How much of oil cooler to block off?
 

I found out how I am going to block off the oil cooler for the winter here in PA. My question is, should I block the whole thing or only part of it? If part of it, which part..?

What types of average lows are you seeing for the morning and then the average for the day? I block mine off in OCT - all of it. The oil hits 190-200 on cool days and 185-190 on cold days. At night its 180 and its speed dependent. IF the cooler is unblocked I will have a temp of 160 and not more. Thats a touch too low. Personally block it all off and work from there. Make 2 plates or use tape(duct) as some do.

What size do you have?

With my 34 rows and Nismo front bumper, last winter (30's to 40's), I blocked off the bottom 1/3 and highway speed 65 mph will see oil temp drop from 180+ to 160 ish. (I would turn on the car for 30 min just to get the oil to about 180 to 200, then oil temp would gradually drop to 160 in about 5-10 min @ 65mph).

This time around, I blocked off about 70% of it. Current temperature in Dallas is in the 50's, and highway driving (includes 2500rpm cruise and a stretch of higher rpm pushes) will yield 180+ to 200.

Im in the same boat, I got a 34 row cooler, and Im new to this whole temp/block off plate deal. I have yet to use my block off plate that i made, which is 2 pieces.. this past saturday, i drove it with temps mid 50s, on the highway, and my oil temp without the the block plate was about 165 at 80mph.

You just gotta keep an eye on it, I'd definitely say anything less than 50 degrees day or night, the block off plate should go on. AND, I wouldn't recommend driving it hard until you can get your oil temp to at least 160+ degrees.

I'm just south of the 'burgh. I block off about 75% of my 34 row cooler. ;)

Whats your temp threshold that you put your plate on? How cold is it? 55 degree or less?

I blocked off mine completely, still seeing 180-200 regularly, hit 210 pushing it, and it was 45 out. Mines a 19 row.

no sh1t...

Do you leave the top or bottom 25 percent show?

i block probably 60% of my 25R year round or else the morning drive to work results in overcooled oil. bottom half for what it counts, since it appears to be more directly in the airflow path

I start from the bottom and work my way to the top.

So what are the ideal temps to be looking for? Anything 160 or better, or 180 or better?

Ideal oil temp is really based on the oil you are running and what weight. I would shoot between 180 to 200 as a target personally.

Blocking off the entire core will not hurt anything. Your driving style, length of trip, ambient temps and other variables will determine how much core to block off. I would start off by blocking the whole thing. Then, as you determine you need it, uncover a row at a time.

I heard you want minimum 160 degree oil temp.. and the golden rule from what I hear, if you're struggling to get the temp to 160, you should have the block off plate.

I'll be going on a small road trip this weekend (120 miles one way) so Im looking forward to see how it plays out, the weather should be in the 50s.

I ended up using no residue all weather duct tape and covered all of my 34 row cooler. So far I haven't seen anything over 180ish. It's been consistently around 40-50 degrees here.