Was wondering if anyone has run a aftermarket oil cooler on their ej257/55. I'm currently rebuilding my 05 sti and the old oil cooler has to go. So, I'm kind of stuck between Oem or aftermarket.
Are you refreshing or building up a motor? The next question is are you planning for lots of ponies and track duties? Otherwise OEM....aftermarket Oil Cooler are not worth the cost for anything less then many days at a ROAD COURSE. And if you get an Aftermarket you should really consider a kit w/a thermostat and a oil temp gauge. I'd recommend using good oil, water additives, create better air flow from the front of the car, bigger radiator, new/better water pump, more efficient fans and most importantly better practices of maintaining the cars coolness.
i have a new bottom end and so I want fresh oil pumping through the motor. But Wow, all that just for an aftermarket oil cooler. I was hoping for it to be more Daily driver friendly but guess not.
Well, there are a couple of things to remember. You want your oil to be warm (170-200). If your oil is too cold, you lose efficiency, so HP goes does, TQ goes down, gas mileage goes down, etc. So just by slapping a oil cooler on the front of the motor, will actually cool the oil too much. That is why Musashi asked those questions. If you are not building a track car or some high HP build, you want something that will not pull all the heat out of the oil. So a stock oil cooler (that uses antifreeze to warm and cool the oil), or a radiator style with a thermostat to allow the oil to warm up before you try and cool it off. The other thing that Musashi is saying, is that for a DD that are better places to spend your money. A better water cooling system is a great place. After having a real water temp gauge in my wrx, I realized how small that system really is. Any time the air temp was over 80, my water temps NEVER dropped below 200. Once you get up in the 100+ degree days you were driving around with 220+ water temps. Then you want to turn on the AC?? Haha, thats when the freakouts start because the stock water temp gauge NEVER MOVED. A bigger radiator, some better cooling fans and everything was in check. Russ
