FIXED-CX Racing sandwich plate literally pouring out oil

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by wbradley

Two reasons:
No experience with oil coolers. Didn't even consider the possibility the sandwich plate could be so lame. Now I have experience with it, unfortunately. LOL.

I really like your explanation, and thanks for posting it because it brings perspective and a different point of view.

On another note, my advice would be, if you can't afford buying quality parts for critical components (be it for whatever reason including currency exchange rate), then you are mostly better off not getting a lower quality product for less money.

[wbradley]

Originally Posted by Sportsguy83

I really like your explanation, and thanks for posting it because it brings perspective and a different point of view.

On another note, my advice would be, if you can't afford buying quality parts for critical components (be it for whatever reason including currency exchange rate), then you are mostly better off not getting a lower quality product for less money.

Edit: can't accept, not cant afford. Having the funds and having other plans for the funds are two different things. Depending on your definition of affordable, either I can't afford the car or I can afford a new Porsche.
However I'm a big boy and will chalk this up to a lesson learned the hard way. Still I wonder how in the age of PayPal this kind of stuff can go unresolved. Incidentally CX finally emailed me back asking where the leak was occuring. I can see it leaking betewwn the spacer and sandwich, but can't be sure if not also between spacer and base.

[celek]

Probably tore the Oring but glad you got it worked out. I agree with the CX statements

[wbradley]

Originally Posted by celek

Probably tore the Oring but glad you got it worked out. I agree with the CX statements

The O ring looks perfect. Probably improperly sized or just insufficient ability to withstand pressure.

[Canehda]

Friend has a full CX Racing turbo kit for his KA engine and its fantastic.

[empower-auto]

if you torqued a sandwich plate to hell -- it's not a shock to me that you now have a mess.

[wbradley]

Originally Posted by empower-auto

if you torqued a sandwich plate to hell -- it's not a shock to me that you now have a mess.

I didnt torque it to hell. First I tried 28 ft/lbs, what other companies recommend. Then, after it leaked like crazy I re-installed, probably 60 lbs with the same result.

[empower-auto]

Originally Posted by wbradley

I didnt torque it to hell. First I tried 28 ft/lbs, what other companies recommend. Then, after it leaked like crazy I re-installed, probably 60 lbs with the same result.

I'll take your word for it.

CX Racing is a low quality company and their products are super questionable. They work for some people and they brag about it all day because they made something work for cheap -- and for others they don't work.

The rest of us just avoid brands like that and call it a day.

I don't know what Mishimoto is like but their plates look nice and they call for 35 for torque. Any legit Japanese brands or even quality legit Made in USA will have better machining and O-ring fit etc.

[wbradley]

Since the only reply I got from CX was asking if the leak was from the sandwich or spacer (looks like both), and its messy and time consuming to remove and return the entire unit, I emailed asking if they'dtake back the sandwich and spacer and issue me a partial credit. I can then just put that toward the Mocal unit which AFAIK is proven reliable.We'll see what they want to do.

[JEDI]

Look at the plate. Since you were talking that the O-rings are what seals it, I'll say it again look at the o-ring journal the o-ring sits in? Is there any chips, gashes, irregular sizes? 0-rings are made of many materials so they can fluctuate in size due temps, what materials they are exposed to and so on. Do you have a micrometer, or a nice steel flat edge ruler or plained piece of steal etc, you can set the sandwich plate on and LOOK for warps, bends, gaps, light, etc..there should be little to none. The same mentality should be put towards what is mating up to the sandwich plate as well. A set calipers would come in handy right now as well. If and when you figure out the sandwich plate is not the issue and you may have moved on from there measure the O-rings with the calipers and also measure the journal the o-ring sits in as well. I think you get where I'm going. Most things mechanical have an order of operation and then by deduction and a couple minutes with some tools, a little patience and you could of easily fixed this in house so to speak if the part didn't get to you defective already. O-rings can be defective as with anything. That's is far as an uneducated wannabe backyard mechanic is going to bore you guys with. blah blah blah

[wbradley]

I'm thinking the O rings, although well seated in the groove might just be too thin and don't compress uniformly when the unit was tightened down. Maybe they aren't the ideal diameter/width/thickness. I oiled the rings before tightening down as I do an oil filter if that matters. The rate of leak was pretty rapid, only ran the car at idle and that was enough for me.

[wbradley]

Update: they replied yesterday they will be sending me new parts and they are going to make sure the gaskets are properly seated and test before shipping.

[wbradley]

Did a bit of diagnosis last night. Seems the oil was leaking from the 2 side plugs for oil temp and oil press sensors. Also around the fittings for the outlet pipes. Missing one gasket and the others were not so great. Went crazy with Permatex Red and there are no leaks now, but it looks awful. I am expecting parts in the mail from CX next week and I will get it all fixed up, or maybe just leave the Permatex on and keep the parts to install later if the Permatex fails. Overall the CX product seems good for the money but the fact they shipped the incorrect sandwich first time and an incomplete one second time suggests, buy from them, but make sure THEY make sure to ship the right parts first time around.
PS- the quality of the parts is very good for a much lower price than the A list vendors.

[GSpeed]

I'm glad you got it figured out, but it's always wise to consider the failure mode of the parts you're putting on the car. If a spoiler or something cosmetic fails, it's not a big deal. If your oil cooler fails and vomits all your oil out over the road, the first indication something has gone wrong might be a rod exiting the block if you don't catch it in time.

Things like an oil cooler aren't "go-fast" parts, they're insurance. They're there to keep the engine oil cool, so it makes sense to spend a little more money on keeping your engine intact and protecting your investment.