FT86SF Catted Header and engine temps
 

Dumb question, but I plan on swapping my stock header with the ceramic-coated FT86SF catted header and was wondering: Has anyone noticed an overall increase in engine temps while running this?

I’m worried that if I add this, it will create a cascading effect of needing to buy an oil cooler, etc. to keep temps down. Or maybe I’m overthinking things. Let me know!

You'll end up even more confused after all the conflicting responses. Personally, even for a bone stock engine, I recommend either an "effective" oil cooler, or cutting oil change intervals in half.

Interesting. What’s your reasoning behind those two recommendations? And what’s an “effective” oil cooler?

It's thermal coated so i don't see why you'll have an issue. I had my Megan header at the time without coat or wrap and not heat issues. You don't need an oil cooler for dd na.

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In my book, an effective oil cooler is one that keeps oil temp at least as cool as the water. 190F or below.

People are going to shit all over this thread now. I don't care. Run your bone stock engine above 4500 RPM for five minutes and watch the oil pressure plummet.

I have a friend with this exact header- no change in operating temps for him.

I'm in a hot climate and like to mash pedal. I notice a hot engine smell when I'm running it hard, though my oil and fluids are all good. Is this something I should consider to boost reliability?

I suggest first installing an oil pressure gauge. That will help you get an idea of how your engine is responding to your style. It will also, in most cases, give you early warning of impending failure due to oil starvation.

Test engine speed and temp are 6 Krpm at 180F. Oil pressure should read 73 PSI or better.

My main concern is for the long-term life of the engine. People will argue that an oil cooler negatively impacts reliability because it introduces more failure points.

It's a tough call. I don't want to jack the thread too much because this is mainly about that specific header.

Header won't cook your engine don't worry about it dude. If you're racing and stuff then maybe you should get one, but not because of a header

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The purpose of ceramic coating is to keep temperatures of the header down, thus preventing heat soaking other components of the engine bay such as Oil Pan and what not. Thought is not really necessary as even non-coated options don't increase temperatures during daily driving or even track event. If doing the latter, it is more recommended to install an oil cooler, switching oil viscosity, and pressure gages. Ceramic coating is more of a fancy commodity that adds style to your engine bay. Now if you have both oil coolers and ceramic coating on headers, your chances of heat soaking and overall over-temperature decrease slightly more.



In other words, you'll be fine. Just make sure you have the right set of tools plus new gaskets, go with Grimmspeed as OEM ones do tend to leak, plus slightly pricier. Another word of advice, if you sense a burning smell plus some smoke coming out of your engine bay do not panic, this is normal as the ceramic coat needs to settle in. It will go away after a day or two.

Hi. I've been running the uncoated version of the FT86 catted header for a couple years. I also have an aftermarket oil temperature gauge installed and no aftermarket oil cooler, and the stock water radiator. For my 100% daily driver use, there was no significant change in temperature however, that comes with a caveat (see below). I don't beat on the car all day long but I do have fun with it every day. The last year the car has had an E85 edelbrock SC with ~350rw and I still have found no need for an aftermarket oil cooler or radiator. I've always installed these items on my track/drift cars but for street use, I've found this car to be fine for my use, which includes lots of desert and mountain driving in southern California.

Having said that, I will add that the first thing I noticed when installing this header (besides how well it fit) was that the final position of the tubes run VERY close to the oil pan. I have no Subaru aftermarket header experience prior to this so I don't know if this is typical of this layout, but I have installed many headers in the 30 years I've been doing this kind of stuff and never seen anything run this close before. This made me similarly concerned as you are so prior to running the car, I bought and installed a layer of DEI gold thermal barrier tape over the oil pan and it had to be wedged in between the header and pan. Once applied, it doesn't physically touch the header but it is millimeter level close. I also put some on the water neck while I was down there. Its been there for a couple years now and shows no signs of degradation and I am no longer concerned with it outside of a check everytime I change my oil.

So unfortunately, I have no data or experience with the header and oil temps without the heat barrier in place. But given how cheap the barrier tape is and how easy it is to install when the header is off, I would definitely do it again to avoid any potential issues.

You can also put some DEI or some other brand of heat reflective tape on your oil pan as well, thats what I did in addition to wrapping my tomei UEL.

I'm also grabbing a vented carbon fiber hood really soon which I expect to make a massive difference in under hood temps/heat soak..

Thanks for all the great responses.

I think I’ll roll with the header + DEI tape and call it a day. This car is my DD and I don’t plan to take it to the track enough to justify the “added failure points” of an oil cooler.

Ha, that's exactly what my oil pan looks likes... :lol: