Oil cooler leak
09-13-20, 11:15 AM
#26
I don't know what the factory T-stat setting is, or is supposed to be. But I'm sure Mazda put it there for the same purpose as the coolant T-stat. IE- to get the engine up to "proper" operating temp as quickly as possible, and then regulate it to keep it in the proper range (heat/cool/heat/cool). This is good for year-round driveability, fuel economy, heater operation, emissions, etc.. All the things a manufacturer must consider for a street car.
From a racer's perspective you are right. It is another possible failure point and you (a racer) needs to shed heat wherever possible, as fast as possible. But is this man (OP) building a race car, or a street car?
I know that everything I've done to make my cars, trucks and motorcycles faster, or handle better, on the street, has come at a cost. Anything I've done to keep the engine cooler ("air gap" intakes, lower temp T-stats, CAI's, extra oil or tranny coolers, etc) has a very noticeble negative effect on cold start driving, with crappy mileage, idle, no heat in winter, etc for the first 5-15 miles of driving.
This is meaningless to a racecar, but to a daily driver it is very noticeable. My daily is a turbo Subie with all the typical mods. Upon startup I get 8-14 mpg for the first 10 miles driving, and no heat in winter, until things start to warm up. This car gets driven 100 miles round trip every day, 5-7 days a week so it adds up. My PU has similar mods and behaves the same (no heat and really bad mileage for first 1/2 of the trip). But once warmed up they rip ***. These problems were not present when the vehicles were stock, because of "useless" things the manufacturer built in to please the masses (and the EPA).
Do exhaust work and a tune and your car/truck/cycle will be quicker and louder and all-around "Tuner-riffic". But you'll reak of exhaust when you get to work and you'll be half-deaf from the hour of highway drone. So again, you pay a driveability price for almost any performance mod you do.
Back to T-stats and warm-up; When I lived in Western OR or Southern OK I didn't care. I was young and it was warm 10 months a year. You as a race car driver don't have to care because your not driving to 7eleven in a Minnessota January. But Is Frogman building a track car, or a nice daily?
From a racer's perspective you are right. It is another possible failure point and you (a racer) needs to shed heat wherever possible, as fast as possible. But is this man (OP) building a race car, or a street car?
I know that everything I've done to make my cars, trucks and motorcycles faster, or handle better, on the street, has come at a cost. Anything I've done to keep the engine cooler ("air gap" intakes, lower temp T-stats, CAI's, extra oil or tranny coolers, etc) has a very noticeble negative effect on cold start driving, with crappy mileage, idle, no heat in winter, etc for the first 5-15 miles of driving.
This is meaningless to a racecar, but to a daily driver it is very noticeable. My daily is a turbo Subie with all the typical mods. Upon startup I get 8-14 mpg for the first 10 miles driving, and no heat in winter, until things start to warm up. This car gets driven 100 miles round trip every day, 5-7 days a week so it adds up. My PU has similar mods and behaves the same (no heat and really bad mileage for first 1/2 of the trip). But once warmed up they rip ***. These problems were not present when the vehicles were stock, because of "useless" things the manufacturer built in to please the masses (and the EPA).
Do exhaust work and a tune and your car/truck/cycle will be quicker and louder and all-around "Tuner-riffic". But you'll reak of exhaust when you get to work and you'll be half-deaf from the hour of highway drone. So again, you pay a driveability price for almost any performance mod you do.
Back to T-stats and warm-up; When I lived in Western OR or Southern OK I didn't care. I was young and it was warm 10 months a year. You as a race car driver don't have to care because your not driving to 7eleven in a Minnessota January. But Is Frogman building a track car, or a nice daily?
09-13-20, 04:46 PM
#28
I don't know what the factory T-stat setting is, or is supposed to be. But I'm sure Mazda put it there for the same purpose as the coolant T-stat. IE- to get the engine up to "proper" operating temp as quickly as possible, and then regulate it to keep it in the proper range (heat/cool/heat/cool). This is good for year-round driveability, fuel economy, heater operation, emissions, etc.. All the things a manufacturer must consider for a street car.
Keep in mind that I am monitoring oil temps at the base of the oil filter on my car. Which means that the oil has circulated through both rotors, out the front cover, through a cooler and back to the rear to the engine. So if I am seeing 150F degrees on my temp gauge after 5-15 minutes of warm up time, the oil coming out of the engine is getting pretty hot quickly.
Also you really cannot compare the water thermostat to the one used in the oil cooler. Yes they both keep coolant in the engine to help the car warm up faster (fuel economy, driveability, emissions, etc.) but the water thermostat functions as a restriction to slow water movement. On my race car, I don't run a water thermostat but I do run a restrictor (3/4") to simulate an open thermostat. With respect to the T-stat in the oil cooler, I would find it hard to believe that it functions as a flow restrictor. But...just like the temp set point, I really don't know.
On the aftermarket coolers.
I am using a pair of the reproduction coolers in my race car now as I ran out of good original ones. The ones made to replicate the early style under radiator cooler are not exactly like the the originals. For one thing, the fitting bungs are parallel to one another. On the OE cooler the bungs are at different angles which makes it easier to service the the fittings.
09-15-20, 12:58 PM
#30
Senior Newbie Member
Thread Starter
Il considers the aftermarket route after this Friday , I'm taking my car down to a rad shop that claims to fix oil coolers ( i reinstalled it for now ). I want one that bolts up to the stock points and it seams the cheap 100$ ones bolt straight to the points
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