XJ Oil Coolers

I bought a complete setup from a 1985 FZ600 that for the most part, the expensive parts are there. The top oil tubes to the cooler are offset and won't work, and the bottom tubes that wrap around the front engine mount are way to short. So I broke the fittings apart with some heat, and bought some 5/16" brake line to make the new lines with.

My question is - does anyone have any close-ups of how the bottom tubes are bent around the front engine mount? I'm gonna start with some soft copper tubing to get an idea of how they will wrap around, but pictures would be extremely helpful.

Thanks!

Michael

 

I think that some of the larger maxim's had an oil cooler - I think what they had was a baseplate that went between the oil filter and the bottom end. The pipes from these appear to elbow off and go straight up following the line of the frame tube.

I'd be temped to use hydralic hose with a nice steel braided finish. A lot easier to get them where you want them.

Sorry I can't offer you any other help than that.

 

My XJ550 has a genuine yamaha oil cooler on it and as woot suggests it goes into each side of the base plate on the oil filter. It has a special angled bracket/tube for the hose.

If your bike doesn't have the holes on the side then you may have to change over the base plate. The fittings would be hard to fabricate. I can take some pics of mine tonight if you need to see the setup.

I also have a spare base plate if you want measurements to see if it will fit your engine.

My clymer manual has a section in the back and lists oil coolers as a yammy performance enhancement so I think it comes as a kit. Eg base plate cooler and pipes. I think it is mainly a Seca option.

Cheers
HG

 

The distributor plate is the piece that fits between the engine and the oil filter. The oil cooler bolts onto the two threaded holes just below the triple. The hoses and tubing are custom made for each bike. The hose is braided. The metal tubing is on each of the two ends since the bends are severe, and the angle to both the distributor and the oil cooler are sharp in order to avoid the exhaust. I will have no problem bending the tubing and brazing the fittings. What I'm after is how the tubing leaves the distributor plate and avoids the front engine mount, whether the metal tubing passes in front or behind it. That's why a picture would be helpful as I would like it to be as close to OEM as possible.

Thanks guys.

 

i'll send pics in the morning. i have the complete set up off the bike and a dig cam,it just a bit late right now and my wife just had open heart surgery today so it may take a day or so too.

 

BTW - the guy who makes the XJ Tool (Mike O.) also makes a spin-on oil adaptor that is for oil coolers. It might help you out.

 

chevy45412001 - A big get well soon - it certainly is an unnerving operation and we wish her a speedy recovery.

 

Think this is the pic you are looking for.

 

Yes, that is close to what I am looking for. I'm looking for a picture a few inches up from that where the big round tube that goes form one side of the frame to the other that the engine lugs are bolted through. Maybe a perpendicular shot towards the front of the engine in this area. I do appreciate your help

I have viewed a lot of pictures such as yours, but none show how it passes either in front, or behind the front engine mount - that big round bar that goes form one side of the frame to the other that the engine lugs are bolted through. It is located behind the exhaust pipes. The way the Yamaha Parts manual shows the bottom tubing, it looks like it has to pass around the engine mount, between the engine mount and the exhaust headers.

I'll post some pictures of the areas I'm looking for from my bike. When this thread is finished I'll forward all photos & discussion to Photo Gallery and to the folks who make the XJCD's if no one objects. The XJCD is a good place to store this kind of info and well worth the $10 US.

 

Ok, I did take a pic of that last night, but I am at work now so will post a pic later.

Basically the two pipes come together and are attached to the front of that engine mount by a bracket.

Hard to get a good pic on my bike as I have a 4 to 1 exhaust and it covers most of the filter area.

 

I hope your wife is feeling better and I thank you for your help. Sitting at a hospital bedside takes a lot out of you.

Yeah, the 4-into-1 exhaust presents a whole new issue. Fun changing your oil filter isn't it?

Below is the view I am looking for. It will show me how the tubing that leaves the distributor passes in front/behind the front engine mount.



Here is another showing how little room there is between the engine case and the front engine mount.



Thanks again everyone.

 

Ok, My 550 frame is different than your 650? I just had a look at my bike and I don't have a crosspeice that close to the filter.

4 to 1 makes it hard but these pics should show the difference.

 

I agree. Your frame is definitely different. It is the cross-piece that is giving me the grief. On ebay pictures I had seen in the past for an XJ650 cooler setup, the bottom metal tubing was quite a piece of work. I'm pretty sure that it comes forward from the distributor and wraps around the cross-piece and then runs parallel to the engine case just behind the exhaust.

 

Alrighty then, so what do you do in NW Ohio when the sun is shining and it is not 20 degF? You fire up the woodburner in the workshop, take the cover off the XJ, and work all day to get your oil cooler lines brazed up! All finished with the layout work. Now I just need to buy some new hose and black hose clamps, and prime and paint the oil lines. Below are some pics of the finished product.

This picture is of the oil cooler and the hose guide:



This picture is of the middle where I installed the Jagg oil cooler bypass valve. I will only use this when it gets over 90 degF.



This picture is of how I ran the tubing around the front engine mount. Believe it or not, the tubing is 3/4" from the engine mount, and the tubing length is around 5".



Hope this helps somebody out there. It can be done non-OEM.

 

Very nice job!

Was it not possible to get a thermal oil flow do-hicky? Any problems priming the system?

Cheers,
woot.

 

I think you are referring to a thermostatic control of some sort. I know that oil coolers with fans have them, but don't know of straight oil cooler setups on these bikes that have them.

As for priming, follow the standard rule of thumb for cars & motorcycles that have had their oil & oil filter changed; after adding the oil, run for 15 minutes in neutral at idle.

 

The way you have done it Otter is the same way the Turbo's stock oil cooler is connected, so all should be fine with yours.

 

Thanks snyper!

That's the confirmation I was looking for. Sooooo...I'm off to the shops for braided oil hose and hopefully some black hose clamps. Otherwise I 'll have to wait until Tuesday for the cycle shop to open. Today it will be up to 40 degF again, so I'll fire her up and ride her to check for leaks. The pressure test held steady for 4 hours at 40PSI so no leaks are expected.

Since your bike came with a cooler...do you just change out your oil & filter, add new oil, run the bike, shut her down and then top the oil off up to level? I talked to some of my biker buddies and they say run her for 4-5 minutes as that is all that is necessary to fill the cooler & filter cavities.

Thanks again everyone.

 

I was able to pick up some Dayco 5/16" braided hose today. The gentleman there was showing me the braided SS setups he was making for some HD's. Man do they look sharp. Unfortunately, my modified setup wouldn't look to good since the fittings took up too much room and the hose would have been so short as to not be very flexible.

Now all I need is to find a set of 4 black anodized SS hose clamps. My Jagg Bypass valve came with them, but I would like to use the same at the tubing connections. Makes everything virtually invisible everything in black except the bypass valve.

 

I ended up finding some chrome hose end caps that were perfect! I had seen the expensive chrome billet type, but these are chromed brass and were $5 each. I would have preferred them in matt black, but these will make it look cleaner. If I prefer, I may spray paint them matt black later. I think I'll be able to put everything together tonight and snap some pictures of the finished project.

 

I have picked up an oil cooler off a 82' SECA 650/750. Putting it on my 82' 650 Maxim. I brought the camera with me to the boneyard, thought you guys would like the info.
The parts fit perfect but...I'm going to modify where the cooler attaches to the frame. I think the bracket is welded to the seca frame. I was dang hot in the sun and left in a hurry, bracket is probably laying on the ground.

-DIYMechanic

 

That picture is my Maxim, showing you where to install the hose bracket. Out of order, let's try it again... Enjoy!

 

:roll: the order of these pictures...

 

8)

 

Thanks for the pictures DIYMechanic. I picked a cooler up off ebay and put it aside for a later install.
Question I have for you, is there a bracket that mounts between the cooler and the frame?
A trial fit of my ebay cooler suggests an alignment problem, frame holes too high up for cooler to bolt directly to it.

 

I ended up having to make some short mounting brackets to accomodate the difference in the alignment. I used some leftover steel from my luggage rack mod. The brackets ended up being about 1-1/2" long to match the threaded holes in the frame. Easy fix.

 

Nick- You are running into the same problem I face with the alignment. I tried moving the electrical wires up but still not even close to fitting correctly. I'm pretty sure the original mount is welded onto the frame. I will be improvising a mount like singingotter suggests. I also want to JB Weld a bracket to the frame, for the top of the cooler. I belive this is important to secure from vibration.

 

thanks guys, just wanted to make sure it wasn't just me.

 

I installed the cooler today. I went to the hardware store and picked up a bracket that had holes spaced about 1 1/2" apart. Hacksawed the bracket in two, works perfect. You will need to get 2) 6 x 20 hex head bolts with thread lock nuts. After installing, the cooler was pressed up against wiring harness. You will need to bend the brackets a bit so the wires are not pressed against the cooler. I'm not going to secure the top mount of the cooler, it's good to go "as is".

 

Just a quick clarification perhaps on SingingOtters comment regarding thermostats for oil coolers.

I've got one on my XS1100 by lockhart that has an external thermostatic bypass. No oil circulates to the cooler until it warms up. Looks like a cylinder about three inches long and one inch in diameter, with four hose nipples on it. They make them in black and chrome.

I also think, but am not sure, that the Yamaha setup has some sort of thermo bypass in it. I have one, but haven't installed it yet. Didn't have time to fabricate a mounting bracket around the crash bar/fairing mounts.

My .02.

Paul

 

I did not secure the top of mine either. It is definitely secure. Although I did buy the top rubber grommet in case I was bored and needed an evening project. Then I'd weld a new bracket on top to hold the grommet to hold the oil cooler. And yes, the cooler does fit snug up against the wiring harness.

 

I know its late but is this what you were looking for?

http://plan9.dnsalias.org:88/xj/product ... C02446.JPG

This is the factory setup on the Turbo.

 

I managed to salvage the cooler, lines and oil filter adaptor off a 900 and fit them to my Max without heating anything but the shop to keep-out the winter cold.

All I did was fabricate a new mount for the coolers captive fittings by removing the horns and placing the horns "elsewhere." The center post at the top of the cooler needs to be -- prevented -- from seating by adding some nylon washers and o-rings to keep the top pf the cooler form being too high that is interferes with lock-to-lock on the forks.