How difficult to remove oil cooler?

[Yoniboi]

I'm looking at a new beasty, a 1040 streetfighter, billet clutch, K&Ns, jetted, single seater, but it's got the oil cooler just below the headlights and it ruins the bike's looks. Later models (correct me if I'm wrong) didn't use an oil cooler.

How difficult, involved, etc is it to switch systems. I imagine it's not just a question of plugging the holes.

Are the 1040s renowned for cooling problems? This would be a street bike through and through.

I'm looking at freeing up the old EXUP so I can put higher bars, lower pegs, and panniers on her.

John

[FZRDude]

What year is it John?

[Yoniboi]

It's got an oil cooler, so going by Rivas that makes it a 89-90 engine like mine.

Looking at the microfiches from 91 on there was no cooler, and the pump its self is different between the two designs... the engine with an oil cooler has a drain from the oil pump back to the strainer, the later models don't, but apart from that they're the same.

I noticed this last year when fitting the YZF gearbox, the YZF strainer was obviously the same, but had one of the holes blocked up.

What's got me stumped is that on the microfiche the crankcases look the same, you can even see the hole where you'd connect the oil cooler (I guess they're simply blocked up in the casting process) on the later model.

On the oil pump schematics it shows the cooler there, and I know where it bolts up to the engine, but it doesn't show how that connects up inside the cases... there's nothing on the schematic to show how the oil from the pump gets to the cooler or back, and it's clearly not a direct connection.

I've just had an idea. I think I remember there's an oil flow schematic in my service manual. I'll download the manual to a later model and compare.

John

[Yoniboi]

OK, for all those following my musings:

I still can't see how the oil is fed to the holes where the oil cooler bolts up, but I have worked out the fundamental difference.

The 87-90 models used a proper oil cooler, like a mini radiator, bolted under the main radiator.

The 91-95 models and the YZF1000 used an oil cooler built into the base of the oil filter and cooled by water from the main cooling system.

The oil pump is different but doesn't seem to be a player in any of this new plumbing.

Question now is, If I bought the water cooled oil cooler, changed oil fillter type, did the necessary replumbing and binned the radiator type oil cooler... would the engine blow up?

Who knows?

John

[creed12r]

You would need all the parts that make the RU engine different from the R engine,

which are

Radiator - connection to the cooler
coolant pump outlet metal hose - connection to the cooler
oil cooler flexible hoses X 2
oil cooler
oil pump
oil pump strainer/pick-up
sump

After you fitted this lot it would be an RU system and wouldn't blow up.
Chris

[Yoniboi]

So the sump's different too, that'd explain the 'what makes the oil flow through the radiator style cooler when it's not hooked up directly to the pump?' question.

The rad pipes to and from the water/oil heat exchanger were obvious.

On the oil flow schematics the oil flows around the engine just the same, even in the area of the oil filter. That's what got me thinking that perhaps just blocking off the oil outlet/inlet to the radiator style cooler would do it. Hadn't considered the sump itself being different.

Cheers for the feedback.

John

[creed12r]

No problem John

Chris