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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Diff Cooler Replacement - OEM or Better?


michael

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Following on from this thread...

 

As with most UK's of a certain vintage I have a small leak from my standard diff cooler - I'm about to strip this down to see if the unit itself needs replacing or just the pipework but wondered if it's best to just replace the unit with an OEM one or an aftermarket cooler?

 

The standard UK setup seems to come in at around £129 plus VAT - I'm happy enough to pay this but just wondered if any slightly better / more efficient alternatives were available.

 

So do I give Toyota my money or someone else (if it needs replacing of course).

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There is just a small amount of oil on the plastic trim that sits in front of the cooler, I'm suspecting it's from that anyway.

 

It certainly isn't dripping or anything like that, it's just a small amount but something I'm planning to investigate further on Friday.

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As the pumps only work above a certain diff oil temp a tiny leak when stationary can become an axle emptying disater once the pump starts to run. Fix it pronto or remove it. Like the "UK" Skylines these pumps rarely run, and are often seized up. If it were mine and not used for track days I'd probably just remove the whole lot and run a decent diff oil.

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Diff Cooler removed - it crumbled to dust :(

 

Still plenty of diff oil in the car so I've not lost much, it seems to have been holding up OK but the shock of being revealed was too much for it and it fell apart.

 

As I'm planning on doing a lot of trackdays and high speed run things at Elvington etc later in the year / future I'm inclined to replace it - so now back to my original question.... OEM or aftermarket?

 

I've not actually seem the cooler itself but my mechanic chappy tells me it's not the biggest thing - is there any scope for fitting a bigger one in the gap?

 

How about if I cut the arch liner and use something like an Earls Temp-a-cure unit (or similar) with a modded cover? Or just a small Earls cooler behind the exisitng trim?

 

If a Toyota one comes in at £125 (plus VAT?) does this come with fittings etc or is it just the cooler unit? It seems I can get an Earls cooler for as little as £40 - even a massive one from them comes in at around £125.

 

At the moment it's just looped but I want another one in there - thoughts?

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Michael,

 

I asked the same question around this time last year as I was not sure if anyone "uprated" them.

 

The only feedback I got was to get a new Toyota one so I did.

 

If you touched mine, it would crumble like the SMIC I had. Both 8yrs old at the time.

 

HTH

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Originally posted by Peter Sharp

I got a new stock one fitted by Toyota FOC ;)

 

 

That's it, rub it in :)

 

Having seen how your car has turned out I'm tempted to book mine in for a service and take the mechanics to the pub first ;)

 

I think I'll see what I can come up with, I'm not looking to save money or anything, just exploring the possibility of getting something better in there.

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