The Mazda cooler is of the 'oil-to-air' type, the 2.1 and diesel Vanagon
cooler is of the 'oil-to-water' type. For the Mazda cooler to be efficient
would require mounting it in the airflow at the front of the van,
necessitating a run of 30 feet of oil lines. This may put more strain on the
oil pump system. It is a nice cooler though! It also has an internal
thermostat. Water is a much better media for cooling than air though, I've
read on the order of 4 times better. Better to stick with the VW cooler,
IMO, I did, after trying the Mazda cooler mounted in the rear of the van.
But, if you want to buy a Mazda cooler, I can sell you one cheap!

Karl Mullendore
Westy Ventures
1987 Syncro Westfalia 1.9TD

----- Original Message -----

> I seem to recall reading somewhere that you could use an oil cooler from
> an early RX-7 in place of the stock Vanagon one and get better
> oil-cooling because the RX-7 cooler was of the same design, but higher
> capacity.
> Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?
>
>
> Todd
> '88 Westy