Isis oil cooler install and review

[Banegraphix]

I was in the market for a oil cooler and really didn't like the idea of paying near or over $500 so when I saw the Isis kit was around $250 I decided to give it a shot, on the same token I didn't want something that was poorly made. When i bought my radiator I had the same problem and ended up settling on a Mishimoto that was half the price of every other aluminum radiator on the market, I was real happy with the performance so I figured I would give the Isis oil cooler a shot. I had heard people say the Isis parts were no good and go with greddy blah blah blah. I heard the same about Mishimoto and that turned out to be a great choice so I ordered a kit from Enjuku since I live in florida it only takes one day to get stuff after I order. When i opened the box and began the inspection of what I had bought everything appered to be pretty much the same quality as a more expensive kit so I began the install process and tryed to take as many pics as possible along the way.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/IMG00128.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/IMG00129.jpg
Next I figured out what tool I needed for the install to save you some trouble ill list them
15/16 and 7/8 wrenchs or adjustable wrench
philips head screw driver
10mm, 12mm, 14mm and 27mm sockets (the 27 is for the oem oil pressure sensor)
teflon tape or plumbers paste
I took apart the adapter plate and made sure to put teflon on all connections to avoid leaks
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/IMG00131.jpg
At this point it was time to find out where to mount everything and make sure all the parts fit without having to cut or rip things apart to bad. Heres where I mounted the oil cooler it was made easy by not having a/c parts in my car but if you do a few self tappers and 2 L brackets and your in. I had to remove the hood latch to get the drill in the spot i needed cause I really didn't want to take the front clip and FMIC off to do something so simple. I placed the cooler in the correct spot marked the holes with a sharpie then drilled 4 pilot holes with a 1/8th drill bit, then put the cooler back and put the self tappers in with a philips head.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/IMG00135.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/IMG00137.jpg
After some measuring of the steel lines and the direction i wanted to go everything was lookin real easy so i ran the lines along the frame rail on the passanger side around the radiator directly in front of the rail and into the oil cooler. This is where the 15/16 wrench came in so i could tighten the lines to the cooler.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_02051.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_02141.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_0204.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_02031.jpg
Now since the easy stuff was done I took the oil filter off and tryed to put the adapter plate on which is where i realized the stock pressure sensor was in the way. I decided to take it out with the 27mm socket and run a pressure gauge off port from the block. The mounting position for the plate are limited due to the motor mount being below, the intake support and alternator being to the right and the stock manifold its self being above. So the only way I had was to the left which is where the pressure sensor was if you have a aftermarket intake manifold then you can just mount it in the 12 oclock position and skip the next step.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/102_1353.jpg
Once I put the adapter plate back on I realized this wasn't gonna work either due to it being in the way of where the lines bolted onto it. Then I decided on not reuseing the oem sensor and just running the pressure gauge off a side port on the adapter.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_01971.jpg
I had to now find something to plug the port off the block so i took the sensor to the parts store and picked up a M10x1.0 which uses a allen key to put it in so theres no head to make the adapter plate sit cock eyed. A little teflon tape and it was in, then I put the plate on and now it sat flush.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_02071.jpg
Now that I was back on track it was time to bolt the adapter on fearing that the lack of room under there was going to be a problem I put the oil lines for the cooler and my pressure gauge on then after removing the fuel filter(to make life alittle easier) I put some new oil on the O ring for the plate that goes against the engine then carefully mounted the adapter with the silver threaded adapter. The kit comes with 2 a silver and bronse that have 2 different size ends for a largr filter, the 27mm socket comes in handy again here to secure the threaded adapter onto the threads where your filter use to be. Heres a few pics of it all mounted up before i put the filter back on its not as tight of a fit as it looks.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_02001.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_01981.jpg
Next was screw the filter on and put my fuel filter back on, after running my pressure lines into the car for the gauge I put a quart of oil in to make up for the larger capacity due to the cooler. Took a pic from under the car.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_02101.jpg
Now it was time to start old girl up and see if I was leaking or if the pressure gauge was hooked up properly. After letting it warm up from a idle and inspecting for leaks while it was doing so it was time for a quick drive to build some heat and pressure to break it in. About an hour later me and my heavy foot came home and did a final inspection that was the same as the one before the drive, no problems at all.

Just like the Mishimoto radiator this too was well worth the money. Aside from the few interuptions to run to the store and figuring out mounting spots and positions this install can be done in under 2 hours by yourself. I should have ordered the filter relocation kit when I ordered the cooler kit but I guess thats next and for another day, I give a update in a week or so to let everyone know how its holding up if you have any questions feel free to ask. I highly recommend running this kit especially in the financial times now not everyone has 500 plus to drop on a cooler kit and if you do why do it if you don't have to. The Isis product line is a more cost effective solution than the big names brands and the quality and overall performance is still there, I know im gonna look into the other products they make in the future. Heres a link to Enjuku racing to see some of the other Isis products as well as the oil cooler kit.
<a href="http://enjukuracing.com">Enjuku Racing</a>
if the link didn't show up its enjukuracing.com

[ctsedan]

Can see the pix??

[LongGrain]

i'm curious as to how many name brand oil cooler kits you have dealt with to say that this product is equal in build quality..

[fliprayzin240sx]

My only question is does it come with a thermostat???

[Ali 556]

nice work,

but i have on qustion...in this photo http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/banegraphix/100_02051.jpg

you've raned the HOT oil line Alonge With The COLD oil line...so you want me to belive the the hot oil line will not heat soak the cold oil line...

thus makes your oil cooler useless...:dead:

:naughtyd:

Ali

[ant s13]

no oil filter relocation included?

[murda-c]

I want to teach the world about manual/macro focus.

[Banegraphix]

It doesn't come with a thermostat but i live in florida and have yet to see a problem with it with out one.

When I compared it to a greddy kit the only real difference was the fittings and a thermostat which in my eyes doesn't make up for the extra few hundred they charge.

[GSXRJJordan]

I can't believe you spent so much money on that - I built a cooler kit with relocation for $120, and to add stainless lines would be another $60 or so - you paid $250 and still have to fight the manifold/alternator/frame rail to get your oil filter out.

Oh, and plumber's tape is not recommended for oil, you're much better off to use an oil/fuel-safe thread sealer. Permatex makes a few that you can buy in autozone/etc, and Loc-tite makes a ton.

My only question is does it come with a thermostat???

Yeah, thermo would be nice, but not at this price point. A good thermo by itself is ~$100.

no oil filter relocation included?

srsly.

you've raned the HOT oil line Alonge With The COLD oil line...so you want me to belive the the hot oil line will not heat soak the cold oil line...

thus makes your oil cooler useless...:dead:

Wait, what?? You think that you have to separate hot oil from cool oil, to avoid heat soak? It's not like the engine bay isn't already hot, and the temp delta between the oil in each line is probably 20* max. How much heat would you imagine gets radiated through a SS hose, and then gets picked up and transferred to the oil inside the other SS hose?? LOL. Heat soak is SO not an issue. And it definitely does not make the cooler useless.

[Om1kron]

I just had some coffee this morning, it was really good.

[GSXRJJordan]

I just had some coffee this morning, it was really good.

Did the hot coffee heat soak something in a building next door? lolz.

[Banegraphix]

[quote=GSXRJJordan;2424416]I can't believe you spent so much money on that - I built a cooler kit with relocation for $120, and to add stainless lines would be another $60 or so - you paid $250 and still have to fight the manifold/alternator/frame rail to get your oil filter out.

Well im glad I didn't buy a greddy kit then haha. Im actually looking into the relocation now its not as big of a pain in the ass to change the filter as it was before the install. Thanks for the input and the heat soak comments were funny as hell.

[fromxtor]

So that threaded insert you spoke of is used to block off the OEM oil pressure hole on the OEM filter block, correct?

[GSXRJJordan]

No, the threaded insert goes into the distribution block for the new oil filter to sit on.

[Sir]

i'm curious as to how many name brand oil cooler kits you have dealt with to say that this product is equal in build quality..

C'mon, all the good brands of coolers come with duck tape on the AN fittings. :D

[fromxtor]

I had to now find something to plug the port off the block so i took the sensor to the parts store and picked up a M10x1.0 which uses a allen key to put it in so theres no head to make the adapter plate sit cock eyed. A little teflon tape and it was in, then I put the plate on and now it sat flush.


^^ This statement leads me to believe he means to block off the OEM oil pressure location. The "oil block" comes w/ bolts to fill in the unused sensor holes.

[!Zar!]

Ugh, teflon tape on oil fittings.

[GSXRJJordan]

Ugh, teflon tape on oil fittings.

Yeah. It's better than nothing though! Just because everyone's going to ask - teflon tape is for water, not oil! What you want to use is some oil/fuel-safe thread sealant. Permatex and Loctite make a few, some of which you can buy in hardware stores/Autozone:
A dab of this on the threads would work (RTV Gasket Maker) but is not preferred:
http://www.autozone.com/images/products/ptx/ptx82180003.jpg
But what you want is this:
http://www.caswellplating.com/permatex/images/perm56521.jpg

High performance thread sealant, Permatex part 56521 or similar.

Also, yellow teflon tape is "petroleum safe" - Home Depot has it.

Basically look for something labeled "petroleum safe" for fuel or oil lines/fittings.

[480sx]

It doesn't come with a thermostat but i live in florida and have yet to see a problem with it with out one.

You dont see the problem but your engine does. Startups are the hardest part on an engine. Thats where almost all of the damage to every engine in existence starts, this is why motors that you take care of wear out. It takes a second or so to build oil pressure and in that second or so your motor is not happy. With an oil cooler that doesnt have a T-stat that time is considerably longer.

The greddy sandwich plate for an oil cooler, or a stand alone T-stat is the only way to go if your going for an oil cooler setup. Your better with no cooler than you are with an open loop cooler. Promise that your engine will last longer without that cooler if its a daily. For a track car its not as big of a deal because they arnt being started that often.