any diy oil cooler upgrades?
 

I have an r1 with the dual oil coolers, however I just bought the XS engineering front mount IC, I was told that I should upgrade the oil coolers now, so I wanted to know other then the rotaryextreme and crooked willow if anyone has made their own kit, and if so if they share what they did with me. Thanks!

Who told you that? Unless you regularly road race the car in high temps, why would you need to upgrade your oil coolers?

I don't mean to harp on you specifically but very few of the people I've seen ask about oil cooler upgrades even have an oil temp gauge. It seems pretty silly to me to spend a LOT of money on something while having no idea if it is necessary or what the improvement is after you've installed it. I would much rather put $1200 (the price of the cheapest dual oil-cooler kit at rotary extreme) to other uses unless it was absolutely necessary.

For that matter, did you even need the front mount IC? :)

I have a R2 and I installed a oil temp guage for my car about 2 years ago, and I can tell you a upgrade is not needed unless you road race.I live in S.Fla plus my car is black and my temps stay in the 180-195F range in traffic than drop too about 167F on the highway. The oil at that temp is not even going threw the oil coolers yet, I just make sure the oil coolers fins are clean, and I ducted all the gaps around the cooler so I would get max air flow.

anyone know the thread size for stock oilcoolers???

Good info juliof. My temps on my PEP (single cooler, obviously) run about 10 F higher than my water temps. Stop-and-go, I'm running about 200-220 F, on the highway, it drops to about 185 F. Guess that extra oil cooler and the ducting help your temps out a bit. I also still have the stock radiator which is not helping my water or oil temps. The fluidyne is going in soon (unless I can convince my wife that going with rotary extreme's V-mount IC/rad is a good idea....not likely :( )

I would add a second oil cooler for better reliability plus lower oil temps increase engine life. I also installed a SR ultimate rad and I sealed the area around it with foam and high temp tape to bring in extra air flow. I just dont understand how Mazda produced a car that runs so hot normally and than added such a thin radiator and marginal cooling system?.

All in the interest of saving weight...that's why we ended up with a shitty little radiator and intercooler. It's hard to bitch about that though when you consider the weight of the car compared to even very high end sports cars.

BTW, I have my oil temp gauge mounted in a Greddy oil filter block adaptor, where is yours mounted?

I recently just lowered my AC condenser away from my SR radiator to get more airflow. When I did this I noticed a lot of open space. Where do you get "high temp. tape" and suitable foam that can withstand that type of environment. Any info would be helpful.

And, I do at least 5 track events per year so this is quite relevant.

thanks

he has an R1 therefore
as i understand it
he already has 2 OC's
i have heard that upgraded OC's will help a bunch and with an FMIC every bit of cooling it important
you can but aftermarket oil coolers from almost anywhere
id go to summitracing
its pretty easy
and while youre at it
you may want to relocate your oil filter
all of this IMHO
barban

The foam I bought at home depot, the foam is for sealing around ac units I bought the extra thick 1 1/4 so it fits around the radiator tight. The tape is radiator hose repair tape its high temp rating lets it stick in hot areas you can get it at any auto parts store.I have my oil temp sender at the drain plug its the hottest source my oil temp guage is a digital nordskog.

I'm going to bring this back from the dead...

How about a DIY 2nd oil cooler for us base model guys?

I think I recall seeing a DIY on Max Cooper's site. His oil cooler was not Mazda...I think he just got it from some big diesel truck or something...maybe even from a wrecker. It's worth checking out.

Looks like he got the Crooked Willow. Maybe once you add up the coolers and fittings, you're not too far from the $900 (ouch) they want.

IMO, a DIY oil cooler will not save you that much money and certainly won't save you time.

The CWR upgrade uses two Mocal 19-row coolers (about $130 each). DIY would mean having to figure out all the fittings and lines you need, getting a proper thermostat, creating brackets to mount the coolers, and fabbing up ducting.

I suppose if you're handy and want to spend a shitload of time on it, you could save some money, but my time is more valuable than a couple of hundred bucks. Especially, since a passenger side-only upgrade is only about $450 from CWR.

just curious, is there an electronic thermostat that will open up the oil coolers. the reason i ask is to speed up the turbo's for the cool down process.

Are you asking whether or not you can electronically control when oil is flowing to the coolers to cool the turbos down faster?

I'm not aware of an electronic oil t-stat (not to say there isn't one). I don't think it's necessary anyway. Just don't shut the car off 10 seconds after hitting 15 psi.

The fluidyne is going in soon (unless I can convince my wife that going with rotary extreme's V-mount IC/rad is a good idea....not likely :( ) [/B][/QUOTE]


Its worth it. You have my vote for the wife suggestion box.

I wonder if that Aluminum Tape that you can buy at Home Depot will work for you???