Homemade oil cooler

50bomber · Feb 15, 2006

Howdy Y'all, I have been thinking about impending summer on wonderful S. TX, so of course a light bulb went off in my head! Ping! . Oil Cooler! Since, I have converted my car to manual, I have had to plug my trans cooler lines and driver's side tank, but they have been leaking ATF and pissing me off . I was just wondering if I could plumb a sandwich type oil cooler to the driver's side tank in the radiator and presto! I have a cooler, or maybe reuse my FMS tranny cooler. Any problems with pressure drop?
:SNSign:

vristang · Feb 15, 2006

That would work. I think alot of the turbo 2.3L guys are doing the same thing.

I would ask though if you really need it. Oil temps should be ~200F at a min. What are your oil temps at now?

jason

50bomber · Feb 15, 2006

Oil temps Don't have gauge. But my oil gets dirty reeeaaaal quick in the summer, plus I spent a lot of time in traffic, I figured summertime temps hovering around 100F it wouldn't be a bad idea. I got a Hayden sandwich plate adapter that has a bimetallic spring, for thermostatic control of oil through the body, which is supposed to open at 180F and close at 160F, so I guess it wouldn't overcool it?
:SNSign:

onefstsnake · Feb 15, 2006

I had thought about doing the same thing.

But since I havent installed my oil temp/pressure gauges, Im going to hold off for a bit.

vristang · Feb 15, 2006

50bomber said:
Oil temps Don't have gauge. But my oil gets dirty reeeaaaal quick in the summer, plus I spent a lot of time in traffic, I figured summertime temps hovering around 100F it wouldn't be a bad idea. I got a Hayden sandwich plate adapter that has a bimetallic spring, for thermostatic control of oil through the body, which is supposed to open at 180F and close at 160F, so I guess it wouldn't overcool it?
:SNSign:

I haven't seen that Hayden plate before, I'll have to look it up. It def. sounds good. Personally though, I would want the temps higher than 160-180F. The temps are necessary to evaporate the impurities in the oil, like fuel. I do know that there are adjustable oil stats out there, but don't remember who makes them.
Something I didn't think of earlier is that the oil will only be cooled to the temp of the coolant leaving the rad. This is much better in my mind than having a separate oil/water radiator type cooler.

More random thoughts from...
jason

onefstsnake · Feb 15, 2006

Well you would want the oil to be higher temp than the coolant.

So your oil isnt cooling the engine. The adapter I saw had no thermostat.

50bomber · Feb 15, 2006

Oh, I think oil temps are going to be higher than 180F, its just the cooler will be bypassed below that and I think oil temp on 5.0s runs like 230-270F, which is waay too hot. Any probs with pressure loss?

50bomber · Feb 15, 2006

Here are some pics of the cooler and thermostat in it.

vristang · Feb 15, 2006

No, I doubt you will see any change in oil pressure.

You seem to be one of the sharper crayons in the box, so I will get a little more detailed.

The following temps can be found in a book called "Four Stroke Performance Tuning" by A. Graham Bell.
In this text Bell lists the ideal oil temp as 200-230F. A loss of power will most likely occur above 240F, and 260F should be considered an upper limit due to oil degradation.
Bell suggests later that adding a cooler is only necessary when spirited driving, for several miles, causes the oil to reach over 250F.
I believe that all of these temps are for dino oil. Syn oil will be able to tolerate more heat.

From other reading I have done (mostly SAE published papers from auto companies, and oil companies, and a few text books), there is a loss of power/efficiency when running the oil below 190-220F (depending on the source). Not only is there a power loss, but there is also an exponential increase in engine wear as the oil temp drops below ~200F.

My direct experience with oil temps...
I have a 7qt pan, HV pump, and run Mobil 1. I have never seen my oil temp reach 220F. In my 30 minute commute to work, I am lucky to get to 195F. I am actually considering a smaller 5qt pan to get the temps back up.

The 302 is rumored to create a lot of oil heat, but I have not seen any solid numbers to quantify the “high” oil temps.

Maybe some one out there can provide some temp data? PLEASE.

50bomber · Feb 15, 2006

vristang said:
You seem to be one of the sharper crayons in the box, so I will get a little more detailed.

The following temps can be found in a book called "Four Stroke Performance Tuning" by A. Graham Bell.
[

Sharper crayons , Nah man, I am as dull as women's golf! Just ask my gf.......Say it ain't so, A. Graham Bell????? First telephone, now this .Wouldn't the radiator fluid help oil get up to temp quicker, since it warms up quicker and then kind of equalize the temps, since thermostat opens~180 and rad fluid should have lower value when it gets across the radiator to the driver's side tank?

vristang · Feb 15, 2006

50bomber said:
Sharper crayons , Nah man, I am as dull as women's golf! Just ask my gf.......Say it ain't so, A. Graham Bell????? First telephone, now this .Wouldn't the radiator fluid help oil get up to temp quicker, since it warms up quicker and then kind of equalize the temps, since thermostat opens~180 and rad fluid should have lower value when it gets across the radiator to the driver's side tank?

Womens golf

I thought the name was a joke at first too. Maybe this guy wanted to use an alias for some reason? He is from Europe, so that should explain everything.
It is a very well respected book though. First printed in 1981, and has been revised/updated every few years since. It was "suggested" reading for one of my classes in college.

You are right quicker warm ups is another advantage of running a water (radiator) oil cooler. This would lead to decreased engine wear. Always a good thing.

I guess some experimenting will need to be done to really know what the affects will be.
If you decide to try it let me know how it goes, either pm or just post your results. I would think about trying it with a 5qt pan conversion, but I have far too many unfinished projects as it is.

jason

Maryland Stang · Feb 16, 2006

50bomber said:
Oil temps Don't have gauge. But my oil gets dirty reeeaaaal quick in the summer, plus I spent a lot of time in traffic, I figured summertime temps hovering around 100F it wouldn't be a bad idea.

The oil gets dirty real quick because it's doing it's job, not because it's getting too hot. Modern oils that are made to the latest specs contain excellant detergents that are designed to remove and suspend in the oil contaminates in your engine. These additive packages as they're called are getting better as each new spec is released and are wholey responsible for the ever increasing oil drain intervals that car manufacturers are calling for because of their excellant abilty to hold contaminates in suspension instead of allowing them to adhere to the inside of your engine. Now if you have an engine that was abused, be it from not doing oil changes, piston rings that don't quite fits perfectly or running the engine too hard, you can and most likely will have a buildup of sludge in the engine. The oil is simply removing the sludge and contaminates a little at a time like it is supposed to.

In simple terms, don't blame the oil temps for the oil getting dirty quick. Find and fix the real problem.

90lxfoxbody · Feb 16, 2006

one of the firstmods i put on my 90 was a setrab 6 row oil cooler. i bought it because i found it cheap on ebay. i was surprised at the difference in my motor oil the next time i changed it. it looked much cleaner and was alot slicker than normal. i went to a parts house and got ten feet of the red "gorilla hose" - 512 psi high temp oil resistant hose. i think the car will fall apart around it before those hoses leak. i am installing a new black magic fan today and some new gauges so while i have everything broken down i am going to go ahead and dismount the cooiler and inspect it. i will change the hose just as a precaution since everything is out of the way. anyway - onto my point. i worked as a plumber for two years and it's fairly easy to fabricate a good working oil cooler. you can make it the right size to suit your rad. the only drawback is the weight difference between the premade ones. if anyone wants info feel free to drop me a line. if i have time in the next few days i might make one just for *****s and giggles. good luck with your project.

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