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Anyone added a differential oil cooler?


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I've seen some full race Z's with oil coolers on the diff. A small engine oil cooler can be used, the most problematic thing seems to be a small pump for circulation. I've given this some thought- my quaife generates a lot of heat, esp. with V8 power going thru it- but I haven't done anything serious about it. I wonder how hot is too much? Have you ever checked the temp of yours? I have no idea what temp mine gets, but hot enough you don't want to touch it.

 

 

John

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Just some food for thought before making a decsion on a differential oil cooler/pump setup. First you may consider installing an oil temp probe/gauge to varify if you even need a differential oil cooler/pump setup. With regards to a safe maximum operating oil temp, that may depend upon who's gear oil you are using. A visit to the manufactures website will provide you that info.

 

Just my 2 cents worth!

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Didn't JohnC do one at one point? Maybe he just changes the fluid after every few races.

 

Yup. Because I never raced for more then 30 minutes at a time I didn't need the complexity of a pump, lines, cooler, etc. I changed the diff fluid after every race weekend (3 to 5 hours of running) and didn't have any problems. There's no way, regardless of horsepower, that a street driven car can generate much heat in the diff in a 30 minute drive. Quaifes do generate more heat the a clutch pack LSD, but they only generate significant heat when they are differentiating (going around a corner) under power.

 

FYI... at the end of a 30 minute race session you couldn't put you hand on the outside case of my R180. Periodoc checking with a temp probe showed the case was about 190 degrees and the fluid was at 230 to 250. For a synthetic oil like Redline that temp was fine.

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If you're using an R180 I guess you might need to fab your own, but for the R200 there are some existing covers with cooling fins and bigger sumps already out there. 240SX R200 covers are available, and the 300ZX covers have extensions with cooling fins from the factory.

 

Here's the aftermarket style (too pricey IMO): http://store.240sxmotoring.com/grr2s14dico.html

 

300ZXT style: http://www.mygen.com/users/dbruce/myz31/r200_37_nismo_lsd_upgrade.htm

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Just some data points to ponder. In SCCA's ITS class we weren't allowed diff coolers, and we had to run the R180 so couldn't take advantage of the finned cover available for the R200. Running the factory clutch type LSD with say 105 lbs of preload we never had any heat related issues *until* Mr. Panoz changed the configuration of Road Atlanta and we started using 3.90's and 4.11's instead of 3.54's. Then we began cooking the diff fluid. Put a 325 degree tranny temp gauge on it and proceeded to break the needle off the thing after 11 laps. Not kidding. Tried Red Line and a bunch of other synthetics and racing fluids to no avail. Tried different preloads to no avail. Tried duplicating the problem by bolting the race diffs into a street car and driving the bejesus out of it including doing circles in the local high school parking lot until we puked and could never get it anywhere near hot on the street. But 11 laps in at Road A in the race car and we're puking fluid out of the vent and smoking the bearings. Finally found an additive by BG that got us the 20 laps we needed, and in fact made an enduro or two with no problems. Bottom line, I agree with John- probably don't need a diff cooler on the street. I have an original Gleason Torsen in an R200 on a street car and have run short sessions on the track with no problems. Find a way to get a temp guage on it to confirm whether or not you really need one, becase the only pump I'd trust is a Tilton and they're big bucks.

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  • 7 years later...

If you're using an R180 I guess you might need to fab your own, but for the R200 there are some existing covers with cooling fins and bigger sumps already out there. 240SX R200 covers are available, and the 300ZX covers have extensions with cooling fins from the factory.

 

Here's the aftermarket style (too pricey IMO): http://store.240sxmotoring.com/grr2s14dico.html

 

300ZXT style: http://www.mygen.com/users/dbruce/myz31/r200_37_nismo_lsd_upgrade.htm

 

 

EDIT - Sorry folks, didn't realize I was necroposting from 2005 :blink:

 

 

There are R180 finned covers for sale on Ebay now. Says it's for a late model Subaru but I assume these would fit all R180 (?)

Not much more pricewise than what people are getting for the Z31 r200 covers these days, plus it's new.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Perrin-Subaru-Impreza-WRX-STi-08-09-10-R180-Rear-Diff-Differential-Cover-BLACK-/260896792169?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item3cbea91e69

Edited by BenJammin
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  • 2 weeks later...

I went to the effort to plumb a cooler. I added a return to the top oil channel and tapped the drain plug. I installed a CHT temp gauge that goes almost to 400f. I have a NEW R200 with the NISMO LOM59 CLSD, V8 ROAD RACE engine. Track sessions in summer reach 350f without the pump running, it stays closer to 200f with the pump on.

 

I draw from the drain plug, pass thru a spin on remote filter, thru a small Setrab cooler, thru the pump and return to the top front channel, all AN-6 hoses. I use standard weight Redline synthetic gear oil.

 

Now that the diff has some break-in time, it appears to generate less heat. I melted the mushroom vent on one in a different car, so I know they get plenty hot on track. 400+f

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have a Quaife in our R180 on the race car and have no problem with heat, I was talking to Greg Ira and he runs the clutch types and says they will produce more heat if you set them up "tight" which would not what you want on the street, For every day use you should not need a cooler, like others have said just use a good product (we run MOBIL 1 sync) and you wont have a problem, if you are going to run one though, I would recomend either buying the Perrin cover (mentioned above)for the Subies or adapt a stock one off a subie (they have a temp probe in them) Also remember that the pumps will also be suspatable to heat,so you will need to be carful to get the cooler into a good air flow (this may be an issue on a stock car since the air flow is up front) also you will need someway to filter the fluid befor it goes into the pump or crud will get sucked into it and burn it up.

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