Why in the world would Mazda put that beehive oil cooler in there? I just saw one for the first time today and it doesnt seem like it would help at all!

 

well yeah it would it just a fin air principle. Loads of old aircraft engines (wich i might add produce more heat then just oil) were simply air cooled. and to this day they are still being used. So it must have work somewhat well.

But the big reason i think they did that, is beacuse of cost. bee hive i would think are easier to build then the rad types.

I wonder how well a rad, and a beehive would cool.........

 

Keep in mind that the beehive is a water to oil cooler, while the front mounts are air to oil coolers. This would explain why the beehive oil cooler doesn't need to be as large. Water's ability to transfer heat is much much greater than air's. A lot of people say bad stuff about the beehive coolers, but they are a totally different design. You can't compare apples and oranges. They think just since it is smaller that it doesn't work as well. My only complaint with the beehive, is that it tends to be rather messy. Changing hoses, and o-rings can make a mess pretty quickly. Plus the hoses are expensive. As far as efficiency, I think the two are pretty much equal...

 

front mounts are far superior, thats why you see so many people that do the mod.
when i tear down a core engine the 79-82's are always in much better condition than the 83-85's with beehive.

 

I didnt realize the bee-hives were water cooled, so that makes a little more sense. I assume they use the radiator's water.

 

Yep. That's right. The problem is that you are cooling the oil with 180* water. The front-mounts are better. Otherwise Mazda wouldn't have switched back to them on the GSL-SE and all 7s after. You also tend to see the dowel pin leak more on the beehive cooled cars. This is because it doesn't cool the oil as well.

 

Bee Hives have O ring issues and they get clogged up, if you maintain these problems in a stock or mild modded engine you'll have plenty of cooling.

 

Not th jack but how hard is it to get a front mount?

Can i use an "AUX Tranny Cooler" as a front mount?

And what about plumbing ?

Is there a write up about this somewhere in the www?

Jay
1984 FB

 

Front mount off a 2nd gen is easier to find, expect to pay around $100 from those that know the value of one, plumbing can be made locally. Most average aftermarket trans coolers aren't built for the heat or oil pressure, they also are much less capable of cooling and handling the amount of oil or the viscosity of the oil, purpose built oil coolers from race car suppliers will do the job, but will cost a lot more.

Steve

 

No, you don't want to use a tranny cooler. The easiest is to get one (with the lines) off of a GSL-SE. They are set to mount in front of the radiator. The 79-82 had the front monts as well. These cars had a shorter radiator and mounted the cooler underneath. You could swap in the 79-82 rad and cooler, or you could mount the cooler in front of the rad and have lines made. Another option is the 2nd gen oil cooler. I think there is some info on swaping one on here. You will need to figure out mounting and the lines.

 

Link 2 nd gen oil cooler

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/cooling-oil-how-install-fc-oil-cooler-1st-gen-write-up-pics-478521/

 

and if you go to iscracing.net they have a kit you can use to mount a 2nd gen oil cooler

Jon

 

i have a second gen cooler for sale if anybody wants it.
$60 shipped.

 

Wow.. i totally did not know that the beehives were water cooled. I just assumed that they were aircooled. Huh learn something new every day. Specially with these cars

 

also, trans cooler lines are much smaller than my oil cooler's lines and I would question if there would be enough oil flow through it.

 

Well that means that thankfully you haven't had its coolant hose blow like mine.

After 21 years, the J-shaped coolant hose which connects the beehive to the block split right down the middle. Coolant went everywhere. There was so much antifreeze all over the engine bay that I had no idea where the "leak"happened.

Pushed the car home and gerry-rigged something into place to hold it.

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to make a straight piece of coolant tube form a "J" shape!

Jon

 

I know...unfortunately.

The dealer was backordered for that part for 3 weeks, used straight hose, and copper pipe fittings for the bends, lol...it worked though.

 

Lol, same here. 6 clamps, 2 90* copper elbows, and a lot of tinkering.

Still there actually. I'm just gonna tack the J-hose onto my mazdatrix order when I get the other stuff I need.

Jon

 

I changed from a beehive to an early radiator and oil cooler. The result was minor change in water temperature and 15 degrees lower oil temperature. The improvement was significant; while possibly in part due to new components, it is an improvement I would recommend. In my case with a oil cooled turbo it was a great upgrade and still using Gen 1 parts..

 

I have a used GSL-SE FMOC, and im still debating whether I should use it on my car or not... Im in a mechanics class in college and our teacher basically said that oil coolers are a item that should not be reused and should just be garbaged.... What do you guys think about that? Sure I know they can have crap trapped in them and stuff, but it sucks if I can't use it, I really want to garbage the crappy beehive...

 

I had an old 2nd gen cooler on my 7, and it worked quite well. If you are really worried about buildup inside the oil cooler, then flush it out before you start using it. I don't really think it would be that big of an issue though. I say go for it.

 

To replace the beehive coolent hose. Advance sales a 90 prebent peice, Get two of them and a connecter and it is easyer to replace. but the cost is almost the same as just getting the correct one from the dealer or mazdatrix.

 

Send it to be cleaned. Ultrasonic cleaning. Hit the search and you will see where it has been talked about a good bit.

 

i have never had a problem using old coolers.
as long as its from a sealed system it ought to be ok.

 

The other thing he could do is add a remote oil filter after the cooler.