Oil Coolers and Over cooling

SS_Firehawk · 06-01-2012, 07:05 PM

Unfortunately I have drill tomorrow. Sunday, I'm available, or next week cars and coffee.

wstar · 06-03-2012, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roy'sz

lol that definitely would not work. Your coolant temp would increase when running your car hard because your oil temp is increasing. Just because you have 2 coolers doesn't mean you will effeciently cool the car off. the guage reads the oil temp before it flows through the engine. If you are tracking your car yes you do want the oil between 200-220, and thats where my z runs with my 34row cooler.

Please explain how you would think that having a) your engine oil as a heat source and b) cross flowing it with your coolant, which is also another heat source...and with both radiating off of eachother adding another cooler would help you maintain a 200-220 temp when pushing the car to its designed limits? I really honestly don't see it but would love to see how it could "Possibly" work.

It works because the radiator can shed a lot more heat than it's usually asked to (it has a lot more fins/rows/surface than even a 34-row oil cooler does), and the oil gets hotter than the water does. The problem isn't that oil<->water cooling doesn't work, the problem is just that the 2012 OEM sandwichplate cooler is too small and inefficient to get the job done.

AM Perf was running a custom oil<->water unit combined with an upgraded radiator in longer competition runs, seems like it worked for them. It's probably the better and cleaner solution in general. It will warm up oil faster, the oil lines are shorter and safer (oil<->water unit inside the engine bay, behind the radiator), less bulk/weight out at the tip of the car, etc.

I think Travis has been trying out some Laminova units: complete-oil-coolers-ec54 - oil-coolers - The Laminova heat exchangers - Laminova, but he's been focused on other issues lately. I really think with the right Laminova and an upgraded (e.g. CSF) radiator, you shouldn't need to run an extra Setrab core out front except perhaps in the most extreme of conditions (long races in the desert? I donno).

gomer_110 · 06-03-2012, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wstar

It works because the radiator can shed a lot more heat than it's usually asked to (it has a lot more fins/rows/surface than even a 34-row oil cooler does), and the oil gets hotter than the water does. The problem isn't that oil<->water cooling doesn't work, the problem is just that the 2012 OEM sandwichplate cooler is too small and inefficient to get the job done.

AM Perf was running a custom oil<->water unit combined with an upgraded radiator in longer competition runs, seems like it worked for them. It's probably the better and cleaner solution in general. It will warm up oil faster, the oil lines are shorter and safer (oil<->water unit inside the engine bay, behind the radiator), less bulk/weight out at the tip of the car, etc.

I think Travis has been trying out some Laminova units: complete-oil-coolers-ec54 - oil-coolers - The Laminova heat exchangers - Laminova, but he's been focused on other issues lately. I really think with the right Laminova and an upgraded (e.g. CSF) radiator, you shouldn't need to run an extra Setrab core out front except perhaps in the most extreme of conditions (long races in the desert? I donno).

Finally someone that gets it. It would be interesting to know what Doran racing is doing on their Conti Series 370z.

And for the record water will always be a better heat transfer medium than air. That's just simple engineering.

roy'sz · 06-03-2012, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wstar

It works because the radiator can shed a lot more heat than it's usually asked to (it has a lot more fins/rows/surface than even a 34-row oil cooler does), and the oil gets hotter than the water does. The problem isn't that oil<->water cooling doesn't work, the problem is just that the 2012 OEM sandwichplate cooler is too small and inefficient to get the job done.

AM Perf was running a custom oil<->water unit combined with an upgraded radiator in longer competition runs, seems like it worked for them. It's probably the better and cleaner solution in general. It will warm up oil faster, the oil lines are shorter and safer (oil<->water unit inside the engine bay, behind the radiator), less bulk/weight out at the tip of the car, etc.

I think Travis has been trying out some Laminova units: complete-oil-coolers-ec54 - oil-coolers - The Laminova heat exchangers - Laminova, but he's been focused on other issues lately. I really think with the right Laminova and an upgraded (e.g. CSF) radiator, you shouldn't need to run an extra Setrab core out front except perhaps in the most extreme of conditions (long races in the desert? I donno).

I don't disagree that a liquid to liquid cooler is ineffecient, but in the instance of engine coolant cooling down oil during a tracking condition or a canyon run is where my point is. I completely agree if you have a liquid to oil cooler where the liquid is a cooler temp than anything else.

wstar · 06-04-2012, 08:27 AM

The Laminova setups I'm talking about above are cooling engine oil (and/or other things in the case of dual coolers, e.g. trans fluid) using the engine's coolant. The coolant will be colder than the oil in any high-heat scenario for the engine. If the radiator can't handle the heat (water temp too high), you upgrade the radiator. If the transfer isn't efficient enough (engine oil still too hot, but water temp is fine), then you need more transfer (larger oil<->coolant exchanger).

We don't have enough data points to say anything definitely, but I'd be surprised if anyone runs into hard limits on this where an upgraded radiator and a larger Laminova unit can't handle their temps. I'd try it myself but I already have a working Setrab oil<->setup and I've got 200 other projects lined up before I get around to reworking my oil cooling, unless it becomes a problem.

06-01-2012, 07:05 PM	#46 (permalink)
SS_Firehawk Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Tampa Posts: 4,142 Drives: 13' Magma Red Nismo Rep Power: 7334	Unfortunately I have drill tomorrow. Sunday, I'm available, or next week cars and coffee. __________________ Old Car:GTM TSC'd 550whp / 410lbft tq @ 11.88PSI New Car: Under Construction

06-04-2012, 08:27 AM	#50 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	The Laminova setups I'm talking about above are cooling engine oil (and/or other things in the case of dual coolers, e.g. trans fluid) using the engine's coolant. The coolant will be colder than the oil in any high-heat scenario for the engine. If the radiator can't handle the heat (water temp too high), you upgrade the radiator. If the transfer isn't efficient enough (engine oil still too hot, but water temp is fine), then you need more transfer (larger oil<->coolant exchanger). We don't have enough data points to say anything definitely, but I'd be surprised if anyone runs into hard limits on this where an upgraded radiator and a larger Laminova unit can't handle their temps. I'd try it myself but I already have a working Setrab oil<->setup and I've got 200 other projects lined up before I get around to reworking my oil cooling, unless it becomes a problem. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

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