Toyota Corolla DIY

Hey all, just finished installing a secondary Xmsn cooler on my 03 Corolla S (auto) so here is the info since don’t think anyone has done a DIY on this yet.

***Note*** Don’t mind my dirty car and sry for the low quality pics was using camera phone while i worked.

First off here is the Hardware I used:

The Cooler, (obviously this one is a cylinder style cooler that uses fins to disperse the heat of the fluid inside it….there are many other coolers of different size and shape and capacity)……
I then added the two fittings you see on the ends of the cooler (mine was a 3/8 fitting to a 3/8 barb will vary depending on the cooler)

I used 3/8 clear hose (I went with the clear hose because it was alot thicker then the black Vinyl hose that was sold there and came with the wire reinforcement and i’m a paranoid guy and wanna see the fluid flowing plus lets me know how dirty it is getting lol ) to use for routing the fluid from the radiator to the 2nd cooler then back to Xmsn. I went with the 3/8 (the line you will tap into is smaller maybe 1/4 or so as you will see later) because i wanted to increase the capacity of Xmsn fluid as much as possible with out going over board.
I used a combination of a two 3/8 male threaded end / 1/4 barb end and two 3/8 female threaded end / 3/8 barb to use as a link between the OEM hose (the one you will tap) and my clear hose (and it worked great to change the size between the two lines.
Other then that i also grabbed some Hardware to mount the cooler (metal tapping screws) some rubber spacers for elimination of possible Vibration and a small tube of window sealing waterproof silicon to use where any of my threads mated together at, and some small hose clamps also outta paranoia. The barbs should hold it.

The install itself was easy enough:

1. Find where you wanna mount your cooler keeping in mind that you want air to hit it and try to think ahead to how and where you want your lines to run……I chose this location…….

The plate obstructs some of the airflow but thats where i wanted it and it worked out great…there is more then enough airflow there to cool it right off, even after driving around for an hour or so it was barely warm at all.

*****NOTE**** The Xmsn return line (line that goes from radiator back to xmsn) is the bottom line as you look down on the radiator from above on the left hand/passenger side of the radiator.

After i got everything mounted I routed my hoses then finally tapped/cut the line….(Some FYI while the vehicle is off there will be no fluid traveling thru this line all that will be in it is a little residual oil, so you won’t loose all your xmsn oil or have the EPA tracking you down when you cut it) ****remember after you cut this line that TOP half is coming from radiator and BOTTOM is going back into xmsn.***

I had to drop the bottom splash guard to get to it semi-comfortably but then cut the line in half (this is where my 1/4 barbs came into play) and placed a clamp around the OEM line but didn’t tighten it, then using the male/female fitting combo (which if you are smart you will have placed onto the ends of your DIY lines already and clamped them in place) connected the OEM line coming from the radiator into the DIY line going to the cooler……and the DIY line coming from the other end of the cooler to the OEM line going to the xmsn.

After that there is only testing the system to do………clean up your mess and fire it up……….with the clear lines my buddy watched as the once the system opened up the fluid go from the radiator into the cooler stop there shortly (to fill the cooler with liquid) then continue back into the xmsn…..and all was well in the world.

FOLLOW-ON MAINT:

CHECK oil level…

After you do this Mod your Xmsn oil capacity is going to increase mine with this cooler and lines almost increased a full quart after i finally got it back up to it’s proper levels….so whats this mean……….WATCH your oil level……I started by running the car and just shifting thru all the diff. positions a few seconds at a time…level really didn’t change…..
Then i took a short drive with a funnel and bottle of ATF with me around the corner and noticed a small decrease…..but still driveable
I then took the car across town thru city traffic and let it run for about an hour and that did what i was looking for a good amount of drop in the oil level. (Hot car and engine but stick reading full for a cold car and engine) So i added about a full qt. of ATF to bring it up to Normal operating level…..

INITIAL Drive…..

Upon inspection there is no leaking what so ever………the Xmsn level is holding fine…….can’t feel any noticeable diff. in how it rides but I know with the increase in capacity and the added cooling my Xmsn is gonna live a lot longer life…and run with cooler temps during hard driving and long trips (wish i had a xmsn temp guage) only thing i did note is that the Water temp guage is running a tad cooler then it was before the mod but that can be expected i guess since there is an extra qt. of oil for the xmsn to heat…it shouldn’t get as hot as before especially with that and the added cooling of the cooler itself…this extra cooling effect may also have a positive effect on the engine temp as well since the engine and xmsn “share” the radiator.

And it looks cool to boot………….thats all for now hope this helps someone i never wrote on of these up and suck at Photoshop so no cool circles and sucj sry guys.
Few more pics…………

just FYI I got alot of overkill stuff that i probably didn’t need but wanted to make sure i.e. Silicon and the clamps the barbs will do fine….tho on the OEM lines you may wanna go little bigger then 1/4 for that barb….the DIY hose i got was alot thinker and stiffer then the OEM stuff so you can probably get away with a 3/8 barb for the OEM lines for a super tight fit.
Also you don’t have to use 3/8 hose either i justed used it to increase the oil capacity even more…..greedy i guess lol.

Kurai