Where to mount the oil cooler?

**WradDad** · 07-12-04, 01:35 PM

Has anyone mounted an aftermarket engine oil cooler at the back of the car?

Bear with me here. I spent the weekend at a track event at Willow Springs Raceway out in the Mojave Desert here in sunny, hot Southern California. The air temp on the track was around 107 degrees! I wound up having to back off every couple of laps, as the oil temp was climbing into the 280 degree range. I’m running fresh Mobil 1 oil, BTW. Since I plan to continue doing this track craziness, and all the tracks I go to are in the desert, I think I need to add an oil cooler.

It might sound crazy, but here’s my thinking. I don’t have a spare tire or carrier back there, so there’s lot’s of room. The benefits, and please let me know me if I’m off-base here, would be that 1) it’s one less thing in front of the radiator, and 2) the long oil lines, in addition to the cooler itself, would add at least a quart to my oil capacity.

I think I can I can mount it up high enough to be out of the way of rocks and other debris (maybe put a wire mesh in front of it), but still be able to get air-flow to it.

Thanks!

Barry

Moonunit 451 · 07-12-04, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by WradDad

Has anyone mounted an aftermarket engine oil cooler at the back of the car?

Bear with me here. I spent the weekend at a track event at Willow Springs Raceway out in the Mojave Desert here in sunny, hot Southern California. The air temp on the track was around 107 degrees! I wound up having to back off every couple of laps, as the oil temp was climbing into the 280 degree range. I’m running fresh Mobil 1 oil, BTW. Since I plan to continue doing this track craziness, and all the tracks I go to are in the desert, I think I need to add an oil cooler.

It might sound crazy, but here’s my thinking. I don’t have a spare tire or carrier back there, so there’s lot’s of room. The benefits, and please let me know me if I’m off-base here, would be that 1) it’s one less thing in front of the radiator, and 2) the long oil lines, in addition to the cooler itself, would add at least a quart to my oil capacity.

I think I can I can mount it up high enough to be out of the way of rocks and other debris (maybe put a wire mesh in front of it), but still be able to get air-flow to it.

Thanks!

Barry

This is a tranny cooler, but you could put an oil cooler here I think. I'd be happy to steer you to Guyette performance who is manufacturing lots of performance cooling parts for Vettes.

Or, You might consider this

Cooler water = cooler oil

I ran in excess of 120 for close to 50 mi. in 100 degree temps recently, coolant never over 200, oil never over 230. Doesn't help in stop and go (stopped) conditions, but cools down quick with even slow speed movement. I used a DeWitt's direct drop in

**Ken** · 07-12-04, 03:40 PM

For one, here's where I mounted mine:

I wonder if the effort of running all that extra hose to mount the exchanger in the rear would be worth it, but I guess that's a decision you'll have to make for yourself.

Secondly, you may have seen where I am running excessively high oil temperatures at times, even with my cooler. This month's (Sept) issue of Chevy High Performance magazine has an article dealing with aftermarket oil pans and the power losses and associated heat generated by the crankshaft whipping the oil around.

At one point they mention purposely running the stock pan two quarts over the full mark and seeing an increase of 46°F in the oil temperature. I wonder if you're tossing the oil around enough to cause a windage problem. It's a possibility I guess.

If you plan on doing a lot of road racing, you might want to look into a bigger pan with windage trays and scrapers.

**Vettelt193** · 07-12-04, 03:56 PM

this made me think of this thing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...827184704&rd=1

my crazy side saw oil running through a chest of ice

i got beer on the mind, it is the end of a loooooong day

On a serious note, I wonder if the long lines could cause any pressure loss with all the distance the oil has to travel?

I think SLP has (or at least used to have) a much larger oil pan too, designed for road racing... I think it was over 6 qts. it might be something to look at/consider.

The other thing to consider is putting it in an out of the way place with a fan in front of it... The bad parts of the oil cooler is it does get in the way of the radiator flow AND it can cause the oil to be too cool under normal driving conditions. with a fan in front of it, and in an out of the way place, you could flip the fan on to cool the oil only when necessary (really hot days in traffic and racing) the rest of the time (like highway driving) it wouldn't do much to decrease oil temps. Just an idea... hope it all works out for you.

Moonunit 451 · 07-12-04, 06:00 PM

MmmmmCccoooldBEEEER

I do like Ken's setup, but as you have mentioned, I did not want to block radiator flow any mor than neccesary. I'm happy without one for now, radiator really did the trick, but it was spendy.

I have seen some discussion on mounting a cooler in the rear, I've even seen som nice looking setups, but they are usually on track dedicated cars. It seems that I saw somewhere a caution about exhaust heat and road debris as well though. A cooler with a sepeate fan has also been done and is not a bad idea.

Oh yea, I'm running a stock pan too.

**Ken** · 07-12-04, 06:37 PM

My coolant temperatures never get much above two hundred anymore Colin, even with the oil cooler (exchanger) mounted in frontof the radiator. But then, I did switch to a Be Cool aluminum radiator too.

A good reason for running one in the rear, especially in the rear cargo area or something like that, would be the added advantage of getting it out of the track's air stream, where the track temperature would obviously be much higher than at roof level. Also it would afford added protection from road debris.

Normally though, I'd think an exchanger mounted in the rear would be more to appropriate to accomodate a dry sump oiling system.

**WradDad** · 07-13-04, 12:06 AM

Wow! That's some great feedback, folks! A couple of you mentioned the larger-capacity oil pan, with windage trays and baffels to hold the oil around the pump pickup. Can the pan be changed out without raising the engine? I was just under there, but can't remember what it looks like!

I also like the idea of the radiator with built-in oil cooler. When I have to change out the radiator, that's going to be something worth looking into.

Ken, you make a good point about the crank whipping the oil and raising the oil temp. I do run about a half a quart extra when at the track, to try to compensate for the oil being forced away from the pickup. Next event, I'll try a couple of laps without the extra oil, and see if that makes a difference.

Now, if I can just figure out where to mount the ice chest......

Thanks everyone!
Barry