I recently purchased a dual oil cooler kit from Sakebomb Garage. I noticed in my kit they provided me with a Mocal thermostat, part #AOT2-10HT, which is the high temperature version (95 Celsius/203 Fahrenheit). In there website they were suppose to supply me with the 82 Celsius/180 Fahrenheit version, part #AOT2-10. Oil cooling is new to me and I'm slowly learning as I search. But I want to know if there would be any cons in using the high temperature version. I'm guessing it would depend on modifications to my car and my driving style (track days and such). I don't live in hot climate area and I plan on tracking the car 2-4 times a year.

Should I just use what they provided me or swap it to the regular oil thermostat?

 

"Oil temperature is critical in rotary engines. Oil temperature entering the engine should never be allowed to exceed 205°F."

Rotary Tech Tips: Oil Cooling Tips.

Key words here are "entering the engine"

 

Thanks TomU! Thanks for pointing out the keywords "entering the engine." I was confused at first, but its referring to the oil's temperature re-entering the engine after its been cooled. I'm definitely going with the regular Mocal oil thermostat (180 Fahrenheit). I think its reasonable for the thermostat to open earlier than later to start flowing through the coolers. I contacted SBG and hopefully they exchange it.

BTW, I came across a funny and good thread about where to measure the oil temp (oil pan vs. oil filter pedestal). It looks like I'll be adding an aftermarket oil filter pedestal also.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...1113425/page2/

 

Yeah, definitely get a pedestal vs a sandwich plate. I believe both SBG and FFE both make good ones. They are also a little shorter so you can squeeze in a taller 929 oil filter

 

I have a SBG oil pedestal that I'm not going to use, I can sell it if you want it.

 

Don't use the shitty *** mounting bracket they send with there kit. Between that and the An adaptors and fitting they use from the front cover. you will get an oil leak. I have been fighting the fittings comes lose between the front cover and tstat. The Tstat should be mounted some place else and the kit should have a soft line going from the front cover to the tstat.

 

100% agree. For some reason they won’t change it. It’s a ticking time bomb!
Also, once installed, watch all the fittings closely and cycle the engine thoroughly a couple of times with a couple of quick trips.

If it leaks (and it will), wait, watch and tighten until no more Signs. And then watch for another week.

People have lost engines with this kit. Be careful not to over tighten.

 

This! I lost a freshly broken in, top dollar mods, 3,000 mile (total, ever) engine because of an oil leak from the thoughless t-stat mounting "solution" that kit has.

Do yourself a favor and modify the kit to work properly before you install it!!

 

@JP's 93 fd Thank you for posting this! I'm also in the middle of installing this kit right now and didn't even think to double check the thermostat part number. Turns out the one in my kit is also the high temp version. Why would they even carry that?? Let us know if SBG is willing to exchange it. I'm thinking I might go with the improved racing t-stat, though, if I'm going to change it out anyway. Only question there is do you go with model #165 (activates at 160° fully open at 181°) or model #185 (activates at 180° fully open at 203°). I ask/am curious because I don't know whether Mocal's temp ratings are representative of 'activated' or 'fully open'(since they only provide one number). I'm in Texas and will be doing multiple track days a year so I'm thinking model 165; opinions welcome, though. Improved will also make custom lines if I decide to move the t-stat; although finding another viable location is a real challenge when you're running a/c.

 

Hey Aarkaah, I remember you sending me the link on Instagram about your concerns. Any chance do you and fendamonkey remember which oil thermostat mount you used? It looks like they had two versions. The old one connected to the underside of the steering rack and the new one connected to the AC/Power steering bracket. I'm hoping the new designed mount won't leak. It looks like they have new instructions since the one I have is slightly different from the one online.

Here's the link https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...GrTitg/preview

Old version

New version



Also, I received a response about the high temperature oil thermostat from SBG. They told me the thermostat they provided (Hight Temperature) is the correct one. They said the "180 degree thermostat over-cools the system on start-up, which is potentially damaging." I'm gonna trust them and go with high temperature. If anyone has a different opinion I'm open to hear it. I don't think I'll be installing the kit anytime soon, likely in a month or so. I'll have time to go with a different oil thermostat if need be.

 

Per Mocal, "during warm-up the thermostat never closes off oil flow to the cooler, rather, it offers a less restrictive path for the oil to flow." It doesn't specify at what temperature it activates like the Improved Racing thermostat you mentioned. But it does say it's fully open at 180 degrees (200 degrees for high temp).

 

I'm hoping the return line clears my v-mount!

 

if it’s a greddy vmount it will. Not sure what vmount you are using. It mounts just below the oem ic cross member bar.

 

I have never seen the old setup. The new setup is what I received for both my kits. The double an fitting/connection to the engine block and side brace is the weak link. Additionally, once mounted you can’t get to the other fittings to tighten them if you see a leak. it’s a cluster F!

I switched out the two AN fittings (90 and straight) To the engine block with a single 90 degree earl AN fitting. Works fine once tightened without any leaks. See some other kits by other vendors and it will become apparent what to use.

good luck. Pm if needed.

 

will check the cooler model later today.

 

Man I'm glad people are talking about this I thought I was just over tightening the fittings. I replaced the AN Fittings that came in the kit with earls, and added the Earls Conical seals. The fittings are now sealing up, but they were weeping/leaking before I did. I still have a small weep at the left hand oil cooler fitting, just enough to make the cooler damp with oil. That leak appears to be coming from the banjo fitting itself rather than the AN fitting.

I've bought quite a few very expensive products from SBG, the oil cooler kit and IGN1a kit have been major headaches. The grounding instructions for the SBG coils are not sufficient for anyone that has relocated the battery to the bins. This should be in the instruction manual as it is with other (less expensive) IGN1a kits. To see that other people are having the same issues with both products, I'd expect SBG to start taking some action to fix their products. At the end of the day I paid 1000 dollars for a bracket that now holds AEM IGN1a coils and a harness I had to re-wire completely to meet the IGN1a manufacturers grounding requirements. Seven fried coils and a smoked harness later I have a running car.

 

Y'all are making me want to return my oil cooler kit as soon as it arrives. dang.

 

I honestly don't remember, it killed my motor in early 2013 and I just mothballed the entire thing. I broke everything down and rebuilt the motor 4-5 years ago, but just sat on it until I had the finances to let a competent shop do a full resto-mod build. The shop trashed the entire kit and is making a proper one from scratch.

 

@JP's 93 fd Thanks for the detail on the Mocal thermostat.

The change is bracket setups is interesting. This is the first time I've seen the old style bracket, and I would have thought it would work better. The new bracket supports the thermostat from the top, so gravity is always working against it and if it eventually rotates downward (from vibration or w/e), it will also back-off the fitting on the front plate. I would think support from the bottom would be preferred. Maybe supporting it from the top and bottom would show an improvement?

I'm also thinking about trying these and seeing how it goes.
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pr...p?Product=3202

 

I have the IR 185 T-stat and like it. I opted to build my own because i didn't want the Mocal T-stat and wanted XRP fittings. More expensive that way, but you get better components (IMO)

This seems like BS to me. The oil is cool on start up regardless of what T-stat you have. Now if the T-stat is allowing flow to the coolers below the rating of the T-stat, that's another matter.

 

From the added info from Mocal that @JP's 93 fd shared, I think the Improved Racing #185 and Mocal High Temp have the same specifications (fully open at 95C°). They also seem to operate the same way - approximate 10% flow always available to cooler, bypass amount constantly adjusts between 0%-90% based on temperature.

Operation graphic from improved.

 

dont. Just change the an fitting off the block. And don’t use their engine brace. It sucks.

 

I think I understand now why SBG changed the thermostat bracket design - with the bracket attached the the a/c bracket, the thermostat will move with the engine as it flexes.

@Aarkaah Where did you mount your t-stat when you relocated it?

 

i didn’t. It’s suspended between the four AN fittings with the upgraded (stiff) braided lines. Also I am using a straight 90 AN off the engine. 4,000 hard miles and very bumpy roads. And still good. (I do agree it would be better to mount it to the frame, probably under the battery area)

the trick was the 90 fitting and to cycle the engine a couple of times and tighten as leaks showed in parallel with oil pressure increasing. (Look at other vendor Kits) you will see they only use a 90 also.

 

I had the Mocal 180 degree thermostat on my car and it never got hot enough. Unless you live somewhere where its hot all the time I would go with the higher temp version of the thermostat. I switched mine out for the Improved racing one and it has helped with my oil temps. They finally get up to temp now. Too cold of oil is a problem also!! The provision for mounting is easier on the IR unit as well, it has provisions for a bracket to be screwed to it.