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-   -   E85 and factory fuel setup and oil cooler help needed (https://www.miataturbo.net/engine-performance-56/e85-factory-fuel-setup-oil-cooler-help-needed-105772/)

Turbo2004 Sep 5, 2021 08:52 AM

E85 and factory fuel setup and oil cooler help needed
 
Spun a bottom end bearing on my built motor. So fixing that at the moment.
Hoping to improve a few things
Switching to e85
Will the factory plastic lines at rear of car and factory fuel filter be ok ?
Everything up front in engine bay has been changed.

Also for heavy driving 350 plus wheel hp is a oil cooler needed ?
If so do people keep the factory water / oil cooler when adding a aftermarket oil cooler of the factory oil filter location ?
Thanks

intenseapple Sep 5, 2021 02:55 PM

About ethanol: Unless you plan on leaving the car to sit for months at a time with ethanol in it, all the stock lines should be fine. That said, I'd replace the fuel filter because sometimes running ethanol after a lot of regular gasoline can cause it to gunk up. Its a cheap and easy job anyway. I'll also note that ethanol isn't going to prevent you from spinning a bearing unless you're confident you had knock. I'd do more analysis on the spun bearing to make sure it isn't a different problem.

About oil cooler: Id advise installing an oil temp and pressure sensor before you make the decision to go with an oil cooler. A cooler is probably a good investment on a high hp track car, but it's nice to have some data to compare to at least. The factory cooler is often removed in place of a thermostatic sandwich plate which leads to the cooler. I know a couple companies make complete kits.

Turbo2004 Sep 5, 2021 04:52 PM

Intense Apple thanks for the info.
Fuel filter is cheap and easy to replace before going to E85. I done some more googling and found a lot of people use the factory petrol fuel paper filter with E85 no worries also.

I have a sandwich adaptor from another car left over that I can use.


SpartanSV Sep 5, 2021 08:32 PM

Factory lines are fine with e85.

The oil cooler question is one that shouldn't be answered without more info. As mentioned, temp data would be ideal. Use for your car would be good as well.

Keep in mind the factory oil cooler is really more of a temperature normalizer. On a daily driven car it's most critical function is actually getting the oil heated quickly. Engine wear when oil is cold is insane.
​​​

rascal Sep 5, 2021 10:33 PM


Originally Posted by Turbo2004 (Post 1607835)
Also for heavy driving 350 plus wheel hp is a oil cooler needed ?
If so do people keep the factory water / oil cooler when adding a aftermarket oil cooler of the factory oil filter location ?
Thanks

If you are talking about heavy driving on the street then you probably wont need an oil cooler, as you typically cant stay in the the throttle long enough on the street to seriously heat the oil.
If talking about track work, then will definitely need an oil cooler. (with or without a turbo, as its rpm more than hp output that heats the oil)
As mentioned prev, fitting an oil temp gauge will be the best judge of if needed or not.

I kept the factory oil cooler/warmer on my track car. I have the factory cooler plate, then a sandwich plate for pressure and temp gauges and then on top a feed for the remote oil filter (for super easy changes) and this feeds the thermostatted oil cooler.
The factory 'cooler' is a pretty pitiful cooler at best (cos its using coolant to do the heat transfer which is typically already hot) but it does serve a good purpose to warm the oil. The coolant warms up much quicker than the oil does on cold starts, so passing the coolant over the oil as its warming helps the oil to get up to temp quicker, which is much better for your engine.

technicalninja Sep 5, 2021 11:27 PM

If you reuse the stock cooler try to get it as clean as you can. The design of the internal passages in that unit make it a wonderful trap for metal partials.
On an engine that had significant bearing damage I'd toss it.

curly Sep 6, 2021 12:10 AM

Just ordered a new one from Mazda, it was $120(?), and it was the thicker MSM unit. Nice little upgrade for a street driven car.

Turbo2004 Sep 6, 2021 03:42 AM

Thanks for the info Guys.
Car has the larger msm oil cooler plate on it already also :)

Arca_ex Sep 6, 2021 02:35 PM

The factory hard lines are good to go. If you want you can switch all rubber lines over to Gates Barricade hose which is rated for alcohol use, but a lot of people seem to do fine on stock stuff as well. Change the fuel filter, and then change it again after you run like 4 or 5 tanks through it. The e85 is going to clean a lot of residual junk out of the tank that has built up over the years. Not a bad idea to also replace the fuel sock after that time as well.

Oil coolers for track cars are always good but make sure to get a thermostat for it that is set at like 212 degrees F, because if it's lower and the oil never warms up during street driving when it's cool out you're going to get a lot of fuel and water mixing into the oil and not boiling off when you're running e85.

Turbo2004 Sep 7, 2021 04:16 AM

Arca_ex
Thanks for the
info


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