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Is anyone not using the oil cooler port on the front cover? Blocking it off and using a different port, even if you had to machine it open? I've seen a few threads about it but, they were so old that the pictures were gone. Essentially, I just have to find a feed line and plumb it to the cooler. How have you done it?
I always had a machine shop drill and straight thread for an -an fitting that used a crush washer to seal (so must be perpendicular to housing surface). Well not always, just after I split and had to repair my first irons after NPT thread adventures.
I had them do the outlet for the oil pump and the inlet for the front bearing at the same time and on my last front side housing I had them do a dowel for the original oil pump outlet in the front iron to the front housing to support the o-ring, so when the oil pressure pushed the front cover away the o-ring wouldn't slip out.
I didn't see any pics of mine that show this online, I probably have some at home I will look for.
I'm going to be doing the same. Drilling and tapping the front iron for a oil feed straight from the pump, as well as a return straight to the front bearing. If I remember, I'll check back in when I do my writeup with pictures and information.
In theory at least, according to this image, you could run the "bypass" line from the oil pedestal to the inlet of the oil cooler and to one of the holes on the front iron instead of using the front cover o-ring. I don't know for sure but, it'd be a good test. Plug the return side of it and only use the feed port. I just want to avoid using any part of the front cover that requires using an o-ring that can't be properly clamped down.
In theory at least, according to this image, you could run the "bypass" line from the oil pedestal to the inlet of the oil cooler and to one of the holes on the front iron instead of using the front cover o-ring. I don't know for sure but, it'd be a good test. Plug the return side of it and only use the feed port. I just want to avoid using any part of the front cover that requires using an o-ring that can't be properly clamped down.
Unless I'm misunderstanding, I don't believe you can do it that way.
Standard oil flow, read from top to bottom is the oil path:
Oil pan
pickup
oil pump
front oil bypass regulator in front cover
front cover fitting
oil cooler feed
oil cooler
oil cooler return
rear iron (FB's and FC's, FD's and RX-8's are different)
splits between the oil bypass regulator in the bottom of the rear iron (when pressure is exceeded it dumps into the oil pan) and up to the oil filter feed
oil filter
oil filter return
splits to the rear main bearing, e-shaft and top engine dowel
top dowel feeds the turbo oil feed, front main bearing, OMP itself and the OMP and CAS gears
now we're finally back to the oil pan
Eliminating the front cover requires drilling the iron, no questions asked. If you block that off without rerouting the oil, you're not going to have pressurized oil going anywhere.
You're talking about re-routing to eliminate one of the lines on the oil filter. The oil filter needs to be fed pressurized oil, which comes from the oil pump itself. To eliminate the front cover o-ring you need to drill a hole in the side of the front iron that is a straight shot from the oil pump. This then becomes your pressurized oil feed line, which goes to the oil cooler feed. Then the pressurized oil would come back from the cooler in a line to the oil filter pedestal, through the rear iron fitting on FB's and FC's. This is your oil filter feed line, which needs to run through the filter and return as cooled and cleaned oil to the rear bearing and front bearing.
I have a few diagrams I'm writing up, as well as named holes with descriptions of what each one does. I've been studiying this for a few weeks now, it's not super complicated once you've spent some hours researching and following the oil flow pattern.
I just want to avoid using any part of the front cover that requires using an o-ring that can't be properly clamped down.
The front cover has two oil inlets from the front side housing.
The 1st is the high pressure inlet right off of the oil pump (the one with the o-ring) which leads to the oil pressure over-pressure relief valve in the front cover and then on to the oil cooler outlet on the front cover.
The 2nd is the "low pressure" (regulated oil pressure) that is the tiny passage from the front iron to the front cover in the front cover gasket surface (just above the upper front cover dowel) that feeds the oil metering pump on the front cover and distributor drive/CAS drive on the older rotaries.
If you block the 1st high pressure (o-ringed) inlet to the front cover you need to drill an outlet in the front iron for the oil cooler outlet and add an oil pressure relief valve before your oil cooler or when you start the engine with thick, cold oil and rev it you will inflate your oil cooler like a balloon. No joke.
Adding the dowel between this high pressure inlet to the front cover and the front side housing retains the stock oil pressure relief valve and retains the front cover o-ring in position so it will never get pushed into the front cover with oil pressure when the front cover is pushed away from the front side housing (Mazda just missed putting a front cover bolt next to this oil port).
Just make sure the dowel can't get pushed into the front cover and block the oil relief valve or fall into the front side housing and block oil pump outlet flow (tight press fit in front side housing), OR if the dowel can move make sure by design it cannot block either flow (so, a looser fitting dowel that fits all the way into front cover bore and all the way down into the front side housing bore, but has reliefs for oil flow for both areas).
Well, I guess based on what you guys posted, I'm not good at explaining what I'm looking at doing. Both have basically explained what I'm planning to do. I'm not simply plugging the hole and that's it. I want to reduce the number of sharp 90* turns so the oil can flow more freely and not worry about that front cover o-ring anymore. Dream, you were misunderstanding because I poorly explained it. Basically doing it like the picture shown but, without remotely mounting it that far away.
10-31-17, 02:09 PM
