Engineering/R&D

Our work in the automotive industry is not only about providing high-performance parts to our customers, but also about solving specific problems. If you need a custom product, we can create it for you. Whether it's a 3D design, testing, or creating a part from scratch, we can do it.

Our team is at your disposal for any questions relating to your visions or projects.

Success story: Subaru EE20Z oil cooler gaskets

Tasks performed: Expertise with metrology of the seals between the oil cooler radiator and the oil filter support, which together form the oil cooler block of Subaru EE20Z diesel engines. 2D & 3D design of the part, manufacturer search, production start-up, testing, validation, marketing of the part.

Result: Subaru EE20Z Oil Cooler Gaskets

Problem: When rebuilding the engine of one of our customers, we realized that some gaskets were not included in the complete engine gasket kit supplied by Subaru.

However, it is essential to clean the oil cooler radiator properly, given its position and the flow that passes through it (U-shaped), which promote the accumulation of debris, soot and dirt inside it.

Detaching the radiator part therefore causes the 2 seals (inlet and outlet) to come loose, which do not exist as a spare part from the manufacturer, but only as a complete sub-assembly, i.e. the oil cooler with its radiator attached to the factory filter support.

We therefore first carried out a market study, i.e. checked the availability (or rather unavailability) and possible correspondences with similar parts already existing, which would allow our client to reassemble their engine faster.

Having found nothing comparable, we therefore took the measurements of the old seals, and by extrapolating their potential original thickness, as well as the internal shapes ensuring a perfect seal, we arrived at a 2D drawing which perfectly matched the old seals, as well as the contact surfaces of the oil cooler and on the oil filter support.

We then set about finding a manufacturer of gaskets with the coating we needed, in the desired thickness. During the discussions, the manufacturer also made some recommendations for the gaskets, some of which were accepted, others deemed irrelevant for this application.

For production, we opted for a stainless steel sheet, with a layer of NBR coating on each side, for a total thickness corresponding with reasonable error-margin that of the original seals.

From the beginning of the design to the first prototype, the total duration was about 40 days. After a series of tests (resistance to hydrocarbons and temperature changes), we validated the product. The start of serial production could therefore begin, with a total quantity of 100 pcs (equivalent to 50 engines).

The overall cost for our customer? Around 30€, compared to more than 300€ for a new part from a supplier, complete, non-original (reference does not exist from the manufacturer, only aftermarket).

The part has since been installed on around ten engines, with no negative feedback since their installation.