Oil Cooler blocking

[rodneym]

(this isn't necessarily an FE issue)

Even on a mild day, say 60 degrees, my oil is pretty cool. What do you colder climate guys do to get your oil temps up? In the Summer I need the cooling but Winter drives are too cool.
I've seen rads blocked with cardboard but is there a better solution?

[dcdoug]

I used a thin sheet of plexiglass for a while, which looks a lot better than cardboard, but I'm going to install an oil cooler bypass thermostat when I put the engine back in the car.

[rodneym]

Doug,
The plexi doesn't get deformed or imprinted from the heat of the fins?

[vector1]

I have used a piece of aluminum.

[ERA Chas]

Sadly, virtually nothing works. Cardboard, plexi, masonite or oatmeal. My last iteration of a fix was a plate of .060" aluminum shaped to the face dimension and backed with ceramic cloth. And that's WITH a Mocal oil thermostat. (tried 2 actually-they both sucked).
At highway speeds, you lose temp fast. It normalizes in stop and go but dies on the highway.
Best bet-remove lines and cap the fittings. Then reopen when the ambient is good or when tracking.
Guessing cold oil not good for the Brothers Paxton too huh??

[DAVID GAGNARD]

wide clear packing tape like you use when boxing up something for shipping, all but invisible on the car and it will work.......and do like the NASCAR boys, put it on in layers and if your oil is too hot, take one off,same for summer driving, you can remove what you want to get and keep your oil temp at whatever it is you want it be...........

David

[rodneym]

Let's say I go to a car show. If it's 50 degrees in the AM, the temps stay too cool on the freeway. Then when I go home when it's 70 degrees and sunny and it's fine.
Chas, If I remove and cap the cooler...I have the opposite problem...not good for Summer.
I have a tacky self stick clear blue vinyl that's used for covering metal. I can apply it over the oil cooler hole and it helps a little, then pull it off when the day warms up (one time use of course but I have a big roll).
It's no big deal but I was wondering if anyone made a plug of some type. The problem is that the fins do get pretty hot to the touch, so I've been weary of putting something directly on them.
I can't say the motor is necessarily hotter but the Paxtons are a heat source themselves.
And you were right: roll on, roll off.

[Albie]

I found a piece of fairly dense foam about 1/2 inch thick, cut it so it fits snug up against the cooler and covered it with black duct tape. It stays put and is easy to remove.

[dcdoug]

Originally Posted by rodneym

Doug,
The plexi doesn't get deformed or imprinted from the heat of the fins?

Nope, usually it's too cold out for that.... I duct taped the sides of it to the body, which you can't see. I can look up which plexi I used, but no issues with heat deforming it at all.

[Grubby]

I use a oil thermostat. My oil heats up quickly when cool out.

My last Cobra had an oil cooler and the oil would never warm up. Very bad on engine life.

I would not use a oil cooler on the street without blocking it off or a t-stat.

John

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by rodneym

Chas, If I remove and cap the cooler...I have the opposite problem...not good for Summer.

I didn't mean to remove the cooler. Leave it in place, undo the fittings and (using AN caps on all 4, 2 male, 2 female)
cap them and zip them aside. You get a little oil mess when you open the system but catch it in a small can.
For the summer, leave connected and risk slightly cool highway. For the 50 -60 degree range, disconnect and run with the cooler off-line.
You'd rather run 240 or so oil in stop and go for a brief season than 160. That'll never hurt your motor and probably not the P-fans.
A bud ran a near 600HP Windsor with the cooler thus disconnected and saw 180-190 oil in 50 ambient.
Remember, the lines themselves act as a heat sink (removing temp) and the surface of your Aviad or my Canton RR pans pull heat out of the oil when moving.
And honestly, if an insulated hunk of ally didn't stop heat loss, duct tape, plexi or nothing else did. I tried the kitchen sink.
Blocking the wind gives the impression that it prevents cooling. But just pumping the oil through the lines a round-trip distance of some 6 feet, to a point at the coldest part of the car (the lower nose) sheds heat along with the pan surfaces.
Don't take my word. Try all the above remedies to satisfy yourself.

[fjrgary]

placed a piece of plexiglas over cooler(held in place with velcro) almost invisible and raised oil temp about 20 degrees.

[jwoodard]

I can't speak about the Mocal thermostat, but the Canton thermostat works very well. I've had mine on for 4 years plus with no issues. In my opinion that's a better solution than disconnecting/connecting the hoses.

[vector1]

it is kind of interesting, i was looking at oil coolers and went to setrab site, they list their coolers with hp ratings, most of the sizes used in the cobras are rated for 2-300 hp, which is probably all that is used for driving down the road. to cool something rated at 400-550 hp it takes about a 10" tall x 16" wide cooler according to their listings.

Setrab Engine Oil Coolers | susa

[bobcowan]

If you managed to block off all the air flow through the cooler, you would still get significant cooling effect.

A thermostat is a good place to start. But, even with a thermostat, you'll still get some cooling. The thermostat allows about 10% of the oil to flow through the cooler when "closed". That allows all of the oil to warm up at the same time. You don't want a valve to open and feed a cold slug of oil directly into your engine.

A while back, some one had developed a manual thermostat valve that could be adjusted from 0% to 100%, and various points in between. I havn't seen it for sale in a while.

On the street, you really don't need a cooler. Engine oil is heated by RPM's. In routine driving, it will be about the same temp as the coolant, give or take a little. If it's considerably hotter than coolant temp, there's a problem that needs to be solved with something besides a bigger cooler.

I completely divorced my oil cooling system from my oil pressure system. There's a couple of -10 ports on my oil pan, and an electric pump bolted to the frame rail. When I'm at the track, I run the electric pump to circulate oil through the cooler. No pressure loss through the engine block, either.

Occasionally I'll run it on the street. Last year we were driving from Wall, SD to Rapid City, SD. It was over 100*. So I ran the oil pump. Probably didn't need to, but it made me feel better.

[WardL]

I have a thin piece of wood painted black. I think it helps and is easy to remove if oil gets too hot. An oil temp controller is the best way to go. In the PNW it is really hard to get my oil temps up where they should be.

[Rick Parker]

A piece of fuel cell foam works well. It can be trimmed to fit securely in the oil cooler opening. At a thickness of approx 2 inches it will fit flush, and can be quickly removed and stored in the trunk.

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but a large percentage of the heat is "Lost" as the oil travels through the hoses, before the cooler is even taken into consideration.

[RET_COP]

I do what Chas does. I disconnected mine and plugged, then and zip tied them. My oil temps are better even in the summer. I also picked up a few pounds of pressure. I don't really think you need the cooler unless you are pushing you car hard for a length of time.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by Rick Parker

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but a large percentage of the heat is "Lost" as the oil travels through the hoses, before the cooler is even taken into consideration.

Actually it has---see post #11.

[Rick Parker]

Actually it has---see post #11.

Sorry Charlie! I didn't read ALL the posts?