When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I seem to have cracked my oil cooler when trying to seal a pesky leak from the fittings. I cracked the upper bung, Looks like the lower bung has been repaired before.
Since it has to be tanked and welded anyway, im thinking of having these AN-10 fittings welded directly to the cooler, eliminating the need for crush washers.
Thanks. I figured if im having them weld on it already since its cracked, i might as well simplify the system. I dont think ill crack it again with the hoses as a direct fit.
The plastic glued fittings are for the stock hoses. I am eliminating the adapting fittings, by having the -10 AN bungs welded right to the cooler, that way my steel braid lines will hook directly to the cooler. A new cooler would be nice, but OEM coolers for the FB are gone, very expensive if you can find one, and I dont trust the eBay coolers.
Welding on the aluminum bung works great. I have done it on two coolers and have raced for at least 10 years with them. The cooler does need to be clean though around the bung so that the welding is successful. Oil on the inside (or around) the bung will make welding difficult.
Check out the cx racing cooler. Lots of people have had good luck with them.
That's the one people have reported wasn't welded properly. The baffle between feed and return wasn't done on several that I saw which allowed oil to bypass the cooler. They may have fixed it since then, but buyer beware is all.
I already ordered the CX racing cooler after seeing that it comes with 10AN bungs welded to the cooler. I bought the new one thinking it would be better than running all over town trying to get the old cooler fixed. I am trying to make an autocross race on the 24th, so if there is an issue with this new one, I might not have enough time to have it fixed... I hope they fixed it.
I know most of them dont, this one looks like it might come with thermostat provisions, either that or is just a drain. No, I wasnt planning on adding a thermostat, i figured id add an oil temp gauge, but up here in CA its pretty warm most of the time, I understand itll take longer for the oil to warmup when its a cold start. Running without a thermostat is (I assume) a bigger deal in a colder climate where it doesnt warm up
I recieved the cooler today, I put my eye on the fitting and shined a flashligj in the other side to see if i could see light,(light would equal leak) no light leaks, so it would appear the baffles are welded well. The 3rd bung is just a drain plug. The hoses they sent me arent built properly though, im hesistant to run them the way they came out of box.
Hmm, I was always taught not to tighten the fittings completely, but to leave a little gap like the first...although I don't leave that much gap. Mostly because I like having it line up. I doubt those will leak though.
One thing I noticed about the cooler you received is that the fittings are straight, while the factory unit they are angled as to allow clearance with the sway bar.
The sway bar isnt a problem in my case, ive installed the cooler and test run it, it is leaking slightly from the AN fittings on the cooler. They look to be cheap chinese fittings, the angled seat the fittings seal on looks to be cheaply made. Im going to try to tighten it some more, and hopefully that will be it. The angled seats on the fittings arent machined very well.
My cooler sits behind the sway bar in my chassis.
Looks like a pretty decent fix there, I'm all for aftermarket modifications like this. Just keep in mind that you will want to let the car warm up so that the oil gets up to temp before you rip on it. The oil may not stay up at operating temp on a cold day as well. I'd be curious to see what the temp drop while moving on a cold day would be across this cooler.
The rotaries that I've owned up to this point were extremely good at maintaining oil temp with the coolant temp. They'd both be right around the same temperature, 180 steady and up to around 200 when romping on the car or sitting in hot traffic.
Its pretty good, i havent driven it yet, its been leaking slightly still from the top fitting on the cooler. I had to change to a different hose end, and then it got dark, so im waiting for tomorrow to find out. I dont like the way I had to run that top hose, but it works. Got the temp sensor probe inline coming right out of the cooler for the most accurate reading.
Did you try flipping that feed hose around so the angle fitting was on the block instead of the cooler? It looks like a real tight loop, but maybe it's just the angle of the photo.
It didnt seem to like it as much with the 45degree fitting on the block. Its isnt terribly tight, but it isnt ideal either. Ive had a hose blow apart while running from either excessive tension or improper assembly, so I would like to re do that hose. Im not impressed at all with the hoses included in the CxRacing oil cooler kit. They dont have swivel fittings, and the hoses are way too long. I test ran the car yesterday, and it worked well,the cooler is made well, I wouldnt recommend anybody buy the full kit with hoses though, because they're hoses are trash. Ive got my leaks down to the dowel pin again, the cooler system sealed up. With air flowing across the cooler(in cold ambient temp) the oil would cool back down under 150, i may actually need a thermostat, I figured the heat here in CA wouldnt need the thermostat, but were having an unusually cold winter. Ill have to see what kind of oil temps it maintains in the 100 degree heat, might only need the thermo for winter driving.
No, its a short rad, i had the stock fmoc in before, the CxRacing cooler is 1/2" taller, 5.5" to 5" factory, its also thicker 2.5" vs 2" factory. Currently my issue is overcooling. At 50 degrees here in CA, the oil doesnt maintain operating temp, I ran it yesterday the air flowing through cooled it down to 120 on a light cruise in 5th. It might not have any problem maintaining temp on a hot day here, but I probably will need a thermostat to keep it warmed up for cold weather driving.
Ive been thinking for the time being, thoughts on reducing the airflow through the cooler to keep it warmer? (Blocking off a little bit of the cooler, similar to grille tape in nascar is my thinking) I can always pull tape if it gets too warm, but that should help keep it warmer for now til i get a thermostat?
I went out for a test drive yesterday, I made about 30 miles before blowing the oil return line about 3/4Mi from home. This is what I get for cheaping out and using chinese hose and ends..
Im not messing around with these ends blowing off again. My 2 road tests i was able to do before the hose failed, showed me I do need a thermostat. Ill be putting a Mishimoto 165 and redoing the lines with russell proflex hose and fittings. Im not taking any chances on this, ive blown 2 lines now.
I checked my oil cooler setup tonight and I use a 45* connection on the front cover. I couldn't get pics in the tight space because I have AC and power steering. I mounted my RotaryWorks cooler in front of the rad and use an Earls oil thermostat block.
Last edited by KansasCityREPU; Feb 21, 2019 at 10:07 PM.
I ordered myself the real an hose stuff from Summit Racing, Russell proflex hose and full flow hose ends. I had a bad shutter valve, and some other things in the intake/carb to work on, that stuffs coming from Atkins, im gonna replace the heater core hoses with silicone ones while the intake is off for the "woob valve" replacement, and a mishimoto 160 thermostat block in the hose system. I realized pretty quickly it simply doesnt keep oil temp without the thermostat. 2 parts orders down, 2 to go.
