Alternative oil coolers available?

[danny tattersall]

Hi all, I require both my oil coolers to be changed on my 1993 Esprit SE highwing and I was wondering whether anybody knows of an alternative to fitting the Lotus OEM units. I have just been quoted £495 to buy two new ones from Lotus, which is ridiculous considering what they are. The price of these last year was about £133 each but this year they are £210 each plus VAT at 17.5%!!! I just want the car back on the road because the garage have had it 4 weeks now and appear to be making a meal of the job. Considering that I booked the car in for the job 3 weeks before I actually took it in, I can say that I am not in the least impressed as they have still not managed to source replacements. Help please!!

Thanks in advance,

Danny Tattersall.

[Dr.Hess]

Have you thought of taking them to a radiator shop and seeing if they can re-core the old ones like a radiator? Otherwise, I seem to recall someone haveing some aftermarket coolers, either custom made or modified, but sorry I just don't remember the details. My oil cooler is in front of the radiator.

Dr.Hess

[Htown]

Setrab in Sweden can take care of you....

www.setrab.se/setrab.htm

[lotusse89]

They aren't too expensive from SJ Sportscars in the UK, if I remember.

Also Search EBAY for the people unloading NASCAR stuff really cheap. They often use all kinds of oil coolers.

Travis
Vulcan Grey 89SE
www.lotuscolorado.com/vulcangrey/

[igreenrover]

Danny

I went through all this last year, both my bottom fixings sheared off. I visited numerous places around Manchester and London and eventually had new ports made up for both radiators. In the end the units turned out to be too weak to repair and I had two new ones, PNM were the best price then.

Had no luck with Setrab in the UK, although I understand that Andy Baxter had some luck with his (Andy??).

Are you on the same number? If I get chance I'll give you a call tonight.

Gareth


>> Edited by igreenrover on Thursday 2nd June 10:53

[danny tattersall]

Thanks for the input everybody. The car is actually at PNM at this moment in time and they are trying to deal directly with Setrab in Sweden. Apparently, they used to have a warehouse in the UK but they have closed this down recently and orders now have to be despached directly from Sweden. I notice that SJ Sportscars still advertise the oil coolers at £137 each plus VAT but I very much doubt that they have them in stock. Consequently they will have to order them from Lotus and the price will be almost £250 each. Some rate of inflation that they are running at. It looks like I may have to bite the bullet on this one and pay the asking price as I just want the car back now.

Gareth - yes I am still on the same number. Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks again everybody,

Danny.

[igreenrover]

Danny

Sorry mate, so busy last night and didn't get home from work until 10pm.

After I ordered the new coolers from PNM last year I received a call from a company in London I had previously approached. They had tried to match up for me with no luck and so I gave up on them. Anyway they had by this time managed to source them from Setrab, price was about £5 each more than PNM – Might be worth you trying them.

www.thinkauto.com/index.htm

You can mention my problem last year if you want – it might jog someone’s memory and help you. They are close enough for me to drive from the office at Lunch.

Gareth

[danny tattersall]

Gareth, thanks for the info. I spoke to Pete at PNM an hour or so ago and he said that Setrab have quoted him a six week lead time on the oil coolers. They will do them for the earlier price of £132.50 but I am not willing to wait any longer and so I have opted to buy the extortionately priced ones direct from Lotus. For everybody's information - PNM are going to design a solution to this problem because many people that need their radiator replacing will also need to change the coolers dut to the problem with the unions seizing in the oil coolers. Hopefully many people will benefit from my misfortune as it would appear that Lotus have increased the price of these units so much that it is worthwhile going direct to Setrab now. I could do with a whip round to help me pay for mine now. Lol.

Danny.

[lotusse89]

danny tattersall said:

Gareth, thanks for the info. I spoke to Pete at PNM an hour or so ago and he said that Setrab have quoted him a six week lead time on the oil coolers. They will do them for the earlier price of £132.50 but I am not willing to wait any longer and so I have opted to buy the extortionately priced ones direct from Lotus. For everybody's information - PNM are going to design a solution to this problem because many people that need their radiator replacing will also need to change the coolers dut to the problem with the unions seizing in the oil coolers. Hopefully many people will benefit from my misfortune as it would appear that Lotus have increased the price of these units so much that it is worthwhile going direct to Setrab now. I could do with a whip round to help me pay for mine now. Lol. Danny.

So you never called SJ to see if they had them in stock?

Travis
Vulcan Grey 89SE
www.lotuscolorado.com/vulcangrey/

[igreenrover]

Last year all the dealers I spoke to in the UK said they don't keep them in stock. 48 hours from Lotus.

[greezmunky]

i used similar sized setrab units but had to go all custom with the connectors. Off the shelf setrab units dont have the same port configuration as the lotus ones, and the matching units are slightly smaller then the lotus originals.





Got them here
www.bakerprecision.com/setrab.htm





>> Edited by greezmunky on Monday 6th June 17:26

[danny tattersall]

Thanks for that greezmunky however I have ordered the replacements from Lotus as I can not face having my car off the road any longer (especially as here in the UK we are lucky to get more than a couple of months where the weather is good enough to drive the car properly).

All oil cooler manufacturers seem to make them with the unions on the same side instead of top and bottom like the Lotus units. If the garage hadn't had the car so long already I would have adapted some off the shelf units to fit. That's a different story though and I can say that I am not at all happy with the way that they have dragged this out. This is worsened by the fact that I made it clear to them, 3 weeks before taking the car in, that I wanted the oil coolers both replacing along with the radiator. If they had their act in gear they would have ordered the parts straightaway and I would have had the car back with the cheaper units direct from Setrab by now......

Thanks everybody,

Danny '93 SE Highwing.