Alex3000 Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 OK, so my car is 1st gen rx-7 and has, by all accounts, a pretty good oil cooler stock. The fins on my original stock cooler are all bent and smooshed and in any case I am considering adding a second one (points hit worth it if it keeps the car cool.) So, I want to replace my 30 year old cooler with a stock type replacement but THIS IS ALL I CAN FIND. Is this too cheap to be true? Anyone ever use OPL stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBraden Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 I don't know anything about that particular oil cooler, but we run an ebay generic one, and it has not exploded or caused any failures. Yet. It lowered oil temps by about 50 degrees too... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginerd Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 11 minutes ago, Alex3000 said: OK, so my car is 1st gen rx-7 and has, by all accounts, a pretty good oil cooler stock. The fins on my original stock cooler are all bent and smooshed and in any case I am considering adding a second one (points hit worth it if it keeps the car cool.) So, I want to replace my 30 year old cooler with a stock type replacement but THIS IS ALL I CAN FIND. Is this too cheap to be true? Anyone ever use OPL stuff? My ebay radiator is only $15 more and it's about 5x that size! And it has worked for many events now. So, no I don't think it's too cheap to be true. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Andrew D Johnson Posted August 24, 2017 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 That is not too cheap to be true, I have run ebay coolers that are less than half that cost. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex3000 Posted August 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 God bless you chumpcar forum. I knew I could count on you for sound advice. You want to know how much an actual oem replacement is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewheelerZ Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 5 minutes ago, Alex3000 said: You want to know how much an actual oem replacement is? Wholly cow! Friggin Mazda OEM. We were looking for a new ABS sensor for a 626. Dealer wanted like $350 for it. Crazy talk. We bought a new set of spindles from a wrecker, they came with sensors attached! We pulled one over on that guy good! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearhead_42 Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 The factory front mounts on the rx7s are absolutely phenomenal oil coolers. That said though, I also bought an eBay bar and plate cooler for my car, and I am very pleased with it so far. My only quibble is the hose fitting hexes are not the standard AN sizes so you may need some odd size wrenches to tighten things up. The threads in the cooler and the tapers were just fine though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron_e Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 3 hours ago, Alex3000 said: OK, so my car is 1st gen rx-7 and has, by all accounts, a pretty good oil cooler stock. The fins on my original stock cooler are all bent and smooshed and in any case I am considering adding a second one (points hit worth it if it keeps the car cool.) So, I want to replace my 30 year old cooler with a stock type replacement but THIS IS ALL I CAN FIND. Is this too cheap to be true? Anyone ever use OPL stuff? The RX-7 oil cooler rejects 1/3 of the engine heat so you want to be careful about a cooler for the RX-7. It is not just an extra crutch to help out. I know we have one on the shelf from our RX-7 days, not sure whether it is first or second gen. We will be at the October Road America race if you are interested. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex3000 Posted August 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 15 hours ago, Ron_e said: The RX-7 oil cooler rejects 1/3 of the engine heat so you want to be careful about a cooler for the RX-7. It is not just an extra crutch to help out. I know we have one on the shelf from our RX-7 days, not sure whether it is first or second gen. We will be at the October Road America race if you are interested. Hey thanks for the offer. It's a bit of a catch 22 though as I will not be entering the car in any races until I have the cooling issues resolved. To your point though, this is why I made this post because, while staying in a "reasonable" budget is essential to my "racing program", oil cooling is so key to the rotary. But hey, if it seems legit, I am going to plumb two in in parallel and duct both properly. If that isn't enough to get temps down then I'm buying an e36. I ordered the cooler I posted above yesterday. I figure I'll get it, inspect it, and if it's not junk then I'll start making up lines and figuring mounting out and blah blah blah. If it is junk... back to the drawing board. I'll keep the chump community updated as to whether or not it's garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhr650 Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 It will be interesting to find out what you see when you get the cooler, but from what I understand those are junk and completely ineffective. The key is to look at the tank on the side that has the fittings, on a OEM Mazda cooler there is a divider between the 2 fittings forcing the oil to make 2 passes through the cooler, if there is no divider between the 2 fittings the oil will just take the path of least resistance and go straight in and straight out and not go through the cooler at all. If the tank is divided then it should be fine. The way I went was to use FC coolers, they are readily available on EBay for around $50, and they don't have the thin fitting bosses that are prone to cracking like the first gen coolers. You will have to make mounts and change up the plumbing since the FC cooler has the fittings in different places. I like to remove the bypass thermostat since that is one more thing that could go wrong. If you take the big plug out of the bottom that holds in the thermostat you will see a hole in the divider between the fittings that the thermostat bypasses oil through when it is open. I fill this hole with an M8 button head screw, a crush washer on both sides, and a mechanical lock nut. That way I always have all the oil going through the coolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex3000 Posted August 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 18 minutes ago, mhr650 said: It will be interesting to find out what you see when you get the cooler, but from what I understand those are junk and completely ineffective. The key is to look at the tank on the side that has the fittings, on a OEM Mazda cooler there is a divider between the 2 fittings forcing the oil to make 2 passes through the cooler, if there is no divider between the 2 fittings the oil will just take the path of least resistance and go straight in and straight out and not go through the cooler at all. If the tank is divided then it should be fine. You know, I read that very criticism somewhere on the internet as well. But I just can't believe someone would manufacture an oil cooler, however cheap it may be, that would just have an inlet next to an outlet with nothing channeling the oil through the cooler. So, yeah, that is my main criteria as to whether or not I use it, assuming it is adequately constructed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogren-Engineering Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 http://www.ebay.com/itm/GPLUS-15-Row-An10-Universal-Engine-Transmission-Oil-Cooler-Filter-Adapter-Kit/252512158290?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 I use these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbaker480 Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 On 8/24/2017 at 3:18 PM, Alex3000 said: God bless you chumpcar forum. I knew I could count on you for sound advice. You want to know how much an actual oem replacement is? Today I learned we have $1500 in oil coolers just hanging out in the garage...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogren-Engineering Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 The only logical thing to do is trade them for beer and buy the cheap ones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex3000 Posted August 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 36 minutes ago, bbaker480 said: Today I learned we have $1500 in oil coolers just hanging out in the garage...... Yeah, hang onto all those old rx7 parts. I feel like the underground parts market for these cars is skyrocketing. I know I have paid amounts I would not like to say out loud for questionable junkyard parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex3000 Posted September 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2017 UPDATE: I received the oil cooler. Unpacked it and all and all it looks pretty good. There are a few mars/scratches here and there but for $60 it seems like a pretty nice little cooler. Also, it does have a blocking divider! I stuck a paper clip in to see if I could feel any gaps and it feels pretty solid. I also shined a flashlight in one side to see if I could see light bleeding through any gaps to the other side and, again it seemed fine. I'm keepin it! Weird thing though: The plugs for the inlet/outlets had oil on them (you can see in the pictures)... I am assuming it may have been flow tested? Or someone returned it... Either way I suppose it's not too concerning given it's stated purpose. Wayne was equally as concerned about the quality of the oil cooler. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frylock Posted September 1, 2017 Report Share Posted September 1, 2017 i would deff flush some gas through it first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex3000 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2017 15 hours ago, Frylock said: i would deff flush some gas through it first Interesting, I was wondering how one might clean an oil cooler. Certainly soapy water would not be recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogren-Engineering Posted September 3, 2017 Report Share Posted September 3, 2017 ATF or hydralic oil for me . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandit Posted September 3, 2017 Report Share Posted September 3, 2017 ^atf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvumtnbkr Posted September 3, 2017 Report Share Posted September 3, 2017 On 9/1/2017 at 5:31 PM, Alex3000 said: UPDATE: I received the oil cooler. Unpacked it and all and all it looks pretty good. There are a few mars/scratches here and there but for $60 it seems like a pretty nice little cooler. Also, it does have a blocking divider! I stuck a paper clip in to see if I could feel any gaps and it feels pretty solid. I also shined a flashlight in one side to see if I could see light bleeding through any gaps to the other side and, again it seemed fine. I'm keepin it! Weird thing though: The plugs for the inlet/outlets had oil on them (you can see in the pictures)... I am assuming it may have been flow tested? Or someone returned it... Either way I suppose it's not too concerning given it's stated purpose. Wayne was equally as concerned about the quality of the oil cooler. Looks just like a 1st gen cooler to me. Nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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