tsmysak1

Can someone tell me what is going on here?

I bought a car with almost no known history. It was cheap and I planned on rebuilding an engine eventually.....I thought it was stock, but it may be that I am confused. I think quite a bit of work has been done ....but just guessing.

The car is supposed to be a 1994 touring. Built in March. I found yesterday that it has two oil coolers on it. Both have a lot of pelting damage, but no leaks. I understand that tourings did not have the dual oil cooler. Can someone tell me what is correct?

The car runs really cool. On the hottest days, the fans still do not come on unless idling for a long time. I can see several other radiators in the front. It looks like a pair of identical radiators located underneath. AC plus a mod? I know that it has a stock intercooler, but I am unsure about the rest. Does this sound like things have been added. I am just unsure about what came from the factory as I sort through this.

I need to get the oil coolers sorted out..i.e. repaired / flushed / replaced/ etc... It looks like maybe 25% blockage from the pelting damage. As for the rest of the coolers, I would like to understand what has been done before making changes... I did a search to little avail....Can someone reference some pics of a stock setup? Also, has anyone had any luck using the aviation sources for oil cooler repair?

rynberg

Below the stock intercooler is the radiator and the A/C condenser, which kind of looks like you have two radiators. All normal.

Tourings did not have twin oil coolers. Your car is either an R2, had a previous owner add the passenger side cooler, or it's an auto.

David Beale

You can remove the oil coolers and straighten out the fins. It isn't very hard. You will need a pair of small longnose pliers to help straighten the fins. I also used several tiny screwdrivers to push bug remains out of the fins (and a few pebbles). When you put them back you can add screens to protect them. Be very careful when you put them back in - it's easy to bend the fins again. Also, never direct a pressure washer at them or the radiator - it will bend the fins as well.

Here's what mine was like (only one oil cooler on mine )
Before
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=120456&stc=1
After
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=120457&stc=1
With screen
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=120458&stc=1

The screen was made (by me) of home rain gutter screen - it's the steel type that is heavilly coated with black paint - expanded type mesh. Perfect for this application, and I used the same stuff on the rad. opening to protect the A/C and coolant rads. The pegs seen in the photo are stainless bolts with vinyl tubing forced on the exposed bolt for the screen to bear against when deflecting whatever.

tsmysak1

Yep, the car is an auto, so does that mean the passenger side is a tranny cooler?

So it sounds like this is a totally stock setup... sorry for the ignorance..

tsmysak1

David,

Mine looks like those photos, but a little worse... me thinks...

I like what you did there. I can't believe that this car would come from the factory with this kind of exposure to damage like that. Lot of surprises...I like the mod and will look to see what kind of protective screen I can come up with.

I think it won't be a problem to straighten those out. But what about flushing the internals? Is that a concern? I know the car has had at least one other motor in it, which could mean (although any thing is possible) that I would have no clue about what might be stuck in the cooler....

Thoughts?

POS7

Yep

rynberg

Yes, it's a tranny cooler. Radiators get beat up by rocks and road debris on other cars too.

I sincerely doubt there's any reason to flush the coolers, oil circulates through them at 30-120 psi with higher psi spikes. Your oil filter should be catching any particles.

It's not THAT big a deal to flush them if you are set on it, just a bit time consuming....jack up the car, drain oil, remove the undertrays, remove fender liners, remove the front bumper, remove the coolers.

David Beale

rynberg is telling you the correct way to do it. I didn't remove the fender liners or front bumper. The fender liner bends out of the way and the bumper I worked around (bumper cover, actually). As I recall, I rinsed the cooler out with varsol. Mainly to stop it from dripping oil all over my work bench. There was nothing but engine oil in it. I also rinsed it out when I was finished, to make sure I hadn't chased something into it. You don't actually have to drain the oil from the engine. It will not flow out the cooler lines as most of it is sitting below the hose outlets (in the oil pan). Changing oil is good for the car, especially after messing with the coolers. You could easily introduce some dirt into the system fooling with the hose connections, and a new clean oil filter is a GOOD THING (tm). Remember that the cooler holds some oil that a normal oil change doesn't drain, so you will have to add about 1/2 qt extra once you are done. Same goes for the transmission cooler. The amounts are listed in the manual.