oil cooler fixing/cleaning - pics and info
#29
Racing Rotary Since 1983
iTrader: (6)
cool oil
is more important to the rotary than a piston engine, and of course mazda recognized this by adding another to the to-be-tracked R1-2, this thread re oil cooler maintainence is valuable.
if you take a close look at your oil cooler you will see that most of the fins in the direct airstream are mashed over, shutting off the airstream.
of course you can send it out and have it fixed by the Pros....
or
fix it yourself.
i recently switched to dual oil coolers. i did things a little differently. a friend had an FD that he was scrapping (rollover) and one of the few decent parts was the non R1 oil cooler. so i adapted it to the passenger side, bought some aeroquip fittings and lines and presto dual oil coolers for around $200 worth of hardware.
of course once i actually looked at my cooler and the other cooler i realized that i needed to pull some maintainence as many of the fins were mashed flat. i came upon the right tool hiding amongst my pick set. a spatula shaped, maybe 1/8th inch wide, pick.
i was amazed how easily the fins straightened. probably an hour and a half worth of light duty labor and the two coolers were looking good. 'great therapy, beats knitting. i was really surprised at both how bad they were when i started and how nice they were at completion.
my takeaways:
your oil cooler is in awful condition if you have driven your car.... the air ducts are located so as to catch all road debris. rotaries depend on cool oil. you can fix your cooler for no dollars. once finished buy some stainless steel 1/8 weave screening and affix it to the front of the cooler for added protection. oh, and add a second cooler.... the lowbuck way is snag a non R1 cooler and adapt it.
works for me.
howard coleman
is more important to the rotary than a piston engine, and of course mazda recognized this by adding another to the to-be-tracked R1-2, this thread re oil cooler maintainence is valuable.
if you take a close look at your oil cooler you will see that most of the fins in the direct airstream are mashed over, shutting off the airstream.
of course you can send it out and have it fixed by the Pros....
or
fix it yourself.
i recently switched to dual oil coolers. i did things a little differently. a friend had an FD that he was scrapping (rollover) and one of the few decent parts was the non R1 oil cooler. so i adapted it to the passenger side, bought some aeroquip fittings and lines and presto dual oil coolers for around $200 worth of hardware.
of course once i actually looked at my cooler and the other cooler i realized that i needed to pull some maintainence as many of the fins were mashed flat. i came upon the right tool hiding amongst my pick set. a spatula shaped, maybe 1/8th inch wide, pick.
i was amazed how easily the fins straightened. probably an hour and a half worth of light duty labor and the two coolers were looking good. 'great therapy, beats knitting. i was really surprised at both how bad they were when i started and how nice they were at completion.
my takeaways:
your oil cooler is in awful condition if you have driven your car.... the air ducts are located so as to catch all road debris. rotaries depend on cool oil. you can fix your cooler for no dollars. once finished buy some stainless steel 1/8 weave screening and affix it to the front of the cooler for added protection. oh, and add a second cooler.... the lowbuck way is snag a non R1 cooler and adapt it.
works for me.
howard coleman
#30
RX-7 Bad Ass
iTrader: (55)
That particular company does a FULL back flush with different sized screens. Basically they keep flushing until all of the debris is out, and they do it to an FAA specification. The spec is for a very small amount of particulate matter caught in a certain sized screen.
This is a REALLY good service if you suspect you had metal trash in your oiling system. No sense putting a new turbo or engine in after an oil system failure, just to have the crap in the oil coolers circulate through and tear up all your new bearings .
Dale
This is a REALLY good service if you suspect you had metal trash in your oiling system. No sense putting a new turbo or engine in after an oil system failure, just to have the crap in the oil coolers circulate through and tear up all your new bearings .
Dale
#31
#36
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
Originally Posted by moconnor
What was the turnaround time?
I'll have my R1 coolers available for sale soon if anyone is interested, I bought a spare set to have them refurbished so that my car was still driveable during the process. Not sure why I did that, being as it's winter here in the northeast and my FD is stored in the batcave, lol.
#37
Rotary Freak
iTrader: (12)
Hey Rich,
I might be interested in your present oil coolers, one of mine is cracked and the other is just loaded with bearing particles. If your willing to separate, I need the passenger side. If you don't want to separate let me know your price, I wouldn't need any lines.
Alex
I might be interested in your present oil coolers, one of mine is cracked and the other is just loaded with bearing particles. If your willing to separate, I need the passenger side. If you don't want to separate let me know your price, I wouldn't need any lines.
Alex
#38
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
Originally Posted by ALNY93R1
Hey Rich,
I might be interested in your present oil coolers, one of mine is cracked and the other is just loaded with bearing particles. If your willing to separate, I need the passenger side. If you don't want to separate let me know your price, I wouldn't need any lines.
Alex
I might be interested in your present oil coolers, one of mine is cracked and the other is just loaded with bearing particles. If your willing to separate, I need the passenger side. If you don't want to separate let me know your price, I wouldn't need any lines.
Alex
I'm probably going to sell them as a complete set with the lines.
I just spoke to a woman at the facility, and the coolers were in good shape with no abnormal problems, and they're in the middle of refurbishing them right now . Price was $125 per cooler, that is for the complete service, to include the thermal coating.
#39
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
I received the coolers the other day and they look great, almost like new. 95% of the fins look like they were never bent . Customer service was also very friendly to deal with
#41
GT3574R equipped
iTrader: (18)
I sent mine (2) down to Texas last week, they told me a turn around time of 7-14 days once they have them, it all depeds on what they have to replace,order repair, etc. I expect them back by the middle of April. I sent them from Canada, 9 days to get there. It will all be worth it at the end. For the guys who have got their's back and thermal coated, are you still getting adequate cooling? Thanks guys and I'll let you know how I made out.
#43
GT3574R equipped
iTrader: (18)
I just got mine back this week and they were not exactly what I expected to get back. Some off the fins were broken off and were flush anymore like the other ones. They were also not painted black but have an alodine coating on them they said, like a yellowish coating. They told me that they don't coat there cooler's in any sort of black paint. I am going to investigate further. I'll keep you informed. They also charged me $150 each plus shipping.
Last edited by HalifaxFD; 04-12-07 at 10:30 AM. Reason: spelling
#44
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
Originally Posted by HalifaxFD
I just got mine back this week and they were not exactly what I expected to get back. Some off the fins were broken off and were flush anymore like the other ones. They were also not painted black but have an alodine coating on them they said, like a yellowish coating. They told me that they don't coat there cooler's in any sort of black paint. I am going to investigate further. I'll keep you informed. They also charged me $150 each plus shipping.
#45
I Love Cookies!
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Originally Posted by HalifaxFD
I just got mine back this week and they were not exactly what I expected to get back. Some off the fins were broken off and were flush anymore like the other ones. They were also not painted black but have an alodine coating on them they said, like a yellowish coating. They told me that they don't coat there cooler's in any sort of black paint. I am going to investigate further. I'll keep you informed. They also charged me $150 each plus shipping.
any update on this? with all the great service ive heard they must have just gotten something confused.
- also....i have a 93 r2, if i want to upgrade to the dual coolers 1. do i need the r1 drivers side cooler as well? 2. Or can i just get pass side + lines?
I assume i need both collers and lines to upgrade...correct.
thanks
Drew
Last edited by gravytraindg; 04-13-07 at 05:51 PM. Reason: additions
#47
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
Originally Posted by gravytraindg
any update on this? with all the great service ive heard they must have just gotten something confused.
- also....i have a 93 r2, if i want to upgrade to the dual coolers 1. do i need the r1 drivers side cooler as well? 2. Or can i just get pass side + lines?
I assume i need both collers and lines to upgrade...correct.
thanks
Drew
- also....i have a 93 r2, if i want to upgrade to the dual coolers 1. do i need the r1 drivers side cooler as well? 2. Or can i just get pass side + lines?
I assume i need both collers and lines to upgrade...correct.
thanks
Drew
#48
Senior Member
Great thread. Does anyone make an oil cooler screen f or the FD? Racing Beat makes them for the RX8
http://racingbeat.com/resultset.asp?PartNumber=11807
http://racingbeat.com/resultset.asp?PartNumber=11807
#49
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
Originally Posted by Saten
Great thread. Does anyone make an oil cooler screen f or the FD? Racing Beat makes them for the RX8
http://racingbeat.com/resultset.asp?PartNumber=11807
http://racingbeat.com/resultset.asp?PartNumber=11807
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/spent-some-time-garage-reburbed-oil-cooler-install-other-stuff-633192/