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Thread: 400EX Extra Oil Cooler Install

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Mesa, AZ
    Posts
    168

    400EX Extra Oil Cooler Install

    I love riding at the dunes but as we all know our little air cooled 400's can only run great till the heat sets in. Mine is a 426 11:1 with a cam and mild port job. It runs great for about 6 passes and gets warm then falls on it's face so...

    I have seen the kits made for around 100 bucks. Great deal for some but I know it can be done a lot cheaper. For $31 and some change I went to the local autoparts store and ordered the smallest tranny/oil cooler I could get. It comes with hose and clamps and the black zip binders for mounting the cooler. This one measures 12"x5.5"x.75". It has 3/8" fittings but used 5/16" hose and you'll see why.

    The mounts were the tricky part BUT simple. The upper mount is made with three strips of aluminum, two are bent to a roughly 70 degree angle for the horizontal strip to rivet across where the cooler will mount. They bolt directly to the frame where the two black wire harness clips clip into. Remove them and they expose roughly 1/4" holes to bolt the upper mount to. The bottom is another strip bent to contour the cooler and bolted to the cross piece behind the bumper. I opted to use a felt weather stripping between the mounts and cooler for vibration wear purposes. The kit comes with little foam squares that serve the same purpose.

    Once the cooler is mounted, it's time to adapt the oil line system. I disconnected the factory oil line on the right side (oil pressure line from engine) and cut just before the first bend with a small pipe cutter specifically to keep metal chips/shavings out of the system and for a clean cut. Then you'll take the other piece cut off and cut this about 1/4th of the bend from the factory cooler mount. The mount is reinstalled upsidedown so that it bends upward. Because the diameter of these factory lines are smaller than 3/8", I used 5/16" hose that fits very snuggly over. From the engine to the cooler and from the cooler back to the factory cooler and tighten with hose clamps. I started it up and topped off the oil with about an extra 1/8th of a quart.

    Thinking mount ideas...


    Mounted with the aluminum bracket bolted to the clip holes in the shock cross frame.


    Plumbed into the factory oil system. No drilling, taping or any other BS required.


    Fit and finished!


    Glamis4Life
    06 TRX

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    SFV, california
    Posts
    568
    good job man. so u cut the factory flanges off?
    02 400ex
    04 yfz450

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    trenton ontario canada
    Posts
    220
    hey how does it work i had the same style cooler hooked up plumed the same way but i could not figure out a good way to mount it...............thank you by the way i will be hooking this back up asap just wondering how much better it will be once i get it back on
    2004 CRF450R
    FMF powercore 4
    UFO plastics(Black)

    01 400ex (TRADED FOR 04 CRF450R)
    440 kit 11/1 comp
    stage 2 hotcam
    +2 1 up asr a arms
    +4 rpm axle
    +3.5 g force hubs
    billet 450r bearing carrier
    dg xxcelerator full system
    armadillo off road skid plates
    pro armor nerf bars
    itp pro 9 series/holeshots hds
    450r front shocks

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Charleston S.C.
    Posts
    884
    very nice!! simple and clean.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Mesa, AZ
    Posts
    168
    Originally posted by ae13291
    good job man. so u cut the factory flanges off?
    Not exactly but I did cut the flange off and mounted it upside down so that the tube bends upward. There is about a full inch and a quarter of tube to clamp the hose to.
    Glamis4Life
    06 TRX

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Mesa, AZ
    Posts
    168
    Originally posted by blankenship
    hey how does it work i had the same style cooler hooked up plumed the same way but i could not figure out a good way to mount it...............thank you by the way i will be hooking this back up asap just wondering how much better it will be once i get it back on
    I just finished it last night. Took me about three hours from getting the cooler home to finish. I'm going riding this weekend so I will get an update on performance.
    Glamis4Life
    06 TRX

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    315
    I sent you a pm on some questions
    2003 Yellow Honda TRX400EX pretty much stock.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Posts
    2,433
    does anybody know about oil pressure? how big of one can you get until you comprimise your engine? i was thinking about getting this one....should it be alright?
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Round Rock, TX
    Posts
    1,924
    I'm sure you would need to put extra oil in it, but I don't think it would drop the pressure.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Mesa, AZ
    Posts
    168
    Originally posted by buck440
    does anybody know about oil pressure? how big of one can you get until you comprimise your engine? i was thinking about getting this one....should it be alright?
    That looks a bit overkill. I mean the cooler I used will cool a 4 cylinder auto tranny. Plus that might be a bit tougher to mount. I would imagine that the oil pump will have to work some amount harder to push that extra volume of oil. Just remember, it wasn't designed to have a huge cooler.
    Glamis4Life
    06 TRX

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