Oil Cooler Q's +

[DrKrazy]

Ok well after getting my A/C and everything running great, and out comes the 100+ degree days. Well even without running the A/C the RX is getting to 3/4 hot on the highway. Runs halfway just scooting around town. Well checked the radiator and it needs replaced, so have a new one to be picked up today. Since I will be pulling my radiator etc, I think I will finally throw in my flex-a-lite oil cooler (had it for like 8 months now, yea I'm lazy) and take off the clutch fan and replace it with an electric at the same time. Question is anyone else running the flex-a-lite oil cooler? And does the OE Subaru oil filters work with it or am going to a typical chevy 350 oil filter? Yea guess I should just break out the box and read..but again lazy. Going to be a tight fit with A/C condenser also..shew gotta love the weekend projects at 100 degrees outside.

[DrKrazy]

Got the Oil cooler in (just needed an oil filter with a bigger gasket surface than OE). I also had to remove the hood latch support to fit the Oil cooler in, and will have to get a 3 inch piece of metal welded in because the hood is a tad floppy atm. New Radiator in and working great. Electric fan didn't work out since I was an idiot and thought I could just get another Subie A/C fan, well that doesn't fit in front of all the pulleys etc so clutch fan still on there for now. Flogged it hard with the A/C on and barely got over halfway(and that was sitting at a long stop light), stayed well below halfway the whole time while I was moving. So new radiator + oil cooler=Good Stuff!

[TahoeFerrari]

If you still want to put an electric in place of the mechanical fan and do it inexpensively, get an old JY ea81 left side fan. It's only about 2" thick and requires minimal work to mount.

 

II just did it to two spfi ea82's and wired it into the a/c fan relay (and took the right side fan off the a/c relay) so now right side fan runs with radiator thermo switch or manual switch and left side ea81 fan runs with a/c fan relay or manual switch.

 

Only disadvantage is the ea81 fan is not all that powerfull - it only uses about 90 watts of power (6a @ 14v) instead of the 120w that the right fan uses. (If anyone reading this knows of another JY obtainable fan that is less than 2.5" thick that will work for the left side of ea82s, please let me know.)

 

I've havn't clocked too many miles on them yet, but on 90-95 degree days with the a/c off, neither fan runs as long as I'm moving at 25-30 mph with only minimal slow downs (stop signs). With the a/c on at freeway speeds (and 95 degree day), left side fans run when a/c systems tells them to - usually when a/c comp. is running and the right side fan doesn't run at all unless I'm going up a significant hill and then I might get 2/3 to the red. I usually turn the a/c off on a long uphill though because the a/c takes too much power and slows me down.