OEM Oil Cooler Kit and Installation DIY

[SkiRideDrive]

Kit Link:
http://www.nedautoparts.com/collecti...oem-subaru-brz

Summary:
I went ahead and ordered the Never Ending Details oem oil cooler kit for my 2015 FRS. This cooler is a oil to water cooler which utilizes engine coolant to cool the oil. The cooler is an oem subaru unit utilized on several turbo cars like the wrx. I noticed my canyon driving temperatures reaching 280 degrees F and thought a cooler would be a good idea. I also have a short commute and was hoping the oil to water cooler would help with warming up the oil in the morning. I have outlined my installation process below. I also took logs of oil temp, water temp, and ambient temp for highway warmups and canyons runs before and after. I must add that this is only the way that I installed the oil cooler and I in no way take any responsibility for any issues anyone else has using this as a guide. I am just trying to help.

What you get:
The kit comes with the oil cooler, the extended oil cooler filter stem, two coolant lines, a replacement oil filter, and some hose clamps (2 oem pinch style, 2 worm drive hose clamp style). I went ahead and picked up two more standard stainless hose clamps at lowes as I prefer those over the oem pinch style clamps.

https://flic.kr/p/wPih8W



Tools:
Screwdrivers (flat head and phillips)
Pliers
24mm deep socket
Ratchet wrench
Oil filter removal Tool
Torque Wrench (Optional)

Installation:
I have outlined and photographed the installation below. I have also put together a video showing the stages of the process Video Link:

https://flic.kr/p/wPiT8y



Above you will see the stock configuration. The first step is to remove the intake tube from the airbox, throttle body, sound generating tube, and breather hose. Use your pliers and screwdrivers to loosen the clamps and remove the intake tube.

https://flic.kr/p/wPqHBB



Under the throttle body you will notice a U shaped hose that loops coolant through the throttle body. As I understand, the two fittings the hose loops between are utilized in forced induction applications to cool a turbo. Since the frs/brz is naturally aspirated, they install a hose to loop the coolant back into the system.

The next step is to remove the oil filter. Utilize your tool of choice to remove the filter. Once removed you will see the stock short filter stem as pictured below.

https://flic.kr/p/wa3Lxx



You are going to use your 24mm socket to remove that filter stem.

https://flic.kr/p/wPqEKK



Here you can see the kit supplied longer stem which will pass through the oil cooler versus the stock short stem.

https://flic.kr/p/x4ANrj



Next you will want to install one hose onto the straight fitting of the oil cooler and one hose onto the bent fitting of the oil cooler. You will want to put the longer hose on the straight fitting. Go ahead and install your hose clamps. Be sure to check your orientation to make sure the clamps are oriented correctly. Then go ahead and install your oil cooler where the oil filter was prior, in the orientation pictured below, with the bent fitting adjacent the ac compressor and the straight fitting near the oil fill spout. The long stem passes through the oil cooler and threads in where the short stem was before. No need to tighten just yet. The two lines are run under the ac compressor to get to the throttle body. The line off the bent fitting goes directly under the compressor. The line off the straight fitting loops around the front of the cooler and then back under the ac compressor. I routed it between the two sensors on the block just below the cooler. Be sure to keep the hose away from the accessory belt. You may want to route the lines before installing the stem to give you the ability to move the oil cooler around.

https://flic.kr/p/wPiLzd



In the photo below, you can see the hoses routed under the ac compressor and in position to be hooked up to the nipples under the throttle body. You may need to trim their length depending exactly on your routing. I trimmed them with a pair of dikes.

https://flic.kr/p/wPiK4C



Go ahead and remove that U hose under the throttle body and connect the hoses you ran under the AC compressor to the now available fittings. In my case, only a bit of coolant leaked out, so you may want to stuff some rags in there to soak it up. Take care to align your clamps so you can access the worm drive to tighten them. These fittings are a bit smaller than those on the oil cooler, so the hoses will not fit snugly unless you tighten the clamps down considerably. The fit concerned me at first, but testing has showed no leaks so far.

https://flic.kr/p/x69YKS



Now after all the lines are hooked up, you will want to go ahead and torque down the filter stem and oil cooler in the correct orientation. My research on Nasioc showed that 40 ft/lbs was appropriate.

https://flic.kr/p/x4AGZ7



Here is a photo of everything installed minus the intake tube.

https://flic.kr/p/wa3Bya



Now go ahead and install your intake tube, be sure to attach it to the throttle body, airbox, breather hose, and sound generator tube. Then go ahead and tighten down your clamps.

https://flic.kr/p/wPiiiS



After the process is complete. I recommend running the car for around 30 seconds, revving the engine a few times to 3,000 rpm. Then shut it off and check for any leaks, particularly oil leaks.

After that, you will want to fill and burp your coolant system. I recommend the grimmspeed thread linked below and I also utilized a Lisle spill free system which is also linked below. Finally, you will want to top off your oil if you do indeed swap oil filters as a bit of oil is trapped in the old oil filter.

Grimmspeed thread: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9883

Lisle Amazon LInk: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6AS6LY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_ detailpage"]Amazon.com: Lisle 24680 Spill-Free Funnel: Automotive[/ame]

Logging:

I’ve attempted to document both oil warmup as well as oil temperature during spirited canyon driving.

Oil Warmup Logging

Please see before cooler and after cooler logs below of the coolant and oil coming up to temperature. Effectively identical procedures for each log. Start car cold in garage, begin logging approximately 15 to 30 seconds after starting car. Pull out of garage after rpms drop after cold start. Surface streets for approximately 90 seconds then highway driving at approximately 70 mph until temperatures stabilize. As you can see, the initial warmup of oil temperature seems to have improved slightly. Also the oil temperatures do stabilize a bit lower with the cooler at freeway speeds than without.

Warmup without Cooler (oil temperature stabilized at 213 degrees)

https://flic.kr/p/xcUmAc



Warmup with Cooler (oil tempreature stabilized at 204 degrees)

https://flic.kr/p/xcm8C6



Canyon Run Logging

This test was run at Palomar Mountain in Southern California. I have provided logs, before and after cooler, of going up south grade which is a steep and tight uphill mountain road. It is the most demanding road in my area for cooling purposes. While it is tough to get a totally clear run up the hill on Sundays when I generally go, both runs were fairly clear. I got stuck behind a car for a few corners on both runs until they let me by. I feel like they are pretty comparable. I do believe I was driving a bit harder on the run with the cooler though as I got to know the road a bit better. This is working the motor very hard, on and off redline in 2nd gear multiple times up the hill.

Canyon without Cooler (max oil temp: 280.4, max coolant temp: 212)


https://flic.kr/p/xcm8yD



Canyon with Cooler (max oil temp: 269.6, max coolant temp: 217.4)


https://flic.kr/p/xa2GSy



Conclusion

All in all I think it does its job. The cooler decreased my oil temperatures with minimal expenditure and an easy installation.

[SkiRideDrive]

The canyon run temperatures above were absolute worst case scenario, driving the car very hard on a very steep and very tight road. I have included two more comparison graphs below. They are on a more typical canyon road, predominantly third gear. These runs however, also utilize everything the car has to give. A more casual canyon run will likely have different results.

These runs (east grade) were also done very soon after running the very demanding road above (south grade). You may notice that the oil temperatures on the WITH cooler logs are decreasing. This is the cooler doing its job and dropping the oil temperature which were elevated by the very aggressive road driven prior. In the logs above, you will notice approximately a 11 degree max difference in oil temperature. In the more conventional canyon road below, you will notice after the cooler stabilizes the oil temperature, a more significant 20 degree drop or more. I think this is more representative of what a typical canyon driver will see, if not more, since this road is still being driven quite aggressively.

More Typical Canyon Run without Cooler



More Typical Canyon Run WITH Cooler


I hope this helps, please let me know if you have any questions.

[ZOMFGAARON]

Originally Posted by SkiRideDrive

Reserved.

Are the pictures showing up for you guys?

Pictures aren't working for me on tapatalk


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[churchx]

No. Only links.

[Wayno]

You have bigger problems if you're hitting over 200F water temp on the street NA.
You shouldn't ever see over 200F water temp in a moving car on the track NA.


Also, don't know why people insist on cramming the hoses together with small radius bends.

[MaxedOutRS2.5]

If you head over to the link he sent it all shows up, and a video as well.

[steve99]

I put some of this heat resistant and chaffing resistant sleeving over the coolant hoses like a lot of the oem hoses in the engine bay

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Heat-Resi...item25a4d92e2b

[yomny]

Thanks for the diy, always helpful to have more details on installations. On a side note as mentioned above on hard drives my oil has never seen 260, don't have canyons in Miami but similar drive style, mind you I'm turbocharged. Now on another side note I do get about 205 water temp in city traffic, crazy cars. Then again not sure how accurate the obd2 port is for these readings.

[SkiRideDrive]

I do have a significant amount of track experience and am comfortable wringing the neck of a car. Also this is the only Road where my temps get this high. It is extremely steep and tight uphill where you are on the throttle constantly. I chose this road specially because I don't know of anywhere that works a car as hard on the street.

[SkiRideDrive]

I will try to fix the photo issue later.

[SkiRideDrive]

Photos should be working now!

[MaxedOutRS2.5]

Awesome thanks.

[sw20kosh]

270 oil is way too hot. This cooler is ineffective for anything more than daily driving.

[SkiRideDrive]

I've tried to stress that this is the most demanding road in southern california. Let me go through my data later for a more normal road so people stop harping on that.