Experiences with eBay/Amazon oil cooler kits on track

I'm afraid I'll spin a rod bearing or similar if I take my boosted Focus (SVT engine swapped) on track without an oil cooler.  My car barely stayed in temps on track when it was NA on the standard Zetec motor, I'm worried that boost will just be too much for the oil and coolant.
I have plans to retrofit a triple pass jegs rad into the car to take care of the coolant issue. Maybe try to make the OEM one a triple pass with JB weld and some aluminum plate? the junkyard hero in me is coming out....
During my research I saw the the gears and gasoline channel took the same boosted SVT engine, with a turbo, and cooked the oil and had rod knock on the first lap. I'm worried my engine will do the same.... being so similar and all. 
I wanted to know if anyone on here has run those cheap coolers and how they help up on track use. I'd likely have to put a fan on mine since the best spot is taken up by an intercooler

I have a 25 row universal ebay oil cooler and ebay radiator in a 400whp racecar. Runs cooler than the old stock 200hp setup!

Go for it.

In reply to Olemiss540 :

cool, I got a little worried when i read stuff like this in the description.

"The item description was measured by hand, it could have 1-2 inches deviation. Excellent for Modified Street Vehicles, which are Driven Hardly with Minimal Track Use"

btw, what 400whp car are you taking out on track?? I am curious!

The one I have is sold by CXRacing on ebay. 25 row I think, not sure of the exact dimensions but it's fairly large. It's good for a verified 50*F oil temp reduction in my ChampCar Prelude. 

The potential problem here is durability, not temperature drop. If it fails you most certainly will blow the engine and oil the track down for everyone else. Watkins Glen charges $5000.00 to clean the track from a total oil down. How economical is a cheap oil cooler then?

TurnerX19 said:

The potential problem here is durability, not temperature drop. If it fails you most certainly will blow the engine and oil the track down for everyone else. Watkins Glen charges $5000.00 to clean the track from a total oil down. How economical is a cheap oil cooler then?

Yes. But on the flip side, how economical is it if you cant afford a brand name 1000 dollar cooling kit yet so you track without an oil cooler and then your 8,000 dollar engine explodes on track and you end up dumping all of your oil and paying Watkins Glen 5000 to clean the track from a total oil down? 

Everyone stay off track until you can afford the BMW Turner (pun intended) oil cooler kit or it might cost you $5000 dollars!?!?!?

TurboFocus said:

In reply to Olemiss540 :

cool, I got a little worried when i read stuff like this in the description.

"The item description was measured by hand, it could have 1-2 inches deviation. Excellent for Modified Street Vehicles, which are Driven Hardly with Minimal Track Use"

btw, what 400whp car are you taking out on track?? I am curious!

LS Swapped this ugly beast: 

I've got 65+ racing hours on mine, I'll stick with it. 

I feel like a OEM retrofit might be an option here. I payed ~120$ for a new cooler for my F150 for the "Tow Package" version and it was enormous and as good of quality as you could ask for. 

Real question here is where the heck are you going to install a cooler on a Focus short of hanging it out of the front bumper. 

wearymicrobe said:

 

Real question here is where the heck are you going to install a cooler on a Focus short of hanging it out of the front bumper. 

Now I want to see a full on Bosozoku treatment on a Ford Focus; why stop with the oil cooler? :)

Just to be clear that there isn't a typo.  Watkins Glen charges "five thousand" dollars not five hundred and define "complete" oil down. Who do they bill the club who rented the track or the individual?

I've used amazon/ebay coolers and radiators without issue on track. The issues I have had with some of them is the fitment. While they were for a specific application the mounts always seem to be slightly off.

Gotta pay to play. You can't box just cause you can put the gloves on. I don't want to deter, but the very reason I'm not tracking my car (ever) is that I can't afford to bend it or hose down a track. So autocross is where I get my jollies. 

I have used a big double pass 10an setup on my VE-Ts I got off eBay without issue however for my new build I'm going top shelf where it makes sense so I have ordered a Setrab 

That is not ugly that is fantastic!!!!  The exposed fasteners and the mat black just works!!!  I really like that!!!

dean1484 said:

That is not ugly that is fantastic!!!!  The exposed fasteners and the mat black just works!!!  I really like that!!!

Muchas Gracias! May get sold later this year if the gt3 works out as hoped, but it is scary how fast and visceral it is on track. Manual steering, seam welded chassis, zero sound deadening and 2600 lbs with 400whp keeps the hairs standing up while on grid.....

In reply to Tom1200 :

At least with SVRA they billed the individual who broke an oil line this past September. Yes "thousand". One less competitor now

@TurnerX19 not sure how the track can justify that (yes it's their track to run as they see fit) I get there is a cost to the track but that seems extremely punitive. I wonder if they charge NASCAR that fee?

If I were running somewhere like Watkins Glen I'd sure be very careful about my fittings.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

I haven't run into any track that does that and any that do will never get my business. 

Oil leaks are a potential side effect of a track driven car so to me that is quite a bit of bullE36 M3. I can see a small fee but 5k.....seems very very excessive

Meanwhile, racers used to just weld AN fittings onto the biggest A/C evaporator they could find at the junkyard.  I hear 70s full size GMs were popular.

Oof lots to respond to here.  Let me jump on the PC

ross2004 said:

The one I have is sold by CXRacing on ebay. 25 row I think, not sure of the exact dimensions but it's fairly large. It's good for a verified 50*F oil temp reduction in my ChampCar Prelude. 

awesome news, I know CXRacing is Chinese stuff but I'm an amazon boi and saw names i didn't recognize. even though they're probably the same

In reply to Olemiss540 :

that thing is sicccc! are those home depot vents? I thought about using basic home hardware stuff lol

MadScientistMatt said:

wearymicrobe said:

 

Real question here is where the heck are you going to install a cooler on a Focus short of hanging it out of the front bumper. 

Now I want to see a full on Bosozoku treatment on a Ford Focus; why stop with the oil cooler? :)

lmao i wouldve never thought of that but now im considering it.... IDK about full bosozoku treatment but would any HPDE body have an issue with external mounted oil coolers?

ChrisLS8 said:

In reply to TurnerX19 :

I haven't run into any track that does that and any that do will never get my business. 

Oil leaks are a potential side effect of a track driven car so to me that is quite a bit of bullE36 M3. I can see a small fee but 5k.....seems very very excessive

I always expected a thousand dollar bill for a bad oil down, thats a pay to play thing. a 5k bill? come on now thats a load of bull.
It did bring up a point of fees and such of mechanical issues, which I'll send an email to my nearest track (NCCAR) about fees should I have an issue.

Their track, their rules.  No doubt it's there for deterrence as well.  Incentivize someone to prep the car right instead of half-assing it and ruining everyone else's day.
 

I'm sure their feelings and pocketbook won't be affected in the least by someone's refusal to use the track under their conditions.

maj75 said:

Their track, their rules.  No doubt it's there for deterrence as well.  Incentivize someone to prep the car right instead of half-assing it and ruining everyone else's day.
 

I'm sure their feelings and pocketbook won't be affected in the least by someone's refusal to use the track under their conditions.

You bought a chinese manufactured component? We are going to shove it square inyourass. People buying chinese components makes me sick amiright? What a half ass job and you really do not deserve to drive at all. I am amazed that the DOT doesnt do the same and send these low income families $5k bill's for half arsing their car repairs and shutting traffic down for the rest of us. Consider possibly increasing the fines to $10k and preventing any of the plebeians from driving at all. Can you imagine how much less traffic there would be? I dont think the DOT would give a E36 M3 on the cost impacts to their wallet having less fuel tax revenue.

Never mind the jackholes that drive GT1 porsches that tend to vomit their entire cooling system on the track surface because they didnt want to pin/weld their cooling fittings as it would void their factory warrenty. German stuff is half arse as well. Chinese and german components should honestly be outlawed. Strictly based on their country of origin and brand name label.

WHOS WITH ME!

There is an even easier solution to this.................everyone should be forced to race air cooled two strokes so that they'll never be any fluid on track.

In reply to Tom1200 :

Cable brakes?