Can you drive with no oil cooler?
 

I just bought a wrecked 3rd gen and the oil cooler was removed by use of a guard rail. Aside from that mechanically it doesn't look too bad. Cosmetics are another story... Can I drive this with the oil line to the cooler just looped with fuel line hose for the 75 mile ride home safely??? The main reason for buying this thing was for the new (3,000mi) pineapple motor and (5,500mi) turbos. Id hate to burn them up just getting it home. Would removing the hood help at all? How do I cut the metal lines without getting shavings in the line?

Thanks,
Steve

oil cooler does like 40-50% of the cooling... you are gonna want at least a cheap one hooked up to it. its more worth it to tow it.

Just get it towed! Rent a flatbed from Uhaul and borrow a truck from a friend and flatbed tow the car home! That's what I did with mine yo! It's easier, maybe you spend a lot of cash but its well worth it and you'll save the motor and turboes together. No oil cooler is gonna cook that motor and turbos on that 75 mile trip. That's a long way for no oil cooler. I don't recommend it and I'm begging you not to. You'll be happy you towed it.

The oil coolers are a huge part of the cooling system. Driving without it is like driving without a radiator.

Steve, removing the hood is a no-no, another reason for a cop to pull you over (if they see you).

The best way to get it home would be to have it towed.

But contrary to what everyone in this thread believes, You won't fry your engine w/o an oil cooler as long as you keep off boost.

Even W/O boost, 75mile drive would be harmful at any speed.

Wow! I had no idea that one little dinky oil cooler did so much! It should have been mentioned that the car has only had Evens NPG+ in it since the rebuild and a Koyo radiator. The previous owner was suggesting it was no problem, we can just loop the line kick on the fans (fan mod switch) and drive it. Would this be more harmful to the motor or turbos?

Steve

the jury's still out on the effectiveness of evan's

Think about it, I don't know about you but I use 20/50 to reduce "heat related breakdown" even during cold season.

Tiresmoke, where are you located? I have a spare passenger-side cwc oil cooler, but I don't know if the oil lines would bolt up or not. If so you can borrow it for the trip back :)

Smashed windshield, left front and rear fenders, rear bumper, no front bumper or left head light, smashed left tail light and the way that the hood looks this might not be an option. If I am seen by the police I don't think the hoods going to make much of a difference. But thanks. This was definitely going to be a night run and hope to not get seen by the police. If I got a fix it ticket no biggy, to show salvage receipt for car in 30-60 days is what I was thinking. If this is a moving violation that’s a different story. Is it? Just curious, looks like it will be towed in any case. Thanks for the input guys!

WOW! That would be great! I am in Chino but the car is in Chatsworth strait shot down the 210. That would save me a serious tow bill. When could it be available to pick it up? We should knock out the details off the forum so email me at sgh.tmh@verizon.net. Thanks!


Steve

Steve, like I said, if it comes down to it I can help with the tow.

I'll e-mail you late tonite, Steve. I'm not too far away (over here in Cerritos) and I don't mind the drive. I'm not sure if it will bolt right up, but i think it's worth a shot.

If you're caught driving the car in that condition, the police can write you up for any number of things (counting as a moving violation) depending on their disposition at the time. Not worth the risk IMO.

I think you are fine with no hood, smashed fenders, and bumpers. The lights and windshield is about all they could get you for. Throw on a crappy trailer tail light from Pep Boys and strap on a sealed beam headlight, all that is left to ticket you for is windshield.

I dont know why all you guys think driving without an oil cooler is going to overheat the car. It is late in the year, so cool at night and Hwy driving is really easy on cars. No way is an oil cooler not being there going to cause it to overheat. If they were that important Mazda would have put 2 on every car and put little fans on them to keep the air moving at idle. Plus those things are TINY! There isnt enough surface area that they could possibly remove any more than 10% of the heat that the radiator removes.

Thanks! I just didn’t want to push it with you and sometimes things happen at the last minute. I have learned it tends to go smoothest if you keep as many options open as possible to reach a given goal. I'm sure you can understand from when you did your motor job and no one showed up.:eek:

Thanks again,
Steve

75 miles of "highway driving" in Southern California is a lot different than highway driving anywhere else. There's no guarantee that you won't get stuck in traffic somewhere, even late at night (when Caltrans decides to close off freeways, etc.). Nonetheless, it's not a do or die situation IMO; if you were careful, sure, it's possible. But if I were buying the car strictly because it had a good low mileage motor, I'd want to make sure everything was fine with it, and that includes not taking chances with the oil. It'd be a hell of a lot easier to just rent a U-Haul trailer or whatever and trailer it IMO.

It's not the engine itself overheating that's the concern, it's the oil temps soaring. There's a big difference between the heat absorption/dissipation properties of oil and coolant/water, thus the difference in the relative size of the oil cooler and radiators in stock form. An engine at idle generates a lot less heat than an engine even traveling at highway speeds, so it's easier to keep oil temps (somewhat) under control without fans like the radiator requires.