Oil Cooler advice

prkaye · #1 11-19-2012, 03:37 PM

As posted on another thread, I put a small hole in my oil cooler. I have one of the Niagra oil coolers. I'm thinking this might be a good excuse to upgrade it to a more robust higher-quality unit. I want something with the same footprint that will be a plug 'n play replacement. Any suggestions?

Neal@F14 · #2 11-19-2012, 05:11 PM

Expensive direct replacement: SW 8406R (Originally Stewart Warner, now made by Meggitt Troy, also was made under the name of South Wind for a while).

Low cost direct replacement: Aero Classic #8000075 This one is probably just as fragile as your original NDM cooler however.

Positech also makes a low cost direct replacement #P20002C

All three are available thru Aircraft Spruce. but you might find a better deal on the SW or Aero Classics from Pacific Oil Coolers. I don't know if they sell the Positech brand though.

prkaye · #3 11-19-2012, 05:37 PM

so it's well-established that the SW cooler is more robust and better built? Worth the extra money?

prkaye · #4 11-20-2012, 07:02 AM

bump. Just to clarify - I haven't had any issues with oil temps on the stock cooler (if anything temps a bit too low in cool whether). If I upgrade to the SW cooler it would strictly be for increase robustness and build-quality. I was surprised how easy it was to puncture the Niagra cooler. But I don't want to spend well over twice the cost to replace it with the SW cooler unless I'm sure it's going to be of a much more solid build quality.

miyu1975 · #5 11-20-2012, 07:24 AM

I went the lower cost route and bought the aero classics cooler, 10 row I believe. Has been working great. My oil temps, until recently with cooler air, had been 200 degrees. Lately, in the cooler air, the temps have been 180ish. I fab'd a shutter door that I am installing now in order to push the temps back in the 200 range for the winter months.

Ironflight · #6 11-20-2012, 07:47 AM

I ran the first Niagara for almost 1500 hours on the RV-8 without problem - then the ears cracked - the only damage in all that time. Pacific Coolers had refurbished Niagaras for something like $200 and based on the service I got from the first one, I just went with that again.

Paul

Neal@F14 · #7 11-20-2012, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prkaye

bump. Just to clarify - I haven't had any issues with oil temps on the stock cooler (if anything temps a bit too low in cool whether). If I upgrade to the SW cooler it would strictly be for increase robustness and build-quality. I was surprised how easy it was to puncture the Niagra cooler. But I don't want to spend well over twice the cost to replace it with the SW cooler unless I'm sure it's going to be of a much more solid build quality.

The SW is most definitely built a lot sturdier than the NDM or Aero Classic. The Aero Classic feels really lightweight and fragile when you first hold it in your hands, but it's actually a lot tougher than you'd gather from that first impression. The NDM feels just a bit heavier, like it's a bit more robustly made than the Aero Classic, but my experience tells me that they're pretty equal in sturdiness.

Spruce's prices show the Aero Classic at $246, the NDM at $370, and the SW at $615. Whether or not the extra beefiness of the SW is worth $245 over the NDM is up to you. If money is no object, then the SW cooler is IMHO definitely the best one that money can buy.

If I was having to replace the NDM cooler on my RV-6 today, I'd either get the Aero Classic, or do as Paul suggests... call up Pacific and see if they have any deals on refurbs.

EDIT: The SW is slightly different than the NDM in the recessed distance between the core and the flanges and may need some mods to install in place of the NDM. Here's a URL on Randy Lervold's website showing a SW cooler swap for an NDM. Scroll down about halfway to the bottom of the page:

http://www.romeolima.com/RV8/FirewallForward.htm