GUIDE: How to fit an Oil Cooler (Badly)

[Ian]

Well my hands have thawed out and here are the pics, along with a little description of how I went about fitting (read bodged) it on.

Firstly a note regarding the pictures. The fitting is not pleasing to the eye nor will it win any concourse competitions. It is fitted, purely for purpose, behind the bumper so cannot be seen. Yes the hoses probably are a little too long, but its what was supplied, so I have to make do till I can be bothered to do anything about it. Most of the photos make the cooler look like its at an angle. Thats because it is. Ever so slightly. Also the car is jacked up on one side only.

Well if you still reading and havent clicked on a thread with pictures of nicely fitted stuff then here is the little guide/pictures.

Firstly remove front bumper. Now the book will tell you that its two bolts on each side and remove. Well, try three on one side, one on the other and three underneath. Done. Also because I went on a bit of a removing rampage I took off the lights and grill. You donâ??t need to do this. It just looks cool

You'll have something like this

Now you'll see what space you have to fit the cooler. As you can see my Rallye seems to only have one fan. Lovely. Just the place.

Now get angry with the Dremel, and remove anything that looks like it might be in the way. Look out for random wires and the radiator fins.... This is what you might end up with


Next scratch your head a little and ponder where the cooler will go. Here looks about right


Now its bolted in using the flimsy metal strips supplied in the kit. Yes its wonky, get over it.
Its bolted through the front metal cross member thingy. Now despite being about a Gnat's hair thick it is very strong, causing two of my 50p drill bits to break. Eventually got through, almost going through the randomly placed electrical loom that runs under it.

Next thing to do is stand back, curse that it looks shit, then crack on because you cant be arsed to sort it out. Fit the awkwardly long hoses to the cooler. Now a Warning! DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN the fixings on the cooler. The hexes are soldered onto the cooler and are as a result as flimsy as blu-tack. Hand tighten, then curse because you havent got a big enough spanner to go round the fixings. Stand around looking for stuff to bodge it on then realise you've got two adjustable spanners laying around that'll do the trick. Nip it up and quarter turn to finish. Make sure the hose is bang in line before doing so or when you turn the car on you'll realise that you messed up.

Now the easy(ier) bit.

Get underneath, no need to drain all the oil, just whip off the filter, catch what leaks, attach thermostatic sandwich plate (rubber seal to block) hand tighten extension bolt that goes in the middle. Then hand screw filter, tightening it all up like you would normally. Now fit hoses like before. Curse a few times because you cant get the angle right. Soldier on and you will be rewarded with the familiar feeling of a tightening nut. Lovely job.

Rubbish photo because access is pants.

Also while you are down there, make a mental note to clean the under side of the engine. Its disgusting. Looks like a greasy spoon caféâ??s fryer.

Now its all plumbed in and connected, tidy up the hoses a little. Now remember I said they were a little long?

Yes, yes they are.

You'll find you have to add about half a litre of your favourite lubricant to the engine before you run the car up to temp. Check to see if the cooler eventually fills with oil. Now the leaflet that came with it didnâ??t mention what temperature the thermostat opens at. Internet research will lead you to think its anywhere between 75 and 80 degrees. A little low in my opinion but whatever.

Let it run, fill and check temp and also for leaks. Here you will see if you have fitted the hoses properly, and also if you have inadvertently punched a hole in your radiator. Something I luckily, didnâ??t do. Almost, but not quite.

Let it cool. Check levels. Refit front end. And bingo, one perfectly functional, if horrible to look at oil cooler.



Also looking at that last photo it does look rather wonky. May eventually address that. But, I probably wont as im a lazy git.

Thanks for reading