When To Upgrade

[myRB25DETT]

Hi .. Basically my questions are, when do i need to upgrade my oil cooler and radiator?? Mods are are, full exhaust, nistuned, fmic, all the basic mods + coilovers...Is it ok to upgrade my stock radiator now? Or stock is fine?? How bout oil cooler does it matter if i put one or not? Will it benifits my car having these 2 upgraded with my current set up?

[045HOW]

Hi .. Basically my questions are, when do i need to upgrade my oil cooler and radiator?? Mods are are, full exhaust, nistuned, fmic, all the basic mods + coilovers...Is it ok to upgrade my stock radiator now? Or stock is fine?? How bout oil cooler does it matter if i put one or not? Will it benifits my car having these 2 upgraded with my current set up?

it would benefit a stock car, so yeah do it if you can.

[R31Nismoid]

What is the car used for?

If its just a daily driver then in all honesty neither are really required at all and you are just burning money for no reason.

[myRB25DETT]

What is the car used for?

If its just a daily driver then in all honesty neither are really required at all and you are just burning money for no reason.

Basically daily, but here and there i do go to the strip.. So just ditch these 2 mods u reckon?? So when is it become necessary to upgrade It to these mods??

Edited August 1, 2011 by myRB25DETT

[gotRICE?]

Upgrade when the factory stuff isnt performing properly.

The stock radiator if in good condition will cope with the track work with the stock Turbo setup, and it will cope perfectly for drag racing. Your only on the throttle for up to 14 seconds:) .

I track mine alot, and everything is fine, with the stock radiator.

I did throw an oil cooler in mind you, because i was in the USA and pieced it together there. Worked out very cheap. I have upgraded to a GT30 recently, so will be keeping a close watch on temps next time to see how they look.

Edited August 1, 2011 by gotRICE?

[R31Nismoid]

Basically daily, but here and there i do go to the strip.. So just ditch these 2 mods u reckon?? So when is it become necessary to upgrade It to these mods??

Strip as in drag strip?

Definately no need. You are only running for 13 seconds or so. You won't get enough heat into anything to be of concern.

Upgrade when you need.

When do you need? When your temps start getting hot. They shouldn't be with your current setup at all. If they are then a good radiator flush should fix it

If you start circuit racing or whatever then a oil cooler is mandatory. But for street driving, stock turbo etc. No need at all.

[myRB25DETT]

Thanks nismoid and gotrice...just a bit worried with the oil temp , before i had the radiator flushed, oil temp sky rocketed... Yes drag strip now and then.. Cheers guys..

[045HOW]

well i think at least get an oil cooler if you can afford it. can only give positive results.

dont they prolong the life of your oil?

[myRB25DETT]

well i think at least get an oil cooler if you can afford it. can only give positive results.

dont they prolong the life of your oil?

Cheers... I know a lot of cars with mild mods , upgraded oil cooler, i guess it wont do anything bad.. Whats the ball park of an oil cooler this days?? And whats the common household name?

[Hanaldo]

well i think at least get an oil cooler if you can afford it. can only give positive results.

dont they prolong the life of your oil?

Mmmm, can also cause problems. I would only ever run an oil cooler with an inline thermostat. Lots of people run them without thermostats so it takes ages to get up to operating temperature, which increases motor wear and tear. So in my opinion, if you have a largely daily driven car using an oil cooler with no thermostat, you're doing more harm than good.

Cheers... I know a lot of cars with mild mods , upgraded oil cooler, i guess it wont do anything bad.. Whats the ball park of an oil cooler this days?? And whats the common household name?

Any good Jap brand. Don't get Chinese. You're probably looking at $700 upwards for a new kit. Which is why if you don't really need it, don't waste the money on it.

You could also take a look at the Hel oil cooler kit which looks like some decent gear. Phil (PM-R33) did a group buy for these; though I doubt he will be doing another one based on how this one went: http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/357901-hel-thermostatic-oil-cooler-kit-group-buy/

[045HOW]

Mmmm, can also cause problems. I would only ever run an oil cooler with an inline thermostat. Lots of people run them without thermostats so it takes ages to get up to operating temperature, which increases motor wear and tear. So in my opinion, if you have a largely daily driven car using an oil cooler with no thermostat, you're doing more harm than good.

yeah my first skyline came with a proper braided line big row jap oil cooler. dunno if it had thermostat. was my daily. nos'd it everywhere and oil was f**kin sweet on change.

[GTScotT]

Oil is the primary cooling system of the motor, I would upgrade this before the radiator and would run quality lubricants and coolant products before bothering to change the stock rad OR adding an oil cooler.

As stated already, you really need to consider whats necessary based on what you use the car for.

[tridentt150v]

Buy some gauges and then monitor water temp and oil temp/pressure, that way you will know if you need to do anything. Take the guesswork out of it!!

[myRB25DETT]

Cheers guys, as i stated before, my oil temp went up pretty quickly if i had 5-10 runs ... I just had my rad flushed.. Oil temp seems to be stable now... I have stock gauges except boost..is it worth changing my gauges too??Which only read boost , oil temp, battery voltage..

Edited August 1, 2011 by myRB25DETT

[Mayuri Krab]

Might be worthwhile getting aftermarket gauges as stock ones aren't known for great accuracy.

[luvpsi]

i bought a set of autometer guages. they are accurate and they are no where near as much as defi's and they work an absolute treat

get some guages so you monitor these fields and not do any uneeded spending

[SargeRX8]

My water temps have been hitting about 89c(its happened twice only, on cool days and easy driving too). On average its 78 - 82C. Ill give her a flush and see how she goes otherwise Ill be upgrading my radiator soon. Bare in mind, I do have aftermarket everything on a stock motor.

As others have said, until it dies or can't do what it should, don't change it.

Defi gauges.... 600 for something a $50 gauge can do. I know what I'll be choosing. Ive got some Auto Platonium gauges. Payed like $200 for a complete set plus holder and all senders. All gauges seem accurate enough.

[Hanaldo]

i bought a set of autometer guages. they are accurate and they are no where near as much as defi's and they work an absolute treat

Defi gauges.... 600 for something a $50 gauge can do. I know what I'll be choosing. Ive got some Auto Platonium gauges. Payed like $200 for a complete set plus holder and all senders. All gauges seem accurate enough.

No love for Defi's, they are so hot though

To compromise, I've got these:

Shadow Pro BF Series. I've got the smoked face (white illumination) on my A-Pillar and the white face (red illumination) in the triple gauge cluster. Read exactly the same as my tuners gauges so they are accurate enough for me. Not exactly cheap, just cheap compared to Defi's

[tridentt150v]

The wonders of modern society - any stepper motor auto ranging gauge is as accurate as you could want and for $50-100 on ebay they are a bargain really. Defi are the pinnacle, but just too exe, you can buy 5 to 10 chinese ebay specials for the price of a Defi. And lately you can still do this and have the Defi name - yep, the china's have made defi copies/knock off's. Even the box they come in looks Defi.

[myRB25DETT]

I just want to use my stock gauge holder, whats the direct fit / bolt on replacement gauges for it??

Edited August 1, 2011 by myRB25DETT