Installed/How-To: 2014 Forester XT OEM Oil Cooler(pics!)

[mav1178]

... well, that was short lived.

I'll be selling my kit, tried installing today but ran into a problem, faulty hex tool managed to strip the water plug on the block.

-alex

[pixel67]

Pm sent

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[Andreas83]

Originally Posted by mav1178

... well, that was short lived.

I'll be selling my kit, tried installing today but ran into a problem, faulty hex tool managed to strip the water plug on the block.

-alex

Try finding a torx bit that is slightly larger and hammer it in.
Has worked for me plenty of times on stripped hex bolts.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Andreas83

Try finding a torx bit that is slightly larger and hammer it in.
Has worked for me plenty of times on stripped hex bolts.

I know, but I'm okay with using the Cusco kit.

I was thinking about the coolant pressure differential and cooling capacity, and for my purposes having coolant from the hot/cold radiator hoses will be more effective instead of coolant routed from the block.

Blessing in disguise, I suppose. Plus I already sold the kit :P

-alex

[pixel67]

Originally Posted by mav1178

Plus I already sold the kit :P

-alex

and i already received it!

[indy]

pics from AT GT86. No place for T-connector at AT cooling line, approximately 1in between the socket and steel tube hose. And I don't recommend anything to do with these lines, imho cooling an automatic transmission not less important than the cooling of the motor oil. I will make T-connector at heater hose, as discussed earlier.

[indy]

Originally Posted by Ralph Spoilsport

I want to (if possible) use the auto trans cooling nipple shown in the top figure, see 11060, Fig 154 <AT>. My car is MT, so I am hoping that I can swap this out for the blank off plate shown for <MT>. What is the part @ 21210?

11060: SU003-00114 or 11060AA290 HOUSING, WATER INLET
21210: SU003-00408 or 21210AA190 THERMOSTAT 50-63C

[Ralph Spoilsport]

Originally Posted by indy

I will make T-connector at heater hose, as discussed earlier.

I like the heater hose connection idea.

I've studied the water circuit a little and come to a few conclusions.

1) the water flow pictures posted earlier by another contributor aren't correct. Water leaving the pump goes through the block first, exits at the water manifold at the top of the engine (under the intake manifold) and returns to the pump via either the radiator, the heater core, the AT or the throttle body. This is to say that the barbed fittings at the water pump are inlets to the pump. Evidence for this is a) water flow direction through the radiator (always top to bottom), b) arrows on heater hoses at the heater core, c) this is the way circulation goes in any engine.

2) the water circuit popularized in this thread provides a very low pressure drop across the oil cooler. The cooler is in parallel with a nice, wide open water pipe and both return water from the throttle body (minor) and the heater core (major).

Two alternatives come to mind that would improve water flow through the cooler. The first is the simplest: Tee into both heater hoses and run the OC in parallel with the heater. The other would be to source water as close to the water manifold as possible (e.g. supply side heater hose) and drain at the water pump with an added barb fitting as shown many times in these threads. Both approaches will, I think, increase the pressure drop across the OC and get a little closer to the spirit of the FXT implementation.

[indy]

I was also confused by the "IN" and "OUT" directions on the heater hoses.
By the way, i have a tee from the Mitsubishi Montero V75W rear heater circuit, he has outputs 17-14-17mm. Our heater hoses have the same internal diameter, ~16mm.

[Kirby64]

Just finished this install a few weeks ago following the instructions on the first page. A few notes:
1) Guide fails to mention you need to remove the aluminum skidplate and the first fiberglass one.
2) "Some coolant" coming out of the hex bolt = all the coolant. I definitely had to refill the entire 1.75L.
3) Dear god why is it so tight between the engine block and firewall for the tubing? My hands hurt for like 3 days afterwards from how much I had to force the tubing into place.

Otherwise, pretty clean and OEM. Seems to bring things up to temperature faster than before. And you certainly can't beat the price!

[CARNZ]

Originally Posted by Kirby64

1) Guide fails to mention you need to remove the aluminum skidplate and the first fiberglass one.

Figured it'd be pretty obvious by showing photos of underside of engine/etc that you would have to remove the covers! :P

Thanks for the feedback

[Kirby64]

Originally Posted by CARNZ

Figured it'd be pretty obvious by showing photos of underside of engine/etc that you would have to remove the covers! :P

Thanks for the feedback

The aluminum skidplate I was expecting, it just took me awhile to figure out I need to pull the fiberglass one too. First excursion under the car, so I didn't have my bearings quite yet.

[olorin]

Awesome DIY, thanks OP for putting this together. I was really worried about the bend in the pipe causing the hose to get pinched. My solution was to shorted the OE heater hose by 3 inches:

and reroute it under all the other hoses. There is already a slight bend in the OE hose and shortening it brings the bend almost to where the hose bends.

As others have noted, its more a flood of coolant that will pour out.

[Guillaume]

Originally Posted by olorin

Awesome DIY, thanks OP for putting this together. I was really worried about the bend in the pipe causing the hose to get pinched. My solution was to shorted the OE heater hose by 3 inches:

and reroute it under all the other hoses. There is already a slight bend in the OE hose and shortening it brings the bend almost to where the hose bends.

As others have noted, its more a flood of coolant that will pour out.

Thanks for sharing. Just to be clear, what you call the OE heater hose (which you cut) is the Forester hose, right?