Who's got an oil cooler?
 

I've been contemplating an oil cooler, particularly because I might end up going with a turbo that isn't water cooled. I know a lot of people end up with issues that their car takes a lot longer to warm up to operating temperature but that can be fixed with a thermostat. Has anyone noticed a particularly good effect? does the engine over all stay cooler or should it only be considered if you have issues with oil getting too hot?

My last question is, what's the difference between a regular oil cooler and a transmission oil cooler? Auto transmission coolers seems to come in small enough sizes that they would work well for a standard oil cooler but come at very small fraction of the cost of a normal oil cooler. Would this only be because of the fittings required for normal oil...I'm kinda confused by it.

There is not much difference between the two. Heat exchangers labled as "transmission coolers" are typically around 3/4" thick and ones labled for engine oil are 1.5" thick. So the cooling capacity is higher for the actual oil coolers. That's about it.

This is what I got for my DSM. It's a very good value but it may be a bit large for a Miata. When I say that I mean physically, it's up to you to assess your needs for cooling capacity. If you're going for an oil cooled turbo I'd say err on the side of too much cooling rather than too little.

Hmm, ok well knowing that their cooling capacities are a bit off helps as well, because I saw the size of some of the Transmission coolers and though that perhaps they were too big for what I would need. I might then decide to go that route and try to construct some ducting for the cooler through my turn signal holes. They already have an opening down to behind the front bumper and I'd block off the entrance to the engine bay and vent it down. Hopefully if I can get a pressure meter I'll be able to figure out a viable solution for that.

I bought a 24 row and -10 slip on hose from www.racepartswholesale.com , the FM sandwich plate, and JIC fittings from a hydraulics shop.

do miatas also come with the factory water cooled oil cooler?

The passages in a transmission cooler are not nearly large enough for engine oil. You need at least -8 size hose for engine oil, most use -10.

I run a remote cooler/filter setup from ISC Racing in addition to the OEM water/oil cooler. That way, the coolant will heat up the oil and keep it hot enough that I don't need an oil thermostat with the air/oil cooler.

The 1.8 has a sandwitch at plate the oilfilter, i think that's wat you mean.
It has 2 funktions, 1 to heatup the oil faster during warming up, 2 cooling the oil once hot.

Never found anything about good/bad funktion of this device...nor info from removed plates.

the 1.8 does, the 1.6 does not. I don't think a factory oil cooler will get the job done on a turbo car.

Some transmission coolers have a 1/2 NPT female inlet/outlet. I'd say -6 is borderline too small and -8 is just right. -10 is overkill in my opinion but it can't hurt if you don't mind spending the few extra dollars on -10 lines and gear.

many people had pressure drop from the -8 lines. -10 means you only have to do it once, and you know its done right the first time.

Where was the pressure measured? The oil cooler itself will have a certain amount of pressure drop. Only way to know if it was the line would be to put a sensor at the source and then one at the inlet, two sensors on the same line. Who the fuck has done that? I want PROOF. Or if they had -8 line, switched to -10 just because, and noticed that they had more oil pressure after the cooler. Either way, I want proof that an -8 line was the culprit in an oil system that has passages that are smaller than 1/8".

Not sure about the Miata, but when I OT'd 5.0 Mustangs, most guys used -10, but -12 reduced pressure drop a bit compared to the 10. I thought -8 would be the minimum for a Miata, and -10 would be plenty big.

On a DSM a lot of people used -6 and some kits were sold by vendors with -6 lines, but -8 was decided to actually be optimal. The 90 DSM came from the factory with an oil cooler and looking at that setup with banjo bolts that have a 3/16" opening I'd wonder how -6 line could affect things that much. Maybe Mitsubishi knows something we don't. On the other hand I never saw a DSM starving for oil pressure. Like I said, I'd never put -6 lines in my car but I'd think -8 would be sufficient and -10 quite safe, but not totally overkill.

then search here. I had a pressure drop with teh -8, then bored out the plate, and ran bigger lines. Everything is happy now.

I run a bar and plate cooler, not tube and fin, so after changing the lines, I have no pressure drop.

Hey guys!

I suppose a -6AN fitting would really be pushing it then?
Thing is, I've got a MOCAL with 6AN fitting and hoses with connectors to go as well. Somehow I dun really quite think it's a good idea to use such small fittings.
Should I use an adaptor at the head of the oil cooler? or just machine an adapter?

BTW.....anyone can point me to a place where i can get an oil cooler sandwich (or take-off) plate, who is willing to ship to Singapore and willing to take Paypal?

http://www.racepartswholesale.com/

I scored my tubing and fittings from DJ's industrial rubber supply in OKC.

i tiried that website. They are only willing to take international money orders. That's quite a hassle for me

quick question, using the mocal sandwich plate, on a NA, if the fittings of the take-off plate come out straight, will they be able to clear the intake manifold bracket? or should i order some other fittings?

On a 1.6, they might not even clear the block, much less the manifold support. The FM kit for the 1.6 comes with a spacer which is nearly two inches long to move the plate away from the block so that everything will clear.

This refers to US-spec 1.6 cars ('90-'93) which did not have a factory cooler and on which the filter is somewhat recessed. I don't know if Euro and Asian spec '93s are the same, but I expect so.