this coming Sunday to tackle the brakes and start a long list of other items that need attention.

I bought an angle grinder today to blitz some rust. I also ordered; Marine Clean, Metal Ready and 6 mini-cans of Grey POR15, ready protection after the rust blitz!

I\'ve also been reading up about the electrolytic rust removal for parts I can remove from the car. I\'ll be buying some soda crystals at Tesco tomorrow to give this a go with an old battery charger I was about to throw away. Looks like people get very good results using this method.

I\'ll try and get some pictures up after the weekend to show the work in progress!