2G Modern solution to getting an external oil cooler setup? (2nd gen 7 bolt)

runt9 · Jun 27, 2026

Hey everyone, I know oil coolers are a common topic here but I'm consistently running into out of date information (notably the Evo 3 OFH being discontinued in 2022). I just recently picked up a 97 Talon TSi AWD with a ton of existing mods and after getting some gauges installed, my oil temps just driving around the neighborhood for 10-20 minutes are getting up into the 250F range and oil pressure is dipping down to the 12-14psi range. While this is fine for street driving, the end goal is to be able to get this car out to an HPDE or two per year reliably, and living in Texas I don't always get the benefit of doing chilly track days.

The car still has the stock oil to water cooler and the stock OFH, which seems like it should be deleted anyways given that after 30 years I can't imagine the rubber seal separating the two fluids is holding up that great and I'd prefer not to mix those two fluids anyways... But for track use, given that the car is sitting at about 300whp (from the previous owner's most recent dyno) and is getting fairly high oil temps on light street driving, my thought is that I would like to go external oil cooler to just... not have to deal with oil temp problems anymore. Living in Texas, I'm not too concerned about the car's oil not getting up to temp, and I want to make sure I have plenty of cooling capacity (especially since that'll help get the oil pressure up a bit alongside some slightly heavier oil).

All that said, the previous guidance seemed to be: delete the factory cooler, get the Evo 3 OFH, and run a Mishimoto or Setrab cooler behind the driver's side headlight (given that this car has a FMIC so there's plenty of space there). With the Evo 3 OFH gone, and it looks like the Evo 8/9 OFH gone, the only remaining OFH I can find that might work is one from Wild Evo that fits Evo 8/9 but it's like $470 for a billet aluminum part and that seems like it might be unnecessary. From some extra googling, I found info stating I could maybe do the Might Max OFH from STMTuned and a Mishimoto sandwich plate but I'm not 100% sure that's going to work either given I can't find any posts or build threads (from my searching, doesn't mean they don't exist) from the past couple years that show that process.

So given the limited availability of previous solutions, is the modern recommendation to go with the Might Max OFH + Sandwich Plate + Setrab Cooler + various hoses and fittings and just get it all working happily together? Or is there some other solution staring me in the face and I haven't searched for the right things yet?

99dsmer4g63 · Jun 27, 2026

250 seems excessive for street driving. There may be a reason you’re seeing such high temps and you could be doing a band aid on a problem but im not sure.

The evo3 ofh has some what of a bypass so you don’t have to worry about it not getting up to temp.

I’d hold out and try to find an evo3 as it’s the best and easiest route. I’m not a fan of sandwich plates and it pushes the oil filter closer to the down pipe which is too close to begin with.

-Daniel

1990TSIAWDTALON · Jun 27, 2026

Either a EVO3 OFH or a Mighty Max (if its a 7 bolt OFH), Sandwich Plate and your choice of cooler. Best of luck!

tschuhly · Jun 27, 2026

I made sure to get a vibrant thermostatic oil filter sandwich plate which allows the oil to get up to temp before open up the passage to the aftermarket air oil cooler.

runt9 · Jun 28, 2026

Thanks for the replies, everyone! The Evo3 OFH seems to be a bit unobtanium that you just sit around waiting for one to pop up on ebay. I totally get it's the gold standard, but buying a used one (like the current one listed, also $675 for an OFH seems insane) concerns me a little bit because I won't ever get the full picture of why the previous owner is selling it.

Research on this topic tends to be very frustrating. Even trying to look into "delete now, cooler later" has been difficult. STM sells a "delete kit" but it sounds like you need more than that: You can't just delete the factory donut, you now have threads too long for the oil filter so you need a new bolt or you need to trim it, and I can't find solid details about doing that.

So it seems like the best route forward is Mighty Max OFH from STM, sandwich plate (Mishimoto universal?), and then external cooler of choice is the way to go. I saw some potential notes of needing different mounting bolts for the Mighty Max OFH if you're doing a sandwich plate, or needing a shorter threaded oil filter but I can't confirm that.

So is it as simple as:
1. Remove old filter and filter housing
2. Perform the stock cooler delete (rubber caps on the two coolant ports, remove the cooler and lines, etc)
3. Put Mighty Max filter housing on (stock bolts or specific bolts for that OFH? Can't find the bolts on STM. Also it's the same as the stock gasket, right?)
4. Put sandwich plate on
5. Put filter on
6. Put external cooler on, run lines to sandwich plate, etc

I also just put on an oil pressure gauge and an oil temp gauge both from the stock OFH but the Mighty Max one only has 1 port, so sounds like I'd need to move one (or both) to the sandwich plate in there, as well.

Sorry for getting so specific but I wanna make sure I do it right, but "doing it right" is the Evo 3 OFH and that seems really hard to come by and really expensive, so this seems to be the next best option.

1990TSIAWDTALON · Jun 28, 2026

Run that one outlet from the MM OFH to a "manifold" that has more than one outlet. I remote mount my oil pressure sensors, as we have had a fitting BREAK OFF on one of our OFH's and don't ever want that to happen again.
Just giving you options and ideas! :hellyeah:

Marty

99dsmer4g63 · Jun 28, 2026

If the MM OFH is the same as the evo 3 you need one shorter bolt to use it. It’s actually one of the 4 factory bolts you just need two of them and ditch the longer one.

Also if it’s the same there is a port not all the through into the housing that can be drilled out and tapped to British pipe threads to allow you to mount both the factory dummy light and oil pressure sensor on the OFH.

Im not sure of the differences in the OFH’s besides cooler ports and no cooler ports.

-Daniel

runt9 · Jun 28, 2026

Marty - Man that's terrifying, never heard of the fitting breaking off, that sucks! I'll definitely keep that in consideration. Does it sound like my path forward makes the most sense for what I'm trying to achieve, overall?

Daniel - Thanks for the help! I'll poke around for the bolts I might need, I don't think STM carries them but I swear I saw some earlier somewhere else.

1990TSIAWDTALON · Jun 28, 2026

With the lack of the EVO oil filter housings and hell no I wouldn't pay $600 for the one on ebay, (it has a problem anyway), your path seems to be going in the only direction that will meet your goals.

tschuhly · Jun 28, 2026

I have a MM OFH on mine and just made sure to get the sandwich plate that has extra fittings. Again, I point you to this...https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vpe-17065

19Eclipse90 · Jun 29, 2026

Late to the party, but want to make sure it’s mentioned that the rubber seal in the original water-cooled housing does not separate oil and water. It seals the water cooled section to the filter housing, preventing oil from leaking out as it passes from the housing, through the cooler, to the filter, and back. The water cooler has both oil and water going through it but in separate channels which is why, when the cooler “bolt” is over-torqued, it “crushes”, opening one of those channels to allow mixing of the fluids.

That seal going bad happens. It is extremely easy to change with the right tools if its condition is of concern.

With a Mighty Max or simply a non-turbo 7-bolt housing, you can use an adapter like @tschuhly mentioned or like this one from Volk Metal Craft, which would be supporting one of the our supporting vendors.

tschuhly · Jun 30, 2026

19Eclipse90 said:
Late to the party, but want to make sure it’s mentioned that the rubber seal in the original water-cooled housing does not separate oil and water. It seals the water cooled section to the filter housing, preventing oil from leaking out as it passes from the housing, through the cooler, to the filter, and back. The water cooler has both oil and water going through it but in separate channels which is why, when the cooler “bolt” is over-torqued, it “crushes”, opening one of those channels to allow mixing of the fluids.

That seal going bad happens. It is extremely easy to change with the right tools if its condition is of concern.

With a Mighty Max or simply a non-turbo 7-bolt housing, you can use an adapter like @tschuhly mentioned or like this one from Volk Metal Craft, which would be supporting one of the our supporting vendors.

I feel honored to have been tagged by someone such as yourself! Guys...I think I've finally made it in life!

ItsTwan309 · Jun 30, 2026

I happen to have that Volk relocation kit sitting on a shelf in my garage if you end up needing it (just the relocation, no lines). You can look at the Evo Spec 7 bolt FF OFH. its 400$

runt9 · Jun 30, 2026

Thanks again for all the help everyone! It's looking like I'll go with the Mighty Max OFH and the full Volk kit (relocation + cooler) along with some fabbed brackets to mount in the factory intercooler space since I have a FMIC and that space is now just empty and open for a cooler. It seems like the best path forward to get the job done. It's gonna be a bit before I can get it done, but I'll grab a couple pics afterwards to show off the success!

ItsTwan309 · Jun 30, 2026

You got this! My temps are better after going external. Actually just done in like two month ago.

chrysler kid · Jul 2, 2026

Always wondered if you could run a trans cooler connected to the factory housing (for the coolant fittings) and a small inline fuel pump to circulate an independent cooling system for the housing.

So instead of deleting the coolant fittings you just ran an independent cooling system for the oil cooler.

ItsTwan309 · Jul 3, 2026

chrysler kid said:
Always wondered if you could run a trans cooler connected to the factory housing (for the coolant fittings) and a small inline fuel pump to circulate an independent cooling system for the housing.

So instead of deleting the coolant fittings you just ran an independent cooling system for the oil cooler.

Definitely makes sense. Would definitely be a simple solution

99dsmer4g63 · Jul 3, 2026

You would still have the possibility of oil and coolant mixing with that setup. One of the main reasons I went with a evo3 housing the other being downpipe clearance.

-Daniel

tstkl · Jul 3, 2026

Just wanted to add in an alternative that some people may find useful. I have an evo 8 oil filter housing on my 93 1g 7 bolt block in my 88 conquest. I believe this would also work on a 2g 7 bolt as the evo 3 works on both. The main issue with using an evo 8 oil filter housing is that you would need to relocate your alternator or make some sort of custom mounting bracket to keep it in the stock location. The evo 8 oil filter housing does not align with the 1g alternator mount on the block side at all, it is not anywhere close to correct.

I don't believe there are any other issues, but I should note that my 88 conquest has nearly all evo 8/9 components on the front case. Evo 8 oil pump assembly, timing components etc. The only thing that I kept as 1g is the engine mount bracket, which I heavily modified for weight reduction and some clearancing with the evo 8 oil pump. Since it's been so long, it's possible I'm forgetting some clearance issues with the evo 8 oil filter housing and the water pump and oil pump assembly, but I'm fairly certain I am using a standard 1g 7 bolt water pump.

Also for anyone curious, the evo 9 timing tensioner setup is flipped from the 1g 6 bolt and 7 bolt setups. This means that if something happens to cause high tension in the belt, the bolt that holds the tensioner pulley gets tightened instead of loosened. This is very desirable from a reliability standpoint, particularly if something breaks while you're on the dyno and goes through your timing belt.

Lastly the oil cooler ports on the evo 8 oil filter housing are a good deal larger than the evo 3 oil filter housing, so it's even better. Typically -6 AN lines are used on the evo 3 housings while -8 AN lines are used on an evo 8 oil filter housing.

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2G Modern solution to getting an external oil cooler setup? (2nd gen 7 bolt)

runt9

99dsmer4g63

1990TSIAWDTALON

tschuhly

runt9

1990TSIAWDTALON

99dsmer4g63

runt9

1990TSIAWDTALON

tschuhly

19Eclipse90

tschuhly

ItsTwan309

runt9

ItsTwan309

chrysler kid

ItsTwan309

99dsmer4g63

tstkl

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