Oil Cooler

[fjmuurling]

Hello,

Yesterday I tried to remove the oil coolers from the car as i'm in the process of renewing my AC installation (Condensor, Compressor, Drier and Hoses. Maybe the Expansion Valve. The Evaporator is OK) which resulted in a damaged LH oilcooler. I could have cut away a part of the lip of the radiatorundertray which fouls with the oil coolers but didn't do it. I liked to have the oil coolers out of the way so I could remove the last parts of the oilcooler ducting in order to remove/renew various broken/sheared bolts and fixings.

The big question is: Does anybody know of a suitable aftermarket replacement or is a LOTUS only item or does anybody have any experience with the SJSportscars part. I tried using the forum search function but couldn't find anything. (I used oilcooler, +oil +cooler in the search function)

Many thanks in advance,

Freek

BTW: The car is a 1990 Turbo SE LHD.

PS: Anybody interested in a guide/pictorial about the AC renewal ?? (if yes than I will make one).

[chandrab]

While your in there you might want to add an oil thermostat...both Hayden and Mocal both made oil thermostats that fit where the filter goes.

I'd be interested in seeing your AC tutorial...it's on my to-do list.

-Chandra

91SE

[Daniel]

PNM do aftermarket coolers with 2 fixing brackets for half the price of the lotus ones

[ralphw]

Freek

Are your coolers such that they enter in at the bottom on one side and out of the top on the other with a second mounting boss above the entry point on the top of the cooler. If so I had a new one made for me by a motorsport specialist who makes special coolers radiators etc to order. When we examined the old cooler we found that the 2 top rows of the cooler were virtually doing nothing due to the position of the mounting boss so we moved the boss out 8mm to improve the oil flow in the cooler. Cost me

[fjmuurling]

Daniel thanks for your info I will send them an email.

Chandra, I will do a guide/pictorial I will start posting soon however upcoming week it's my working week and I have very irregular working hours. I have a brand new oil thermostat for some time lying around which I tried fitting it before but I ran into a small problem namely the threaded part on which the oilfilter screws is to short or fitted to deep into the engine block. My thermostat is a little bit thicker than the original sandwich plate hence the fitting problems (which can be overcome).

Freek

Sorry ralph didn't see your answer when I wrote my previous answer. My coolers are exactly the way you describe them, any more information is welcome.

Many thanks in advance Freek

[Malc Holmes]

I have used the SJ part on my 89 SE. Looked identical to the lotus part from what I remember and fitted fine.

Malc

[bzguy]

Hi Freek :

this is SJ's reference if I'm not mistaking :

OIL COOLER, SE & S4 & GT3 (two per car) EACH 149.00 SJ082K0007

They're great at SJ ! Quick, correct, and do have a lot in stock ! And the pound is low

[ralphw]

Freek

Had mine made by PACE Products Ltd, Homefield Road Industrial Estate, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 8QP, Tel +44 1440 760960, www.paceproducts.co.uk. The contact is Wayne Mathurin, he dealt with me. Looking at the invoice I think they coded the cooler as 19326.

Word of warning however. They will build the cooler to suit your needs so be careful to think about how you want to connect the pipes to the cooler. If the oil hoses and connectors havent been changed, they will be 5/8BSP connectors. This is an old spec fitting and a right b**t**d to get hold off so if you have changed your fittings Or intend to) ensure you tell them at the time of order as the spigots will be welded on. If you tell Wayne he made one for me he may remember. Mine were 5/8BSP and I had the bottom one made slightly longer than the original (matched the top)for some unknown reason at the time, so you may also need to specify a slightly shorter bottom spigot. Also as I stated above, I had the top bolt fixing moved out 8mm from the original as it improved the oil flow in the cooler.

If you decide to go this way, I still have my old cooler so if he hasn't logged the details, I can always drop it in for a patern as PACE are only a couple of minutes down the road and he has (had) my number.

These guys do a good job, and are heavily involved in motorsport so they know cars quite well (I think they also supply to F1). In addition if memory serves me right, (it is a long time ago) they did the dry sump kits for the Sunbeam Lotus and I think the first Esprit Turbo.

Cheers

Ralph

[fjmuurling]

Thx everybody lots of usefull info,

at the moment i'm waiting for a quote (oilcooler and more parts) from SJSportscars (probably will call them tomorrow), they confirmed that their OIL COOLER, SE & S4 & GT3 SJ082K0007 is a straight replacement for a 1990 SE Turbo.

Freek

PS: Ralph, your offer of dropping your old cooler at PACE for use as a template if needed is much appreciated and I like to keep it as a backupplan if that is ok for you.

Freek

[ralphw]

Freek

Fine with me, however they may have still got the design filed under ref 19326. Let me know.

Cheers

Ralph

[PAUL GURNEY]

Hi Freek

Just found this thread.

I purchased 2 new oil coolers from sj last year

[david]

Hi Freek.

Dodgy got his oil cooler from SJ I think, but has had a recent problem.

See this thread - http://www.lotusespritforum.com/forums/ind...c=21196&hl=

Make sure your Pressure relief valve is fitted and OK.

[fjmuurling]

Thanks everybody for all the information,

A new oilcooler with additional parts is underway now from SJSportscars. I hope I only need one cooler number 2 still has to be removed that is one bolt and one thin nut, the hoses came off without any problems. I hope to find out next week.

Freek

David: thanks for the tip. I did't blow my oilcooler I just tried to remove it.

Edited January 8, 2009 by fjmuurling

[medida]

I needed to replace both my oil coolers and the oil cooler lines from an accident. Checked all over to try and find the most reasonable $. Setrab makes these custom for Lotus....so they will not sell to an individual (that is, the oil cooler is proprietary to Lotus). I'm in the US, so I also looked at having some custom made (around $500 each...which is way less than Lotus....but more that what I wanted to pay). Ended up using some off the shelf aviation oil coolers. They are an 1 inch thicker and a little narrower, so they do not have to be angled but can be positioned perpendicular to the flow. Both oil fittings came off the top. Instead of running the connecting oil line thru the radiator area, I ran it outside on the frame (near where the radiators are). The coolers have more cooling surface area than the setrab....and since perpendicular to the flow, I expect have at least equal, it not better, performance. I needed to slightly modify the lower oil cooler duct. As you know, the std duct has an indent that blocks the air between the top of the duct and the bottom of the oil cooler. I needed to cut this out and then reposition it, so that it became a "well", so I was able to gain another 1 inch of height. The oil coolers was a PosiTech International inc P20005C. Here is a url that has some specs and pictures http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/positech.php

what sold me was the price (less than $160 each).

Am very pleased that I did this, as they work great and saved alot of money vs getting the Lotus units. If interested in more details or pics, contact me offline

dlgsmith2@yahoo.com

Dean

[ralphw]

Dean

Good info. The Lotus coolers are a silly price which is why I got PACE make mine plus the position of the boss in the top of the Setrab cooler restricts the flow to the top 2 rows in the cooler. I was able to resolve this at the same time. I would advise anyone that it they are changing their hoses at the same time, to get away from the 5/8 BSP connectors. There are plenty of companies around that can supply a more up to date modern connector that is easier to source, eg Speedflow link attached

http://www.speedflow.co.uk/

Regards

Ralph

[fjmuurling]

Oil cooler number 2 is underway from SJSportscars, they are a straight replacement for the ones in my 1990 SE, so my oilcooler problem is solved now, however I may have to replace 1 of the oil hoses (if so I will do the two of them) because a piece of sheared off aluminium (ex old oilcooler) remained behind in one of the couplings and until know i haven't been able to remove it.

Freek

Edited January 17, 2009 by fjmuurling