Quote:
Originally Posted by Barnsnake
If you only race, or drive in Phoenix in the summer, you don't need a thermostat. For most every other circumstance the thermostat will prevent over-cooling of the oil. Cold oil doesn't flow well or provide optimal lubrication. It is also slow to drive off condensation. A combination of higher viscosity and cold oil is also very tough on the oil pump drive on the distributor.
An option is to plumb "dummy" lines on the cooler for now and you can add an oil thermostat and "live" plumbing later. |
This is excellent advice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elmariachi
Don't know about cold oil blowing any hoses off, but the primary purpose of the thermostat is to prevent engine oil temps from running too low, which is not good for the engine.
For example if the t-stat opens at 200F then until the oil gets to 200F, its not circulated through the cooler (because it doesn't need to be cooled). Once the t-stat opens oil will flow through the cooler until it gets back down to 200F (or whatever the rated close temp is). You need to do some research on what you want you optimum oil temps to be for your engine and application before buying the parts.
|
Cold oil can damage the cooler if you blip the throttle too high. That sudden surge can cause damage. But if you're careful about driving easy until the oil gets up to temp, it will be OK.
When fully closed, the thermostat will allow about 10% of the oil to flow through the cooler. That allows all of the oil in the system to warm up at the same rate. The down side of that is on a cold day you'll never get the oil up to operating temps.
When fully open the thermostat flows about 90% of the oil through the cooler. That helps prevent pressure loss.
There is a manual thermostat available that can be shut off completely. It's carved from billit alum, and is not cheap.