I had originally asked if Abe would T the line to the oil cooler for my turbo feed. The thermostat would keep that line from getting oil until it was hot, which would be a Big Problem.

So now I'm trying to figure out if stacking plates is ok.

 

If anybody needs one I have a spare that's collecting dust.

 

I can't see why.

Two things:

A: These thermostats are designed to "leak" just a bit, even when "closed". Something about keeping oil moving through the system to prevent air pockets or some other random explanation. I suspect it's what causes these things to massively over-cool the oil when driven on the street.

B: Even if we suppose that the themostat is, in fact, 100% closed, you'd still have flow going to the turbo. This is a closed system, with pressure on both sides, so oil would simply flow backwards through the cooler and out into the turbo.

 

So far the best option is looking like stacking two plates. It's a pretty simple system, I can't see any problems with it... as long as the oil filter still works. Any input?

 

Filter not hit subframe?

 

Yeah, I was thinking about that. Might be a reason to do a remote filter.

 

if you're doing two plates to do an oil cooler, you'll be eliminating the stock oil cooler, so you'll actually *gain* some free space when you install the first plate as I'm pretty sure that a plate is thinner than the stock oil cooler from looks.

So, two plates = thinner thn stock cooler + 1 plate in my opinion

 

I've been running this one from prosport for 2 years now. No problems whatsoever.
http://prosportgauges.com/oil-filter-adaptor-plate.aspx

 

Personal opinion:
Bad idea.

The stock device does more than just cool the oil when it's hot; it also warms the oil when it's cool. Fact is that the engine coolant comes up to operating temp a lot more quickly than the oil when the engine is cold, and so the stock heat-exchanger actually helps to bring the oil up to operating temp more quickly, by transferring heat from the coolant into the oil. (Bloody magic, if you ask me.)

Again, going back to the "this is mostly a street-driven car" thing, I can't imagine why you'd want to sacrifice this functionality.

Sidebar: if Nagase is dead-set on running an external cooler, and also open to a remote filter, then ditch the thermostat sandwich-plate idea, and use an inline thermostat.

If you really want to be cool, plumb a set of bypass valves into it so you can close it off when running on the street.

 

Been thinking about this more. Where is everyone mounting their oil temp sensor? Abe said by the filter wouldn't be the best choice.

 

Yet more research done, and Bellwilliam said not to mount the oil sender on the engine, or it might crack. Looks like I'll need to figure something out... Might be best to get an inline thermostat for the cooler, actually. Abe suggested it with this plate:

http://www.amazon.com/Oil-Cooler-San.../dp/B000UO96Q0

Get that, inline thermostat, lines, oil cooler, get a turbo feed off the top, temp off the bottom (maybe? not sure if that's a good place), then remove the stock oil pressure sender and replace it with a firewall mounted unit.

 

The actual sender being mounted in the factory location is not an issue. The real problem is when you use a T. A sending unit plugged into an oil T with a feed line coming off tends to crack the T fitting and squirts your oil all over the pavement.

 

That doesn't agree with what he says here:

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showpost.p...40&postcount=4

And I'm more apt to err on the side of caution when it comes to losing my oil...

 

Apparently he was not aware of the fact that '90-'94 Miatas had "big" oil pressure senders screwed directly into the block, and I can't say I've ever heard of one failing due to vibration.

I agree that hanging one out on the end of a long tee might be a questionable idea, but that's more about the tee failing. Lots and lots of people have screwed them directly into engine blocks, oil filter sandwich plates, etc., without any problems.

 

IIRC Hustler had BEGI make him a decent solution that supported the weight of the pressure sensor whilst still allowing him to use the location as a feed.

 

My car when I bought it had a T off the port and a long hose running to the firewall where the pressure sensor was mounted. And the other end of the T went to the turbo.

All that is gone now though.. And it was a BEGi kit, so that may be what they are doing now.

 

Enh. The "oil warmer" behaviour of the factory oil/water heat exchanger really doesn't improve warmup time much. I've run mine both with and without, and the difference before my oil temp gauge lifts off the peg isn't significant. Maybe it'd be different somewhere that's significantly colder than California.

I actually still have the factory exchanger installed, just not plumbed into the cooling system. When I built the motor I did a coolant reroute, capped off the feed at the back of the head, and made an adapter plate to run the front of the head straight to the turbo, bypassing both the throttle and the cooler.

So my factory cooler is just acting as a spacer right now (couldn't get the sandwich plate & AN fittings to clear if I removed it).

--Ian

 

I live in Vancouver and it's been in the 0-5* celcius for the last few weeks. My car always reads about 40-45*F when I get in and within a minute of idling it's up to 60* and after 2-3 mins of light driving it's mid 90's. This is on a 1.6L with no "oil warmer"..

 

I've been running the Maruha for 3 years and so far no issue.
http://www.maruhamotors.co.jp/miata/parts/oilblock.html
Cheers,

 

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but on our S2000, we ran just a basic sandwich plate into the oil cooler, and mounted a remote mounted filter between the cooler and the engine. I think we may have mounted a 'big' sensor on a piece of braided hose to keep it from mounting directly.

I'm not a 100% sure though, but I think so.

Hope it helps.