Oil Cooler

[green_comet]

I dont think the 4age oil kit will fit the B6. What you will need is an oil thermostat plate, that locks in under your oil filter.

This plate will only let oil into the cooler when it has reached a high tempreature, and it needs to be cooled. Running a plate without a thermostat is not good for your engine, as the oil will always be flowing through the cooler, and it will never reach optimum running temp.



http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=4533&parentid=0&stocknumber=04-37310%20%201994-05

Once you have this plate, just get yourself an oil cooler core, and hook up some nice stainless lines with 8an fittings.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/13-rows-engine-oil-cooler-S13-S14-300zx-Eclipse-Talon_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33742QQihZ017QQitemZ270124783097QQrdZ1

I think that is all you need, but im sure others will have better input for you.

Cheers
Ryan

[timk]

Could you use the oil cooler from the BP? You would have to swap to the BP filter stud (or whatever the thing the oil filter screws onto is called).

[Sheck]

4AGE will not fit as they are a different thread, we have M20 X 1.5.
They myth about the need for a thermostat is just that a myth, i am running with out one and it take just fractionally longer for the oil to warm up even on a chilly winter morning (i'm in QLD tho and our cold mornings are only in the 10deg range).
I dont have an oil temp sensor in as yet but going off the pressure drop once the oil is up to temp it doenst take too long.

Make sure when your looking at putting a cooler on you measure the amount of space you have to fit it, i bought a cooler similar to the one posted up and had to play around with the placement for a while before i got it to fit.
The most important thing to look for when finding a sandwich plate is to make sure it'll clear the starter motor bracket and the unused engine mount (for front wheeler motors). As there is a very narrow area for the lines to come out of and if you have the wrong fittings it will foul either or both of these and you wont get a proper seal. Read massive oil leaks!

Your best bet is to go with a filter relocator kit and just extend the lines. The FM sandwich plate pictured comes with an extender for the 1.6 models to clear the above mentioned annoyances on the 1.6 motor. IT's very expensive but will do the job well, i got a filter relocator kit (no lines) from ebay USA, i think it was one to suit an RX8 but all rotors have the same thread pitch on their oil filters.

Dave

[adamjp]

I fitted up an oil cooler kit around a year ago. One of the best things I could have fitted. Oil consumption is down, due mainly to reduced oil temperature I suspect.

The sandwich plate and coller were from eBay, the hoses and connectors bought locally from a specialist fluid connector shop (like EnZed, but not).

The most expensive bit was the connectors.

I used rubber hose as recommended by the connector place. Off the sandwich plate I came out at a 30deg angle, which gave me a perpendicular angle from the engine block. The oil cooler ends were 90deg.

The hose was cut at home and the routing was the worst bit, very tricky due to the problems accessing the front of the radiator from the back.

A few tips...

1. Don't use braided hose, it will cut through anything it rubs against and apart from appearance is completely unecessary these days.

2. Fit the oil cooler nipple side up, stops all the oil draining back to the engine.

3. Mounting on the MX5 can be easily done by getting some aluminium angle that will support the cooler from underneath, and running it between the two lower AC condenser (radiator) mounting points. Tie the top to the bolts either side of the bonnet catch with some craftily bent aluminium strips.

4. A thermostat cooler is a good idea if you live where I do (below 0 last night), but since I don't have one, I run a sheet of thin aluminium over the cooler during winter.

5. Some sandwich plates will not fit, it is an absolute bitch getting it in there and I had to sacrifice the inlet manifold support bracket. I cut one up to allow access, but in practice, it is just too tight.

6. For an NA6, you need to change oil filter to the one from the BP engine. The big NA6 one simply won't fit on most sandwich plates.

[adamjp]

Oil consumption is down because the oil is cooler. Our engines have a wee habit of running very hot on the oil system. It tends to thin out oil quickly.

My engine does not have a perfect seal on the rings, despite the fact the rebuild is only 50k kms old. I think I should have gone up a bore size when I did the rebuild. It measured out OK, but the engine used oil before I put the cooler on, now it doesn't. It is all no. 4 cylinder's fault. THe other three are immaculate, but that one up against the firewall runs hottest, and has a nasty oil coating on it, the others burn clean. (Gotta love borescopes!)

[ampz]

It is all no. 4 cylinder's fault. (Gotta love borescopes!)

Hi adam, I wonder if it is due to a leaning out condition because of fuel pressure. The US turbo guys modify the fuel rail to have 2 entry points o fuel to prevent lean outs.

I have had to modify my jetski (i know not the same) to have a 3 outlet fuel rail because i could never get No3 Cylinder wet enough (always leaning out) and thats N/A...

[Boags]

Ampz - the US guys due the fuel rail mod because no.4 runs hottest AND has the least amount of fuel. It's still hotter even if you richen up the mix.

It's caused by the design of the coolant system. That is why some of them do the coolant reroute too, to keep no4 cooler.

Boags

[Sheck]

If your a cheap arse like me you can just run the heater all the time that'll keep no 4 cool enough

Dave

[Boags]

If your a cheap arse like me you can just run the heater all the time that'll keep no 4 cool enough

Dave

Werd.

[adamjp]

Did you see any oil pressure drop with the longer lines to and from the cooler (internal pipe friction).

Yes but I still get better oil pressure in summer with the cooler than I did without it when the ambient temperature is over 30deg C.

I wonder if it is due to a leaning out condition because of fuel pressure.

Nope,

It's caused by the design of the coolant system.

If your a cheap arse like me you can just run the heater all the time that'll keep no 4 cool enough

I just don't see that making enough difference. The water always runs through the heater core anyway, putting the fan on will not turn a critical situation into a controllable one.

I'll take some pictures of my oil cooler setup when I am fiddling with the car to fit my new swaybar tomorrow morning.

[adamjp]

As promised, some pictures.

Top support bracket



Bottom support bar/bracket thingy....




The oil line to the cooler - I really would have preferred black!


The sandwich plate, viewed through the inlet manifold.

[Sheck]

When drifting i used to run the heter and yes it helped heaps!! It acted very similar to the bigger rad i intsalled. It would build up heat and once i stopped drifting and just drove straight the temp would drop from 100deg back to 85-90 fairly quickly (which was normal operating temps on my gauge).

Dont underestimate the force! (of the heater fan )
Although i think i overheated the fan one tiome cause it stoped turning till i cooled it down
But as they say there is no replacement for displacement (for cooling fluid that is).
You can just plug in an aftermarket temp gauge at the back of the head and get a bigger rad, then if it starts to heat up back off. Easy.

Oil cooler aint gonna help water temps much, way less than the heater fan, as for cylinder temps thats anyones guess untill they stick EGT gauges on every cylinder and tell you the difference.

Dave

[adamjp]

Oil cooler aint gonna help water temps much, way less than the heater fan, as for cylinder temps thats anyones guess untill they stick EGT gauges on every cylinder and tell you the difference.

Agree with that. The point of an oil cooler is to keep the oil at a useful operating temperature and not allow it to get too hot and consequently break down.

Oil cooling is VERY effective for an engine, but it does not radically alter the water temperature - that is due to the thermostat.

Think of all those hi performance Porsche engines from 1950 through to 1998. All 911 engines to '98, with the exception of a couple of 'specials' like the 959, were oil cooled only.

[Okibi]

Or you could get one of these.