Topic: MX-3/Miata oil coolers/general Lemons prep
I just bought a 1993 MX-3 I’m planning to take Lemons racing next year. While replacing the alternator, I noticed I had a good chance to easily install a (used) remote oil filter/cooler kit I got for my Miata a few years ago but never installed.
I plumbed everything up and ran the engine for a few seconds before mounting the parts and found it leaked pretty bad - which got me thinking, even if I solve the leaks now (which isn’t guaranteed as I don’t know who made the filter adapter or what size seal it needs), it’s adding more possible failure points to my engine. A quick check of miata.net found a bunch of guys claiming their track cars were just fine without oil coolers - but I also doubt many of them are running them for several hours at a time.
TL;DR: MX-3/Miata/anything else with a Mazda B engine teams, do you run oil coolers or not, and what sort of temperatures do you see? If I don’t end up with a definitive answer (or maybe even if I do), my plan is to install a temperature sensor and run some shorter track sessions this year to get a sense for how it handles the racing environment. If the temperature doesn’t stabilize or does so at an uncomfortably high level, add oil cooler.
Beyond that, can anyone offer any general tips for running a four cylinder MX-3 successfully?