Quote:
Originally Posted by fkemmerer
We've been enjoying ERA 753 all summer. The car is running great. I do have a problem that I need to solve and I'd like to get some ideas from others on this forum. Now that the weather in New England has cooled down, my oil temperatures are running too low (50 - 60 degrees C typically). I ordered a Canton thermostat that I plan to put on the car in the next week or two. Only problem is the size of the unit. I don't want to put it anywhere obvious as I'm concerned it will spoil the "original look" of the engine bay. Has anyone found a place to put the Canton Theromstat somewhere out of site on an ERA? - Fred |
Fred,
Here is my best advice for the too-cold
oil problem. Send back the Canton thermostat and simply disconnect your cooler lines, plug them, then plug the in and out at the filter. Zip tie the lines out of sight somewhere on the chassis. I'm sure you don't want to hear this.
I've tried every trick and thermostat in the book over many years. The truth of the matter is that none will even arrive at, much less hold, 160+
oil temps below about 55 deg ambient. Even with the cooler face blocked with all sorts of tapes, lucite, aluminum, cardboard, rubber or concrete, the lines and cooler act as a giant heat sink and bleed off temp at highway speeds. Can't get to or hold 140 deg. There are a thousand threads on here of how guys covered the cooler with all the above and it's just fine. Well, that's just not my experience. I'm in the frigid NE as you are.
The only sure effective way to avoid heat loss is to
not drive the car in cool/cold temps. Aside from the oil not reaching safe operating temps (especially when using elevated RPM) other negative factors arise-such as rock hard tires (unsafe) and rock hard shocks (not a fun ride).
This was proven on my bud's 600HP, 11.5:1, Windsor FIA which we tested. We found that just running the oil in the pan only (Canton RR),
without cooler, that the pan's surface area prevented oil from reaching safe temps. Only at slow speed and stop/go driving did it rise above 160+. This was in 40 deg ambient.
I have a Mocal thermostat in place for 5 years now which does nothing to hold temps at highway speeds in cool/cold weather. Had the Earls from ERA and considered the Canton. The cooler is excellent in
hot weather at maintaining 180-225 deg oil temps. You have an expensive engine and I would not run it (and mine) at low oil temps.
I marvel at the guys that have tops, heaters, (which bleed coolant temps!) seat warmers and horse blankets but ignore the oil temp sitting on the peg while they're driving to dinner parties in January.
Worse is autocrossing in October. You sit in the staging lanes for an hour at a time, start the engine, then you're screaming on the rev limiter in 2nd and 3rd for 40 seconds, then shut down.
JacMac on here has a neat piece he fabricates for his racecars. It's a lower rad hose which has an aluminum canister inserted through which hot coolant and oil pass through tube-in-tube. A heat exchanger. He reports it's excellent at maintaining good race oil temps but the warm coolant
does not elevate the oil temps from cold.
GM has a similar oil filter-mounted exchanger on I think, C5's.
Just my experience and I hope it helps you decide.