# 1.8T External Oil Cooler DIY



## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

Doing an oil cooler install today and I figured I would do a small DIY so people can see whats involved. Since I am more into chemical inter cooling over a huge FMIC I will be mounting the Oil cooler front and center. 

The oil cooler kit came from DubNutz. DubNutz has awesome customer support and fast shipping. They have various cooler kits as well as lots of other products.
http://www.tdnparts.com/oil-cooler-kit/

The kit consist of a 19row Mocal core, thermostatically controlled sandwich plate adapter, threaded adapter to mount sandwich plate to factory heat exchanger, stainless braided hose, black AN fittings and a mounting kit. The kit is reasonably priced and comes with everything you need to install. The install kit is really a fan mounting kit that has zip cables that run thru the core and then thru the ac condenser/radiator and attach square backing on the inside of the fan shroud. I'm not too much of a fan of those so I made simple brackets. You can go to home depot and buy a four pack of angle brackets that are perfect for mounting. 

Here is the kit.



First you want to start by removing the bumper cover and then the metal reinforcement. 






Remove the oil filter and let the oil drain out of the housing.



Mount the sandwich plate to the factory oil cooler hand tight for the moment.



Now it is time to start making up the AN lines and mocking up the cooler placement. 
If you've never made AN lines before here is a video showing you how to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeeflgGlenY

Start by attaching one of the straight fittings to one end of the supplied hose(90* fitting in the pic). 



Then screw the line into sandwich plate and route it around the front for mock up. 



Find some mechanics wire or something to hang the oil cooler from the radiator core support. 



Once you have that line routed around the core support, mark the length by putting a piece of electrical tape around the hose. Remove the hose from the sandwich plate and 
and attach the other straight AN fitting to the opposite end of the stainless line. Then attach same end to the sandwich plate and route it around to the cooler and mark it with tape also. Then remove the line and you should be left with this...



Instead of cutting the hose where the tape marks are I like to split the difference and cut it in the middle. That way you know the lines are long enough and if you run into problems cutting and need to make a second cut(due to fraying of the stainless wrap) it won't make your lines too short. Once you cut the hose in half go ahead and attach both 90* AN fittings. Route them around and attach them to the cooler. 



Next you need to test fit the metal bumper reinforcement and mark where you need to do some trimming. 



Cut bumper to make clearance for the cooler.



Grind the edges smooth and toss a little black paint on so it doesn't rust. The cuts don't have to be precision. Keep it tight.



There is some notching that you can do on the radiator core support to allow the lines to wrap around easier and save some hose length. First cut off this piece...



Now the lines can lay closer to the core support.



Then I notched a good bit off the corner for line clearance. You could install this kit without cutting most likely.





The install kit from Dubnutz has foam pieces to put in between the oil cooler and the AC condenser. I put four on the back and two on the bottom. 



Now you are ready to make the mounting brackets. Hold the brackets up to the bottom of the oil cooler and mark the holes to be drilled on the radiator core support. The brackets from home depot have pre drilled holes but you may have to make them bigger or slot them a little. 
Here you can see the brackets mounted the bottom of the oil cooler and core support. Bend the brackets so its holding the cooler up tight against the AC condenser. I also install small rubber pieces in between the the brackets and the cooler to help with vibrations. 



Now go back and remove the sandwich plate and the lines attaching to it. The fittings that screw into the sandwich plate need to have some teflon tape put on them so they down't leak. Wrap both sides and reinstall into the plate and torque properly. Attach the lines to the sandwich plate before mounting it to the oil filter housing. The lines are easier to torque with the sandwich plate in your hands vs mounted to the oil filter housing. Make sure to put teflon tape on all connection points.



Now mount the sandwich plate to the factory cooler and torque properly. Make sure the factory cooler is clean and dry first. Then install a clean oil filter. I use the BIG filters and there is still plenty of clearance.



I take some scrap rubber hose and cut pieces and wrap them around the stainless braided line where it touches corners and other things to avoid wear and hose failure. 



Now its time to get the the metal bumper reinforcement mounted back up. You should have two square foam pieces left in the kit. Cut them in half and put them on the front of the cooler so they will be in between the cooler and the bumper brace. This will also help hold the cooler in place at the top. 



Here is the metal bumper mounted, make sure there are pieces of rubber wrapped around the stainless line so it doesn't rub on the bumper support. It's a perfect fit so the bumper support is holding the top of the core with the foam pads eliminating the need for top mounting brackets. 



Now that its mounted, crank the car and let it run until in reaches operating temp and check for leaks. It would be ideal to road test the car without the bumper and recheck for leaks after higher oil pressure has been seen by the system.

Reinstall the bumper cover and lower grills and your done.



The cooler is not majorly visible.



Continue to monitor for leaks for a few days. :beer::wave:


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## hondss (Mar 23, 2012)

Curious on why you are adding the oil cooler. Why is your oil running so hot?


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## scirockalot8v (Sep 16, 2006)

Nice. I've always wanted to do an oil cooler. Curious on how much it changes the oil capacity by.


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## woodywoods86 (Jul 29, 2008)

hondss said:


> Curious on why you are adding the oil cooler. Why is your oil running so hot?


Reduced load on the coolant system. Along with a big kahuna filter, you increase your oil volume by 1 liter. If you get coolant in your oil you know it is a headgasket failure. You have a reason to actually monitor your oil temp. 

Anndddddd it is just another fun setup that not that many ppl have


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## KmosK04 (Dec 18, 2012)

Great job thanks a lot for the pictures!


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

Thanks guys:beer:
Any high performance engine can benefit from an external oil cooler. Increased oil temperatures will cause a drop in pressure and will decrease the ability for the engine to be properly lubricated. 

The cooler added roughly about 1-1.5 more liters of oil into the system. I had already changed the oil a week prior so I just removed the filter and trashed it. After installing a new filter and running the car I had to add 2 liters of oil. I'm sure that BIG filter takes about .5 liters so the cooler and the lines take up about 1-1.5liters give or take a little.


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

woodywoods86 said:


> Anndddddd it is just another fun setup that not that many ppl have


Haha:laugh::thumbup:


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## Three3Se7en (Jul 2, 2007)

Thanks for the DIY thread broski! :beer::beer::beer:

DIY's take too long to do for me. :laugh:


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## jstnGTI (Jan 30, 2012)

Why did you leave the factory oil cooler there?


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## [email protected] (Jan 2, 2009)

You don't want to remove the factory cooler. One, it's very efficient at dumping heat into the coolant. Two- it's also very efficient at helping the engine oil get UP to operating temperature quickly, which is very important on a street car. 

People love to hate those OE heat exchangers, but they make a lot of sense. 

We use the larger 30v S4 OE heat exchanger on the Bonneville car and don't have any issues with oil temperatures- no other cooler.


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## jstnGTI (Jan 30, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> You don't want to remove the factory cooler. One, it's very efficient at dumping heat into the coolant. Two- it's also very efficient at helping the engine oil get UP to operating temperature quickly, which is very important on a street car.
> 
> People love to hate those OE heat exchangers, but they make a lot of sense.
> 
> We use the larger 30v S4 OE heat exchanger on the Bonneville car and don't have any issues with oil temperatures- no other cooler.


Interesting perspective. Doesn't the thermostat in the sandwhich plate serve that same purpose?


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## Ken's Mom (Jan 23, 2007)

jstnGTI said:


> Interesting perspective. Doesn't the thermostat in the sandwhich plate serve that same purpose?


no. the OEM "cooler" is really a heat exchanger to equalize the temps in the oil and coolant.

the thermo-plate he used will only send oil to the heat exchanger core (his oil cooler) when it reaches a certain temp, but will have nothing to do with allowing the coolant and oil to heat up together. coolant heats faster than the oil does.

using the OEM piece, it lets the oil heat faster using heat from the coolant. and when hot it helps regulate oil temp by letting the radiator (via coolant thru the OEM piece) help take some of the heat out.


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

Well done Matt! :thumbup:

I'm in the process of doing the same for my car. If I knew, I would've ordered this kit. I already have heat exchanger plus steel braided lines, only need to get a sandwich plate and some fitting crimped at my local hydraulic hose place.


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

Marcus_Aurelius said:


> We'll done Matt! :thumbup:
> 
> I'm in the process of doing the same for my car. If I knew, I would've ordered this kit. I already have heat exchanger plus steel braided lines, only need to get a sandwich plate and some fitting crimped at my local hydraulic hose place.


Thanks! I had some parts laying around and was going to piece a kit together and then Jeff turned me on to these kits. For the money I thought they were a good deal and good quality. I was also looking at a heat exchanger with fan set up to keep from putting anything in front of the radiator. I'll never put a FMIC on the car, if anything a solid AWIC set-up so I decided to toss it up front for maximum air flow...

Thanks *4ceFed4* for turning me on to the Dubnutz kit!:beer::beer:


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

Twopnt016v said:


> I'll never put a FMIC on the car, if anything a solid AWIC set-up so I decided to toss it up front for maximum air flow...


Same philosophy here! Seriously limiting airflow to the radiator doesn't sit well with me and the kind of abuse I inflict on the motor. I can't run AWIC (and water injection ) anymore because I'm changing racing class, and still, I'm building a top mount intercooler instead of going with a front mount.


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## woodywoods86 (Jul 29, 2008)

Great DIY you should add in the need to change the housing stud too. You can either get one from the dealership or go to a local junkyard and get one off of an 8v.

And correct me if I am wrong but I thought you didn't worry about oil warm up time with multi viscosity oil (0w-40, 5w-40) it is already a lower viscosity during warm up.


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## spartiati (May 19, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> You don't want to remove the factory cooler. One, it's very efficient at dumping heat into the coolant. Two- it's also very efficient at helping the engine oil get UP to operating temperature quickly, which is very important on a street car.
> 
> People love to hate those OE heat exchangers, but they make a lot of sense.
> 
> We use the larger 30v S4 OE heat exchanger on the Bonneville car and don't have any issues with oil temperatures- no other cooler.


Pete what part number was that 30v oil cooler? Also is it a simple bolt on or did it need to be modified? My car is apart at the moment and this would make for an excellent Oem+ upgrade.


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## 4ceFed4 (Apr 3, 2002)

Twopnt016v said:


> Thanks! I had some parts laying around and was going to piece a kit together and then Jeff turned me on to these kits. For the money I thought they were a good deal and good quality. I was also looking at a heat exchanger with fan set up to keep from putting anything in front of the radiator. I'll never put a FMIC on the car, if anything a solid AWIC set-up so I decided to toss it up front for maximum air flow...
> 
> Thanks *4ceFed4* for turning me on to the Dubnutz kit!:beer::beer:


Glad I was able to help point you in the right direction for this project. You did a great job above with that DIY. I did a bad job documenting my install into the lower drivers side, but I probably should get the photos I took up here at some point. I was showing DougLoBue tonight how well the pull fan I have does at cooling down the exchanger while the front bumper was off, but with placement like yours it probably isn't necessary.


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## Nevaeh_Speed (Jul 9, 2004)

Good right up. I did mine a few months back before heading to Vegas with outside temps of 109F. Temp was at the highest 200 on normal driving. On the way back I moved the oil cooler to where the stock side mount goes, and it dropped the temp 15 degree. I would say the FMIC and the oil cooler and then the radiator was causing was to much heat soak. I normally now see 180F max. An oil cooler is worth every penny, especially with a BT car.:wave:


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

woodywoods86 said:


> Great DIY you should add in the need to change the housing stud too. You can either get one from the dealership or go to a local junkyard and get one off of an 8v.
> 
> And correct me if I am wrong but I thought you didn't worry about oil warm up time with multi viscosity oil (0w-40, 5w-40) it is already a lower viscosity during warm up.


Are you talking about the stud the oil filter attached to? The kit came with a stud that screws on to the factory stud. Even with multi viscosity oil, without the factory cooler in place the oil would take a long time get up to temp. It is not recommended to run without the factory "cooler" on street car or in colder climates.


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

Nevaeh_Speed said:


> Good right up. I did mine a few months back before heading to Vegas with outside temps of 109F. Temp was at the highest 200 on normal driving. On the way back I moved the oil cooler to where the stock side mount goes, and it dropped the temp 15 degree. I would say the FMIC and the oil cooler and then the radiator was causing was to much heat soak. I normally now see 180F max. An oil cooler is worth every penny, especially with a BT car.:wave:


Interesting. I've seen a few people note the lack of air flow to the finder liner. It must have been pretty crammed up front with a FMIC and the cooler core:laugh:.


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## 4ceFed4 (Apr 3, 2002)

The stud woodywoods refers to is only necessary when deleting the factory heat exchanger, otherwise you just use the thread on adapter that comes with all sandwich plates.

Spartiati I looked into just upgrading the factory unit at first and stumbled on this great thread over at tdi forums with all the part numbers you'll need: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=78993


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## All_Euro (Jul 20, 2008)

S4 cooler - PN: 028 117 021E

http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B5_S4--2.7T/Search/SiteSearch/Oil_Cooler/ES271002/


Great input and nice DIY :thumbup:


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## woodywoods86 (Jul 29, 2008)

Twopnt016v said:


> Are you talking about the stud the oil filter attached to? The kit came with a stud that screws on to the factory stud. Even with multi viscosity oil, without the factory cooler in place the oil would take a long time get up to temp. It is not recommended to run without the factory "cooler" on street car or in colder climates.


Yes that is the stud to which I am referring. Awesome that it came in the kit, I didn't see in your layout picture :thumbup:

On the note of using this on a street car, not sure I completely agree. I have been using this setup with a 13 row cooler for about a year in San Francisco (avg temp 60F-70F). Now because I cannot say with absolute certainty I will not. But now I am going to have to go do a time to temp test with my audi and jetta. One is on OEM cooler and one is on thermostatic plate. I can post numbers by the end of the week (jetta is on stands right now :laugh



Twopnt016v said:


> Interesting. I've seen a few people note the lack of air flow to the finder liner. It must have been pretty crammed up front with a FMIC and the cooler core:laugh:.


I did this too! I was running anywhere from 210F-220F with heat exchanger in the drive fender with the FK vent ducts (terrible idea), then 205F-210F with no vents ducts, and now 180F-203F in front of the consender. These temp ranges depended on what I was doing i.e. cruising, traffic, stop n go, and going up hills.


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

woodywoods86 said:


> Yes that is the stud to which I am referring. Awesome that it came in the kit, I didn't see in your layout picture :thumbup:
> 
> On the note of using this on a street car, not sure I completely agree. I have been using this setup with a 13 row cooler for about a year in San Francisco (avg temp 60F-70F). Now because I cannot say with absolute certainty I will not. But now I am going to have to go do a time to temp test with my audi and jetta. One is on OEM cooler and one is on thermostatic plate. I can post numbers by the end of the week (jetta is on stands right now :laugh
> 
> ...


Yeah post up your findings:thumbup:
I had also read in your thread about how you were considering moving it from the fender liner area. When doing a bunch of research, everywhere i read recommended keeping the factory heat exchanger. Dubnutz can customize the kit with parts if you wanted to remove the factory heat exchanger. They also advise against removing it for street cars and colder areas. As long as your oil is heating up fast enough is all that really matters.:thumbup:


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## INA (Nov 16, 2005)

jstnGTI said:


> Interesting perspective. Doesn't the thermostat in the sandwhich plate serve that same purpose?


Technically it does when used parasitically. The key word in the text above was "street car" or daily driver.

The OEM heat exchanger serves 2 major purposes:

Bring the motor oil up to operating temperature quickly (which is why 99% of the cars on the road today come with some form of heat exchanger from the factory)
Keep the oil temperature regulated as the oil will take slightly longer to warm up than the coolant. For e.g. If the needle in your dash for coolant temp is pegged @ 90*C then expect the oil temperature to be not too far behind.

Before you add an external oil cooler or a larger heat exchanger you need to ask yourself these questions:

is your OEM heat exchanger at its maximum potential capacity? 
is your Oil Temperature at a point of needing a secondary system to bring it down to desired temperature?
what climate do you live in? Is the ambient temperature favourable to bring the motor up to operating temperature as quickly as possible?
Do you prefer OEM heat exchangers or do you prefer external oil coolers? 
Do you want to run your External oil cooler parasitically over your OEM heat exchanger or completely independent?

Once you have answered those questions then you can decide what you need for Oil cooling.

Volkswagen designed the OEM heat exchangers to work with your motor in stock form which is why engines with larger capacity have larger heat exchangers. The OEM units work great if you are running K04 or similar turbochargers but anyone that is running a GT28 turbocharger or similar and does track events / Auto-X will tell you that oil temperature is not ideal. i.e. it sucks.

I personally dislike OEM heat exchangers as they are prone to failure and when they do fail , it is not a simple process to repair and usually by the time you realize your coolant and oil are mixing , the damage is allready done.

That being said , if you daily drive your vehicle and hardly ever go to the track then I would not recommend going with an external oil cooler or a larger capacity heat exchanger for that matter period. Why spend money if you don't have too? If you track your car and you need additional cooling AND you are going to be SPENDING money on a system , I would recommend an external oil cooler (Mocal 19 row with thermostatic plate) over an OEM unit from a B5 S4/2.0 TDI/etc any day. 

$200 for a larger OEM system or $350 for a system that can run as a parasite over your OEM system? Seems like a no brainer to me unless you are into that OEM+ theme 

Go with a system that will not fail and has been proven time and time again to work. 
Food for thought but most of the newer motors (EA888 , EA113 , etc) don't have the luxury of bolting on a larger heat exchanger so external is the only option when they run hot at the tracks (and they will).
- Issam


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## Nevaeh_Speed (Jul 9, 2004)

Twopnt016v said:


> Interesting. I've seen a few people note the lack of air flow to the finder liner. It must have been pretty crammed up front with a FMIC and the cooler core:laugh:.


I have a r32 bumper w/o grills and no liner so it's a straight shot to the cooler.


Also I live in the Desert of Southern California and there are 80 degree days in winter. Yesterday it was 84. And in summer 110+ is an everyday thing.umpkin:


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## spartiati (May 19, 2008)

My OEM heat exchanger is screwed. That's why I figured I throw in a larger s4 for now. Getting one for free from a buddy who sold his s4. Can't beat that price. It'll cost me the price of the gasket and some work that was going to happen regardless.


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## groggory (Apr 21, 2003)

Adding to FAQ


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

groggory said:


> Adding to FAQ


:beer::beer:


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## lorge1989 (Sep 3, 2008)

Anyone ever run with the regular sandwich, non thermostatic plate, and see the results? I have an oil cooled (only) turbo and other parts making it tough on my oil, so I'm looking to put an external kit on. I bought the kit with the non-thermostatic sandwich plate, and am about to buy the thermostatic one but I would like some input first. 

If all you have to say is I run the thermostatic and its good, I don't care. I will most likely be getting the other one, but I want to hear from anyone who is not running the thermostatic.


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

I am using a non-thermostatic sandwich plate for my cooler as well. I haven't tested its effects yet, but I expect longer warm up period. It's not a daily driver and not really a problem for me, but something to consider.


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## lorge1989 (Sep 3, 2008)

Marcus_Aurelius said:


> I am using a non-thermostatic sandwich plate for my cooler as well. I haven't tested its effects yet, but I expect longer warm up period. It's not a daily driver and not really a problem for me, but something to consider.


I willing to deal with longer heat up period, I wait probably too long already before I drive the car hard. I actually think a non-thermostatic one might compliment the coolant oil cooler/heater well.


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## sponcar (Feb 5, 2010)

I wonder how they're rated... I've found oil cooler cores from 6-30 rows. I'm sure I could fit a 3" wide core behind the grill but I wonder if the small core would be enough?


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

lorge1989 said:


> I willing to deal with longer heat up period, I wait probably too long already before I drive the car hard. I actually think a non-thermostatic one might compliment the coolant oil cooler/heater well.


Jeff aka 4ceFed4 has run without a thermostatic plate for a long time so you could pm him some questions. I will say that when I installed this kit summer was coming to end and ambient temps weren't getting above say 60*f. During that time it was taking an extremely long amount of time get the oil up to temp even with the thermostatic plate. As a matter of fact I would drive 30 min on the highway( my daily work commute) and temps would not get above 130-140*. Just to put this out there, the way the thermostatically controlled plate works is different from the way a tstat works in the cooling system. A certain amount of oil is always allowed to run thru the cooler and when the oil gets up to 180* the tstat becomes fully open. That way there is not a dramatic drop in temps caused by the tstat suddenly opening. So another words it already takes a decent amount of time already to get the oil up to temp even with a thermostatically controlled plate. You really shouldn't be beating on the engine until the oil gets up to at least 160* and that could become almost impossible for someone who trailers the car to the track and tries to warm it up in the parking lot(oil doesn't really warm up by idling). We had some really cold winter here and the oil wasn't getting past 125* on my daily commute so I disconnected the cooler but I am about to hook it back up today actually. I guess it all depends on what the car will be used for but I think I tstat plate is necessary. I know Max aka Marcus_Aurelius drives to his events so maybe he has plenty of time to get the car in the safe running range. I'm sure once he is back up and running he will chime back in on how it is treating him....


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## 4ceFed4 (Apr 3, 2002)

I ran a non-thermostatic all last year with the factory heat exchanger still connected and it worked well. I think that the only time you'll run into issues is if you drive the car during the winter months in an area that gets cold. Even in that case you could restrict airflow getting to the cooler during those times and still get away with the non-thermo plate. 

Placement of the oil cooler is key for how effective they are at any size. My 19 row Setrab was still letting oil get too hot with placement where a factory SMIC would go during autox use. Adding a cheap 9" electric fan off Ebay dropped temps a consistent 20+°. At road course speeds, oil stayed very cool and I just left the fan off.


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

^^HAHA I just mentioned you and there you are...looks like we were typing at the same time. I knew you had been running that way and could offer up some experience. What's up Jeff! Hopefully everything is going your way:beer::beer:


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## 4ceFed4 (Apr 3, 2002)

Twopnt016v said:


> ^^HAHA I just mentioned you and there you are...looks like we were typing at the same time. I knew you had been running that way and could offer up some experience. What's up Jeff! Hopefully everything is going your way:beer::beer:


What's up bud! The current build is going well, but was definitely ambitious for how bad the winter was this year. Probably another month to go before she's running. I promise the new car will be nothing like what this forum has ever seen.

Maybe it was just the setup I had, but I never had a problem getting oil up to 160-180 just idling. I am deleting the factory heat exchanger for this year, so I'll be able to comment soon on the effect that has. Also I'm switching to a Mocal 19-row from the Setrab I had last year, but they seem to have identical construction so that shouldn't really factor in.


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## not SoQuick (Jan 8, 2004)

thanks for the write up :thumbup:
I think this is something that is overlooked all too often on BT cars.
Have any of you guys noticed reduced coolant temps at all?


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## 18T_BT (Sep 15, 2005)

Sorry if this was mentioned already. If you are doing this mod, why aren't people removing the stock oil cooler mainly for simplicity sake?


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## groggory (Apr 21, 2003)

18T_BT said:


> Sorry if this was mentioned already. If you are doing this mod, why aren't people removing the stock oil cooler mainly for simplicity sake?


The coolant helps bring oil temps into operating range quicker, which is good for daily drivers.


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## craigalangibson (Dec 27, 2003)

18T_BT said:


> Sorry if this was mentioned already. If you are doing this mod, why aren't people removing the stock oil cooler mainly for simplicity sake?


If you keep the stock oil cooler when you run an external oil cooler and a thermostatic sandwich plate the engine will warm up more quickly. The stock oil cooler/heat exchanger is small and designed for daily driving. If you completely removed it, your engine would take a lot longer to reach its operating temperature. It would put more strain on the engine, especially in colder temperatures. Coolant runs through the oil cooler/heat exchanger as well. Have you ever had a thermostat fail? I did a couple of winters ago and it really sucked waiting for the car to warm up.

I suppose if you have a purpose built track car and lived somewhere warm you could remove the stock oil cooler and wouldn't have any issues.

This is my understanding, but I'd be curious to see some other comments.


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## H100VW (May 10, 2001)

I took the VW heat exchanger out of my GTI G60 and the oil was obviously doing a great job of heating up the water. :laugh: 

Winters were painful, the water never getting far out of the white. I even went to the trouble of putting cardboard in front of the rad. Still had to wear gloves and a coat some days and that was in sunny England.

It really needed a smaller radiator to work better. Leaving the heat exchanger in wasn't really an option due to clearance for the oil filter being so tight


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## Shortie8183 (Jul 13, 2014)

I bought and installed one the other day? Because I hard it would fix my problem, I'm having oil go to my water reservoir..? So I replaced my was gasket an sent the head head off.. And I bought the new f21 frankentubo. Still having oil go to my water res. any other thing that could be causing this? Compression test read fine. No cracks/leaks. Maybe I need to change the oem oil cooler? I went wit the kit like you did ^. Anyone?


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## lorge1989 (Sep 3, 2008)

Shortie8183 said:


> I bought and installed one the other day? Because I hard it would fix my problem, I'm having oil go to my water reservoir..? So I replaced my was gasket an sent the head head off.. And I bought the new f21 frankentubo. Still having oil go to my water res. any other thing that could be causing this? Compression test read fine. No cracks/leaks. Maybe I need to change the oem oil cooler? I went wit the kit like you did ^. Anyone?


Pull the old oil cooler off and pressure test it. More than likely that is the issue.


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## 4ceFed4 (Apr 3, 2002)

I have a working 1.8T OEM exchanger I just pulled if that ends up being the problem.


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## the_mad_rabbit (Aug 10, 2003)

[email protected] said:


> You don't want to remove the factory cooler. One, it's very efficient at dumping heat into the coolant. Two- it's also very efficient at helping the engine oil get UP to operating temperature quickly, which is very important on a street car.
> People love to hate those OE heat exchangers, but they make a lot of sense.


I don't own a 1.8t (but a 20 year old 2.0T  ) and I agree with your sentiments. However... when dealing with older vehicles, like I do, the coolant lines going to the oil cooler are suddenly becoming NLA/quite difficult to source, therefore forcing many of us older vw owners to have to resort to an external oil cooler setup. Case in point is my 1.9TD (AAZ) that was never sold in North America that I would love to have run the factory oil cooler setup, but I can't because I can not find any parts for the darn setup. 

-AJ


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## sponcar (Feb 5, 2010)

4ceFed4 said:


> Placement of the oil cooler is key for how effective they are at any size. My 19 row Setrab was still letting oil get too hot with placement where a factory SMIC would go during autox use. Adding a cheap 9" electric fan off Ebay dropped temps a consistent 20+°. At road course speeds, oil stayed very cool and I just left the fan off.


Have anyone tried to run a thermostatic fun? It basically have a thermostat in one end of the oil cooler core that once it reaches 180* it trigger the relay and turn on the fan to cool things down.


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## wfbsoffner (Jul 4, 2012)

Wassup man I got a couple of question if you could text me would be awesome 407-432-8060


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## scirockalot8v (Sep 16, 2006)

dont post your phone # on a public forum

Sent from my bottom end.


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## TurboSilver311 (Jan 9, 2014)

Bump. Cannot see the photos anymore :/


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## Marcus_Aurelius (Mar 1, 2012)

There is not much to it, pick a kit or put one together, remove your oil filter and screw the sandwich plate, find a location for the exchanger and run the lines.


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## AudiTTRRR (Jul 8, 2019)

*images not visible*

Hi there, is it possible to post the images again of the sandwich plate adapter with the heat exchanger together? Would appreciate it very much.


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