I could have sworn that the '83-85' 12A engines had a water-to-oil cooler.
This sat on top of the engine, and the oil filter screwed on top of it.

Karl Mullendore wrote:

> 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