Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB - Perrin Oil Cooler Kit Installation and Review!!!

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! I've finally decided to post my Review and Installation Guide on the Perrin Oil Cooler Kit I purchased and installed a couple months ago!

So without further ado I present to you Sony's Perrin Oil Cooler Kit Installation and Review!

The Prep!

The great thing about buying this kit is it comes with everything you will need for the full installation. There is no making your own brackets or sourcing your own parts. Plus you get the peace of mind of having a full warranty from a company who you know is reliable and stands behind their products.

The kit comes complete in decent sized box.

http://i.imgur.com/uBdi92e.jpg

The radiator and thermostat plate come individually packaged and protected in their own boxes. It's a nice touch that prevents things from being damaged in shipping. Everything is wrapped in heavy paper and fit neatly in the box. The hoses have plastic on each end to prevent dirt from contaminating the o-ring seals on the hoses. Perrin even includes an OEM Toyota JDM filter to replace the one you have since you might as well be doing an oil change at the same time as installing this cooler anyways.

http://i.imgur.com/AGjjoZ5.jpg

Once you unpack the boxes you see the full inventory of parts. A Setrab 613 oil radiator, Mocal thermostat plate, sandwich adapter plate, adapter plate bolt, pre-made and measured hoses, all the associated mounting hardware and of course instructions.

http://i.imgur.com/Pxju2Cd.jpg

All of the parts are of very high quality and finish, they definitely took the time to build this kit properly and didn't skimp on fit and finish.

Tools You Will Need!

Two Flathead Screwdrivers or a Body Clip Removal Tool
27mm THIN WALL socket (The THIN WALL part of this is very important)
Set of Closed End Wrenches (Perrin uses SAE and Metric)
Set of various Sockets and Ratchets (Metric)
A 10" Crescent Wrench or a 1-1/4" Closed end box wrench
Set of Allen Wrenches (Metric)
Power Drill with 3/8" Drill Bit

The Installation!

Drain your car of all of it's oil, but do not replace it, you're going to want to do this installation with the engine dry so you don't get oil everywhere.

Remove your front bumper, I have written a guide for this already. It can be found Here at the beginning of my Cold Air Intake review. Please follow it and once you have finished removing your front bumper proceed to the next step.

Place you bumper off to the side and out of the way where it wont get scratched or damaged. Then remove your oil filter.

http://i.imgur.com/lujM1kV.jpg

Clean the area around the oil filter, making sure to remove any dirt or junk on the gasket surface area.

http://i.imgur.com/YSZb3iy.jpg

Put on a rubber glove and dip your finger in some motor oil. Then with your finger spread a layer of motor oil on both the gasket surfaces of the sandwich plate and the thermostat plate like you would the gasket on your oil filter when replacing it. Then place the sandwich plate and thermostat plate with the rubber gaskets facing downwards onto the oil filter mounting point as shown below. Make sure the oil fittings are pointing towards the front of the car. Then place the M20 threaded adapter bolt into the center of the plates and hand tighten it. DO NOT tighten it with a wrench, leave it loose for adjustment later.

http://i.imgur.com/vcNEBNB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kCxWoVQ.jpg

Next take your high pressure oil hoses and remove the protective plastic from ONLY the ends with the 45° fittings. Then thread the hoses through the open area behind the drivers side headlight, they should thread behind the headlight and then through the area between the windshield fluid reservoir and the bumper supports. The path is pretty obvious as there really isn't any other way to do it smoothly.

http://i.imgur.com/wNxM0e4.jpg

Connect the Oil Cooler lines to the thermostat adapter plate. The shorter of the two lines should be connected to the fitting on the passenger side of the car (left fitting in the following photo) and then the longer line to the drivers side fitting (right fitting in the following photo.) Do not tighten them down yet but you can get them hand tight.

http://i.imgur.com/1DHPjF8.jpg

Next take your oil cooler radiator and install the mounting brackets to the bottom. The angled part with the Perrin logo should be facing the front of the car, thread the small allen screws with the small washers into the proper holes. Again DO NOT TIGHTEN these yet, as you will need the wiggle room for adjustment.

http://i.imgur.com/IjlJJ0x.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YNgIUHP.jpg

Now, remove the plastic plugs from the threaded holes in the radiator. Then take your gloved finger from before and dip it in motor oil again. Apply motor oil very liberally to the threads on both the radiator and hoses,you can't apply to much oil so go crazy. This is VERY important, the application of motor oil in this area will prevent galling on the unanodized aluminum fittings on the radiator. Without this step you could have leaks at the fitting which would require replacement of the radiator.

Next thread the oil cooler hoses into the oil cooler, it's fairly obvious which one goes where at this point. Obviously the shorter one goes in the drivers side fitting and the longer one goes in the passenger side fitting. Be careful not to cross thread these fittings as they are very difficult to turn by hand and you may need to use a closed end wrench to thread them. So take your time and DO NOT TIGHTEN them all the way down yet. Leave them loose enough that you can adjust the fittings once everything is mounted in place.

http://i.imgur.com/aRWFoXK.jpg

Next, mount the radiator to the plastic air dam underneath the front bumper support. To do this tip the radiator back and place the hose fittings behind the front bumper support first and then slide the bottom into place. Use the long allen screws provided with the LARGE washers provided in the kit to come up through the two large holes that are equidistant from the center in the bottom of the air dam. Tighten the long bolts down with an allen wrench, but be careful not to over-tighten them because you will crack the plastic air dam.

http://i.imgur.com/JX41fbg.jpg

Next tighten the small allen screws that attach the radiator to the mounting brackets.

Then align the oil cooler hoses so they are parallel and run all the way up to the thermostat plate without twisting. Once that is done tighten the radiator hose fittings to 30 to 40lbft of torque. To do this use TWO closed end wrenches, the 1-1/4" wrench (or 10" Crescent Wrench) holding the hex fitting on the radiator at the same time as tightening the fitting on the hose. Perrin states the torque doesn't terribly matter here because the hoses are sealed using o-rings, so if you have no way of measuring the torque on these fittings then don't worry too much about it. Get them tight enough that you feel comfortable with it and check for leaks after the first few miles of driving.

Head up to the sandwich/thermostat plate, adjust the thermostat plate and the hoses so that the hoses run smoothly without rubbing on anything in the engine bay, especially behind the headlight area where there are a few sharp edges. Once you have everything adjusted take your 27mm THIN WALL socket and tighten down the sandwich plate adapter bolt in the center of the sandwich plates to 25ft-lbs. The thin wall is important because there is a lip on the sandwich plate which prevents a standard socket from gripping the adapter bolt properly. I have 3 different 27mm sockets in my garage and NONE of them fit the adapter bolt properly without slipping. I had to tighten this bolt in the end with a pair of water pump pliers I had and it was a pain in the arse, so try and get a thin wall socket if you can, or make one if you have access to a lathe.

Next tighten the oil cooler hose fittings on the sandwich plate using a single box wrench, you don't need to tighten these using two wrenches like you did the radiator fittings. Tighten them snug so they aren't going anywhere and you're good, you may have to hold the tube part of the fitting while tightening to keep it from rotating out of alignment while you are snugging the fitting down.

Once you're done with that it's time for ZIP TIES! Head to where the oil cooler hoses cross the vertical plastic air baffle under the front bumper support.

http://i.imgur.com/FM96ckA.jpg

Where they cross the plastic baffle drill a 3/8" hole in the plastic baffle (do not damage the hoses) directly behind where the hoses cross the air baffle. Take two of the zip ties provided and thread them together, then thread them through the hole you just drilled and across the front of the oil cooler hoses. Cinch them down tight and cut off the excess. Take another two zip ties and do the same thing in the opposite direction so they form an X. Then take another two single zip ties and tie the hoses to your windshield washer fluid reservoir like shown in the following photo. Then take the rest of your zip ties and neaten up the rest of the hoses by zip tying them together evenly spaces out over the length of the hoses. Then don't be a douche, go and trim the excess zip tie off of each zip tie so it looks clean and not like some re-re went and threw a million zip ties on his ride without thinking.

Should look like this when it's done.

http://i.imgur.com/iKb3arr.jpg

Put on the new oil filter provided in the kit (or whatever filter you use.)

http://i.imgur.com/t7oEQVV.jpg

Should look like this when you are done.

http://i.imgur.com/a2dD0eh.jpg

Next, make sure your drain plug is back in and tightened with a new crush washer. Then fill your engine with 5.8 quarts (dry fill with filter) of whatever oil you use (I use Motul Eco-Lite 0w-20.)

The next bit is REALLY important. Get in your car, and PRESS AND HOLD the gas pedal all the way to the floor. This will prevent the engine from starting when you crank the engine over. Act like you're starting your engine, crank the engine for 5 seconds and then stop, wait 10 seconds and repeat one more time. Next start your engine normally and let it run for 10 seconds and turn it off.

Get out of your car and check ALL of your oil fittings and sandwich plates for oil leaks. If you have a leak then snug down the fittings. If no leaks are found add an another quart of oil. In total you should have added almost about 7 quarts of oil.

Start your engine and let it idle for at least 5 minutes, keep an eye on all fittings for leaks while you are doing this. After five minutes turn off your engine if no leaks are found then you're good. If you still have leaks at this point you may have bigger issues but try tightening the fittings again first and see if that fixes the issues. If it doesn't you may need to call Perrin for advice.

If everything is good then reinstall your front bumper, I also took the time while the bumper was off to clean and re-oil my Perrin Cold Air Intake.

http://i.imgur.com/1K1CZSG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/baeVbwj.jpg

Check your oil level on the dipstick, add oil if needed so you are full. Start the car and let it idle again for 5 minutes, check for leaks one more time and then go take your car for a 15 minute test drive. Come back and check your car for leaks again! If you have no leaks then you're good to go. I had a leak between the sandwich plate and the thermostat plate so I had to pull off my oil filter and try to tighten the adapter bolt more.

You're done!!!

Keep an eye out for leaks for the first couple hundred miles.

The Review!!

I installed this oil cooler about two months ago and held off doing a review until now because I wanted to take some time to see how it worked and make sure there wasn't any major leaks before I did a final review.

Let me start off by describing the fit and finish of this kit. This kit has been very well thought out and while the two major parts of this kit (The radiator and Thermostat plate) are not built by Perrin themselves (Setrab and Mocal respectively) they were selected to be part of this kit because they are already of very high quality. I guess Perrin figured there was no point of reinventing the wheel on these two items and that two other companies which Perrin already has a working relationship with already has done the R&D which I completely understand.

Even so the fit and finish of this kit is impeccable, the sandwich plate which has been CNC'd by Perrin has a smooth finish and TWO sets of o-ring seals next to each other on the bottom for redundancy and extra sealing.

The oil cooler high pressure hoses are already pre-cut to the perfect lengths and attached to high quality AN-12 fittings with squeeze clips which will NEVER come undone. They are also covered in Perrin's high durability and abrasion resistant sleeves, which means you need not worry about the hoses rubbing on something sharp and puncturing a hose on the track or on the road.

The radiator is a Setrab 613 unit which is well built and comes in black without a logo on the front which is good if you're going for stealth. Originally Perrin used a Mishimoto unit when they first released their kit but I believe they switched due to quality control issues as a couple of the first run of kits had leaks. I have had no leaks at all so far with this radiator, the Setrab cooler has been solid.

The Mocal thermostat plate has also been solid, it has a large gasket on the bottom and comes stock with a Thermostat set to an opening temp of 185°F which is good for this engine. However if you wish to switch your thermostat to whatever temperature you choose you can easily do that by purchasing a new thermostat for the Mocal plate from Mocal, the replacement is easy and straight forward.

The radiator mounting hardware fits in place without issue and if finished perfectly in anodized black just like the sandwich adapter plate. They fit just like they should without any issues.

My only issue came from tightening down the Thermostat and sandwich plates with the threaded adapter bolt. Unfortunately there is a ridge on the adapter plate which makes it difficult to get a socket on the bolt with a 27mm socket for tightening the plates down. I ended up having to use a combination of water pump pliers and a large c-wrench to get it tight enough to where I even felt comfortable putting the oil filter on. If I were to do this again I would spend the money and find a 27mm thin wall socket, or buy a 27mm regular socket from Harbor Freight and making my own thin wall socket on a lathe.

I would suggest to Perrin that ether they should supply a Thin Wall socket in the kit OR (I thought of this afterwards) two bolts that could thread onto the adapter bolt then lock together and be used to tighten the adapter bolt with a regular wrench or socket.

That was the only issue I found with this kit was tightening the sandwich plate. It's a bit tricky but could be made easier with ether a thin wall 27mm socket or two bolts of the same thread of the M20 adapter bolt.

Other than that I cannot fault this kit's fit and finish, it's a very well thought out kit and the parts are of very high quality.

The Conclusion!

I would highly recommend this kit to anyone who wants a full kit with a full warranty who doesn't want to go around cutting and fitting their own hoses or piecing together a kit on their own. Yes this kit is more expensive than going out and buying all the pieces yourself and fitting the kit together. The kit from Perrin costs $689.00 on their website, you could build this kit yourself for probably around $450 and if that's what you want to do then more power to you.

However the extra money you spend on the Perrin kit means you have a full warranty backed by one of the biggest names in the Subaru world, plus you save a lot of time and labor in the time spent cutting hoses, installing fittings, building mounts and sourcing parts. This kit just works out of the box, there is no fussing around and there is no worrying about if you secured the hose clamp on the AN-12 fittings properly. There is no worrying about if you have all the parts you need, it's a full kit ready to go out of the box.

Unfortunately I cannot provide anyone with temperature logs from the times I have been at Autocross or the track. Unfortunately I do not have an oil temp gauge or pressure gauge for my vehicle so I cannot post those results. However those results have already been posted elsewhere on the forums if you do a search. Most people have found that stock temps can rise above 220°F at a track meet and sometimes even hit 240°F on especially hot days. This kit has been proven to keep oil temps closer to the 195°F range even in hotter temps. So that is a win for me even if I never see the full benefit the peace of mind that I am not ruining my expensive Motul oil by burning it or damaging my engine by thinning out my already thin 0w-20 is enough to justify the $690 for this kit for me.

All in all I would highly recommend this kit to anyone who wants a no fuss, no hassle oil cooler kit that works. I am going to give it a 4.5 out of 5 on my rating scale for the high quality parts and fit and finish of all the pieces of this kit. The only reason it's not getting a 5.0 is because of the sandwich plate bolt being very difficult to tighten and I wish Perrin had come up with a better solution for those who don't have a full compliment of tools.

As for the install, it's a little more difficult and nerve wracking than the Perrin Cold Air Intake install I did last year. If you're not comfortable with taking off your front bumper or you don't have a full compliment of tools at your disposal then this kit will be a pain to install for you. Bumper removal is 100% necessary and although it's not difficult it is necessary for the install of this kit and if you aren't comfortable with doing that by itself then you shouldn't be installing an oil cooler on your car ether. The tightening of fittings and securing of hoses in the kit also make this a tricky install, it's critical that you don't have ANY leaks with this kit because any leak will cause you to lose oil quickly and can become a disaster later down the road. Then finally the first start-up procedure is also tricky and very critical. You MUST crank the engine without starting it to get oil in the system before you start the car for real. The oil cooler system holds over a full quart of oil and must be primed before the cars first start with the system installed. Then don't forget that you must add an extra quart of oil to the system to fill the extra quart of capacity that this system now requires. You car will be holding 7 quarts of oil by the time this is done...and if you're running something like Motul such as I am it all adds up to a very expensive oil change.

That's why I am rating this a 3.0 out of 5 on the difficulty scale. You don't need to be an expert ASE Certified mechanic to install this kit. But you definitely need to have advanced knowledge and you definitely CAN'T be a beginner who has never turned a wrench before.

Thanks all for reading!
-Trev A.K.A. Sony