Oil cooler question
 

Does anyone know anything about this one?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CXRacing-Ex...QAAOSw0JpV6PUA

I wonder if it can be any good given the low price. The car will have a few track days per year. I plan to add oil temp and pressure gauges plus a cooler.

That is literally cheaper than one could buy all the individual parts from reputable companies. I wouldn't risk it, engines are expensive.

Just FYI. That is a CX racing kit. Listed for $379 on their website. Not sure why Ebay is selling it so cheap.

https://www.cxracing.com/oil-cooler-kit/OC-KIT-BRZ

Hell - if I didn't already have a cooler, and I lived in a location where not having a thermostat on a cooler mattered much, I'd give it a whirl. There's not a whole lot of moving parts to a cooler; provided the materials and component assembly was decent, it should work as well as any other.

Ah, good point that it doesn't have a built in thermostat. I missed that at first glance.

I would go for something reputable. Although more expensive upfront, it's cheaper than an engine. I got the Jackson Racing kit, cost me about 1.1k CAD in total, including duties. I don't have to worry about it. No regrets.

The car lives in Florida so would the thermostat issue be a likely problem? Potential track-day sites could include Road Atlanta or Roebling, but mostly Sebring, Daytona, Moroso or Homestead.

The fact that they used the term Boxster Engine in their description makes it sus

Maybe, but I wouldn't want to be the guinea pig.

im in florida, you 100% need a thermostat here. street driving just doesn't generate enough heat

Thanks. That makes up my mind for me. I'll go for a better one.

Sometimes it's cheaper to buy in Canada and avoid shipping and duties.

https://www.ft86motorsports.com/cool...-fr-s-brz.html

Just one example.

I have that oil cooler, paid $369 USD from CX directly 4 years ago I think.

Good: price, large heat exchanger compared to others provides excellent cooling, unique center mount in front of radiator which was necessary as my giant intercooler leaves no other place but behind for mounting.

Bad: initially shipped wrong parts which were replaced promptly, insufficient washers/gaskets everywhere, literally everything leaked oil.

I did finally fix everything with Permatex but I don't recommend it unless you are the type that can knit a car from a ball of string and some bailing wire. This was my first oil cooler experience and definitely learned from it.

Again, the heat exchanger location is unique and necessary for my setup and I intially I lacked the experience to fix, though eventually I did.

Not to hijack this thread,, but,

What temp is too hot?
I have not tracked mine yet, it will probably be a while, but plan to autox.
I noticed that when I keep the car over 4500 rpm for a decent section of road the temp can creep up, but falls quickly once the rpms are pack down.

I contacted CX and was told the Ebay price is valid because they are discounting several items there. Nevertheless, I'll go with a different make because of the thermostat issue.

I've had a bad experience with them before, so I chose to buy from ft86sf and just pay the extra duties.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this kit unless you are good at fixing things, especially pressurized oil.

However, the heat exchanger mounting is ideal for some setups.

PS- why do you require a thermostatic sandwich living in FL? Maybe in a cold state it is needed if you drive in cold weather. Since the heat exchanger is located immediately behind my intercooler, I literally have it blocked with a piece of cardboard until temps are consistent above 10-15 C here.

The oil temp max sustained on OEM grade oil is up there in the 230 F/125 C range. When I tracked my car without an oil cooler I'd get off after a few mins at that temp using 0W40. This year 0W20 or 5W30 with the cooler should be good. I will have an OBD2 Bluetooth dongle and use Torque on my phone to monitor.