Let's talk aftermarket oil coolers

[01cbr929]

Wow, that sucks Joe. Although its good to now know where your issue is coming from!

Here is the bracket I made.

And just another random pic for other people to see how it looks installed.

[zikizira]

This remember my DSM times trying to figure out overheating issues. Glad you find a good candidate.

[orthojoe]

Ziki, you used to have a DSM too? I used to have a 1995 Eclipse GS-T. We seem to have a lot in common...

[zikizira]

Yes. I had a 1995 Eclipse GST with 618whp. She gaves me more headaches than fun. I have replaced all the hoses with custom made steel versions and even changed the front bump to control heating at the track. Whatever I could do to improve its trackability, I did. The car becames really tough, but I got tired, specially after getting my first Evo in 2009. In 2011, I sold her for a friend (together with 2 other Eclipses I had - one 95 GSX and my wife's 2008 GT), and got a MR. In just one year, my friend has used the GST 10x more I did in 4 years.

In a certain way, I am with you: if the car start giving more headache than fun, it is time to move on. Hope this doesn happen with my Evos soon

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

[orthojoe]

Sorry everyone. I forgot to mention also that there is an issue with my tires rubbing the fender liner on the front passenger side during full left lock after installing the oil cooler. I'm running 275mm width tires and 10" wide wheels (+18 offset). I didn't have rubbing before the install, but I did afterwards. I believe that the oil cooler pushes back slightly on the fender liner and causes this. I informed Mishimoto and they are aware of the issue. They did testing with stock sized wheels/tires, so they were not aware of this problem. That being said, after driving the car around for about 2 weeks, the rubbing has gone away. I assume it's because the tires eventually shaved down the vents in the fender liner so they wouldn't rub anymore.

Thanks to a fellow forum member who PM'd me to discuss the issue and remind me to post about it. He had the same problem.

[mantella]

I installed mine today (mishimoto oil cooler) and found that i had to remove the foglights, make a 90 degree bracket to secure it better and then comes the worst part. It pushes back on the fender liner so the tire rubs. 285/30 18 on a 10.5 +30 rubs really bad at lock or close to it. a 275/35 nt01 on a 9.5 +27 offset (i think) also rubs. So i could drive the car home with out worry i took my home made support back off and bent it forward a tiny bit. I also have the perrin caster bushings installed so that is making the problem a little worse. It seemed like a great idea just poorly executed ffor this oil cooler

[orthojoe]

Thanks for sharing, Mantella. I agree that Mishimoto should have put a bit more time in R&D before releasing it for sale. Issues like this aren't a huge deal per say since we've found our own solutions (extra bracket and bending/shaving of the fender liner), but it's also the reason people put extra money down on a kit rather than making their own from scratch. Perhaps the home made support brackets we made may have contributed to the issue, but I would argue that they HAD to be made. If I hadn't, the cooler would have had free play/motion, and would have been crooked. It may ultimately come down to the small bracket that was incorrectly made (did you have the same issue with the small bracket not fitting correctly to the crash beam?)

[mantella]

yes the little bracket to the crash beam is pretty useless and a 90 l bracket to the crash beam makes so much more since. I am worried a bit about clearance so i will go drive the car some tonight to make sure i will be okay to autocross it with out having to change back to the stock cooler. the foglight issue should also be mentioned since if you leave them in and try to reinstall the bumper it pushes the bumper up to much to be able to reinstall.
side note they have a install video that is rather funny. looks very simple and no problems. Lines and such take adjustment along with adding a bracket so alow yourself a extra hr for install incase needed.
now the big question for r&d. Why does a car that is stock running 245/40 have to worry about a oil cooler unless it is some sort of class spec enduro?

[Qatar Evo X]

Have just installed the Mishimoto kit today and have taken a leaf out of the install manual from HKS kit which just add's another oil cooler in line with the stock one, but they have included a template to cut out the plastics below the bottom cooler and have a funky funnel to draw air out this way as well, I would think that this would help getting more flow through as there is now 2 ways for the air to get out, one behind the wheel and another under the car. Am still fabricating dividers for this setup and will post the result when done with it, if it does not work I will just buy some new plastics and go back to the Mishimoto setup again...

[Hiboost]

It's interesting that the cooler pushes the fender liner towards the tire, even a few mm would be bad news for my car and sponsor's car since we run 285/35-18 tires on 18x10.5 +15 wheels. With around 6* caster the wheel/tire is already moving far enough forward to really cause issues, had to use a heat gun to mold the plastic out of the way and bend the metal corner anchors up at an angle to avoid any tire contact at full bump.

I would imagine that 245/40-18 stock tires with little or no suspension mods would not be an issue but taking clearance out of the fender well is not a good idea.