oil coolers - cheap vs. expensive

NOLAW · Post by **NOLAW** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:16 pm

Not much of a techy question but didnt know where else to put it, is there a hell of a lot of difference between the expensive/branded oil coolers over the cheaper/no- branded ones? just want to know if its worth spending the money on a branded one or if there all pretty much the same and work pretty much the same?

cheers guys

stolic · Post by **stolic** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:38 am

I've been looking into this too. from what I can tell, it's the same arguement as with cheap/expensive intercoolers. Basically they will do the job required... depending on the job required :wink:

If you expect to run fairly normal oil pressure, and you want a cooler just for a little peice of mind when on the loud pedal for extended periods, then I see no problem with something less expensive. But if the life of your engine depends on having constantly cooled oil even on a casual milk run, then you may want to spend $700 plus on some fancy Seatrab cooler.

One thing I will say tho... most people seem to complain about cheap "kits" not nessessarily the actual coolers. and most complaints are around leaks from hoses and fittings.. as such a cheap cooler should be fine (povided it's not a coke can with dash fittings :lol:

), and just make up your own lines.

Of course this is just what I've gleened from a bit of google research and hearsay from friend @ trackdays etc.. but it is how I intend to approach my car.

I would be interested to hear from those with "actual" experience with oil coolers - cheap and expensive

evil_si · Post by **evil_si** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:45 am

Ive seen metal swarf and rough internal passages on cheaper oil coolers,
Made me very sceptical about the build quality,

I fitted one not so long ago as requested by a customer flushed it out a few times, and definately got contaminants out of it

I personally run a setrab cooler on my rx7, that was spotless inside

Looonie · Post by **Looonie** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:33 pm

Why would you care?

Just go to Pick A Part and pay $8 for an OEM oil cooler from a Pajero.

Unless you want shiny bling silver bits? I'd put more faith in the Mitsi OEM part than a $300 china kit.

limbo · Post by **limbo** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:27 pm

I put on a setrab in my supra, the cooler was the cheap bit, the AN fittings cost about the same again. I run a oil thermostat as well as oil filter relocation so there a few extra fittings.

One point to look into is not to get too big a cooler as over cooled oil is no ones friend... hence the water vapor out of my catch can.......

the danger with cheap ones is they could crack at high pressure and temps, the only way you will know this is when you or the people behind you skid out or you loose oil pressure and kill your engine.

Better off going quality and smaller.

ch4ng · Post by **ch4ng** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:45 pm

Yeah, I'm planning to go the OEM route with mine too. I've got a 300ZX one in the works. Like Looonie said an OEM cooler that lasts hundreds of thousands of kms is more trustworthy than whatever cheap "looks like it works" the Chinese come up with. I say that, and I'm Chinese

stolic · Post by **stolic** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:17 pm

Looonie wrote:Why would you care?

Just go to Pick A Part and pay $8 for an OEM oil cooler from a Pajero.

Unless you want shiny bling silver bits? I'd put more faith in the Mitsi OEM part than a $300 china kit.

just the sort of knowledge I was hoping to get from this thread.

mine won't be one show so this suits me...

Thank you good sir

slammed_integral · Post by **slammed_integral** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:03 am

get a oil cooler from an FC rx7. they are very good from factory but you may need to get new lines though as they are from the late 80s

metric · Post by **metric** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:49 pm

just splash out on one morgan

I splashed out back in the day and brought a real deal one cost like $650 for the cooler alone

They have since come down a bit cheaper but i would go for a good quality one, doesnt have to top of the line just a well made one.

You have to keep that black blood pumping around that engine when youve invested that amount of money in it...

Picked up a cheap one looks pretty much the same for $100 but to scared to use it..............as at that price you can guarantee it aint pressure tested or anything

touge_ae101 · Post by **touge_ae101** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:43 am

just to offer another perspective i've been rocking a 'cheap' kit from trademe oil cooler + relocation kit and it has worked fine for me so as far as daily driver + racecar duties go. just do regular oil changes and keep a fresh filter on it and its fine. no leaks or defects if you take your time fitting it correctly IMO.

i would probably opt for an rx7 cooler if i were to do it again, but the bit to figure out is fittings etc. also when i was looking they were wanting moonbeans for pretty rough looking coolers (all fins bent etc)

NOLAW · Post by **NOLAW** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:48 am

cheers guys, im looking at a few options at the moment but the setrab option is looking pretty good, it is a bit more on the pricey side but like metric said iv put too much money and effort into my setup so far to go cheap and risking it all as oil is the life line of an engine pretty much.

Im planning on pairing it up with a NZKW relocation kit that i purchased a while back, anyone delt with these kits? and if so any probs with leaks etc?

cheers

THA SHZ · Post by **THA SHZ** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:36 am

NOLAW wrote:cheers guys, im looking at a few options at the moment but the setrab option is looking pretty good, it is a bit more on the pricey side but like metric said iv put too much money and effort into my setup so far to go cheap and risking it all as oil is the life line of an engine pretty much.

Im planning on pairing it up with a NZKW relocation kit that i purchased a while back, anyone delt with these kits? and if so any probs with leaks etc?

cheers

be careful with the cheaper kits , i bought 1 off trademe and it didnt have parallel thread so if you are using it in high pressure situation it may end up blowing off , id recommend Greenlane speed shop , the american one i have is really good quality .
and too have no problemns with leaks use loctite hydraulic thread sealer

NOLAW · Post by **NOLAW** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:02 pm

i just presumed a NZKW one would be slightly better than those no branded ones, if worse comes to worse il just make up some new lines with proper fittings etc, and yep planning to use hydraulic thread sealant too

limbo · Post by **limbo** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 7:24 pm

The NZKW kit I looked at in the shop felt very cheap compared to real AN fittings, they also had strange threads on the coolers so that only the cheap an fittings that came with the kit would fit them.

They are about 1/3 the cost compared to buying the same items from GSS or somewhere made in the western world.

Thread sealant shouldn't be needed with AN style fittings

blitza · Post by **blitza** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 7:52 pm

limbo wrote:One point to look into is not to get too big a cooler as over cooled oil is no ones friend... hence the water vapor out of my catch can.......

ummmmmmmmmmmmm why?

2jayzgte · Post by **2jayzgte** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:37 am

limbo wrote:I put on a setrab in my supra, the cooler was the cheap bit, the AN fittings cost about the same again. I run a oil thermostat as well as oil filter relocation so there a few extra fittings.

One point to look into is not to get too big a cooler as over cooled oil is no ones friend... hence the water vapor out of my catch can.......

the danger with cheap ones is they could crack at high pressure and temps, the only way you will know this is when you or the people behind you skid out or you loose oil pressure and kill your engine.

Better off going quality and smaller.

I've done the same in my Supra also a 19 row Setrab with all the relocation less the thermostat.Only other thing I can add to this make sure the oil cooler is well ducted and has plenty of cold air going over it.

cat007 · Post by **cat007** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:28 pm

blitza wrote:
limbo wrote:One point to look into is not to get too big a cooler as over cooled oil is no ones friend... hence the water vapor out of my catch can.......

ummmmmmmmmmmmm why?

Overcooled oil won't flow as well as oil that's at the right temp,

limbo · Post by **limbo** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 8:21 am

Also if the oil never heats up it doesnt shed any combustion by products, water and fuel that has made its way past the rings into the sump which ends up doing all sorts of nasty things to the oil.

My oil thermostat opens at 83C which is probably a bit to low, I would have preferred just over 100C.

steroidcontaskie · Post by **steroidcontaskie** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:58 am

I also have a 19 row setrap cooler with GSS AN fittings in my 2j. Fittings and lines cost way more than cooler did, but I guess you don't want a leak.

Dont know if it is any good, as the car is running, but it looks mean. I would think that a thermostat is a good idea, but it can be tricky to get ones in a large size. Took me a while to find a -10AN one.

sergei · Post by **sergei** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:22 am

If the car is mainly for track duty, don't bother with thermostat, as the oil will be in vicinity 120'C after 5 laps even with massive oil cooler (unless engine is making 60Hp/Silvertop).