After 2+ years of development and 4 rounds of prototypes, the world debut of the CSF Porsche 911/930 Engine Oil Cooler at Rennsport Reunion 2023 was met with resounding enthusiasm. Air-cooled enthusiasts know the struggles associated with the oil cooler located on the engine block of the old flat six motor. CSF’s highly anticipated new release is arguably the most important modern engine upgrade to be released for the 911 in years.
While the original design was effective at the time, they have not aged well. On top of that, there have been no updates to the design and original replacement units can be hard to come by. When the CSF 911 was being built, CSF realized this was a much needed part for the air-cooled community and set out to design something special.
Design and Engineering
The original Behr Cooler was designed back in the 1960s and definitely shows its age at this point. Original coolers can be ultrasonically cleaned and refurbished but there is good chance they will start leaking after cleaning. The cleaning process may cause the coolers to fail due to it’s old and brittle materials, or it can remove corrosion and debris that has kept the original from showing the leak beforehand. However, the core is not the only source of leaks. The OEM cast base plate that mounts to the block can become slightly warped or aging porosity can cause the seals to not seat correctly and leak.
The old original coolers aren’t the only issue though. CSF has gotten many first hand reports of brand new OE coolers from Porsche’s revamped “Porsche Classic” Catalog leaking within a few months of installation. Apparently the new items available from Porsche are not built as well as the original Behr coolers. CSF has now brought to market a modern OEM+ solution to this vintage design.
For development of the 911/930 Engine Oil Cooler, CSF teamed up with the leading Porsche engine building experts at SV Auto. Their deep knowledge of classic Porsche engines and expertise in restoration gave CSF invaluable insight into how to best approach the design and construction. Long time R&D Partner and CSF Dealer Brian Day at Euro Parts West was also a critical partner in the development of the oil cooler design.
Attention To Detail
CSF’s goal for the 911/930 Oil Cooler was to recreate the original cooler with a modern interpretation of the design while improving functionality and reliability. To accomplish this, CSF spent countless hours in research and development. Brain Day was instrumental in really helping CSF engineers understand the 911’s oil cooling system. These details and deep understanding allowed for proper engineering and creating a cooler that could fit such a wide variety of models.
Improving upon a design starts with understanding the system as a whole. Every detail of the cooler was analyzed from core strength to oil flow restrictions.
3D scanning of 911/930 engine blocks and OE Coolers gave CSF the ability to ensure optimal fitment and see what room there was for improvements. Fitting and testing was performed on several 911/930 engines at SV Auto to provide accurate performance metrics.
