Oil cooler installation
 

I don't have oil tempurature issues, as I don't drive my Z hard or on the track. However, I read that an oil cooler is a good way to extend the life of the car.

My Question:

Is an oil cooler difficult to install? I am fairly handy and have resources to help me if things become "complicated". An oil cooler seems like a good idea...is it something that a Z owner should do?

Opinions are appreciated...thanks!

Look in the DIY section.

yep, Modshack has a DIY oil cooler setup there. It is very easy to do.

Here we go again.....

Dont forget about the warranty issue/concern!

You dont need one. Save yourself the time and money.

For everyday driving it is totally none essential. And in the winter this could actually work against you causing the oil to never reach the proper operating temp. Save your money and your warranty and just keep it stock for now.

:driving:

if you don't track your car, you don't need the cooler. Just use a good synthetic oil (REDLINE, Amsoil, RP etc) and you'll be fine. You may spend the money in other mods which will give you HP increase (i.e. Exhaust, intake, HFC etc).

:iagree:

+1 On the over-cooling. I have the Stillen track cooler with a Mocal 180 degree thermostatic sandwich plate and it is a real problem heating up in the winter. On cold days I have to take painters tape and cover my front grill (not very pretty...).

However, I do track my car so I can live with it.

The thermo plate is not working properly?

I was confused about this too until I researched it. Thermo plates are ALWAYS circulating some oil. This is to avoid the thermal shock of a Thermostat opening fully at 180 degrees into a cold cooler core. As the temp hits the trigger point More oil goes to the plate and less through the bypass (which is naturally the path of least resistance). So basically, the cooler is always functioning at some level, just more so when the oil is hot and more fluid is diverted through it as determined by the thermostat. This is why a cooler starts getting warm (with a thermostat) as soon as the engine is started, and why the oil may not get up to temp in cold situations. This reinforces the need to properly size the cooler. More is not better unless you have track needs like Resipsa and then you have to make some special accommodations (blocking part of ther core) for normal street use.. Putting a Large "race" cooler on a car with no thermostat would be problematic in cooler climes.

Plus you've added another quart or so of oil to get heated up. If all you are doing is short drives, you may never see enough heat for optimum oil temperatures.

My car always hovered close to the limp-mode temps on freeways. As soon as I get her back, I may install Modshack's unit.

That shouldn't have been the case (near 280 degrees on the street) but may have been part of your engine issues. See how the new one is...I'm betting it will be much better!

Do you think that using a 210 degree thermostat would help? In theory it should be more closed at temperatures approaching 180 degrees and allow the oil to heat up a little faster.

Yeah. I have taken that into account. BTW dealer said my car is ready as of 10 min ago. :).

We shall see.

I honestly don't think so.....Getting a thermo plate with anything but a 180- opening point would be a special order. 180 is the standard. I'm not sure the higher temp would change the warm up bleed rate.

My temps range from 180-210 under virtually all conditions with my Cooler.

I found a 215 degree bypass unit for $143. A bit more expensive than the thermostatic plate, plus a passive plate is still required.

If you want to go the high end route check out the Canton Mecca offerings. BTW Canton recommends 215F for the opening point. I've used their products with great success on other cars.

www.cantonracingproducts.com

If it's a pure Bypass and not a bleed like the Thermostatic plate, then that might be a good thing. Seems it would keep the oil in the 215-220 range when the cooler is kicked in..

I sent a message to Canton Racing to find out. It has 4 fittings, the primary send and return lines, and the secondary send and return lines to the cooler. It says it is a bypass but doesn't say whether it is absolute or not or at what temperature it begins opening vs being fully open.

Let us know Chris....Mocal also has an outboard thermostat for considerably less $$...Guess we need to find that out as well..I'll shoot them an email..

Canton Racing replied.

They stated that the thermostat is a complete bypass, with no flow to cooler until the oil temp reaches 215 degrees. I wasn't able to get them to tell me exact opening and closing temperatures, but if it was centered around 215 or began opening at 215 it would be great.

The price is $143 from LPI Racing, plus more $$ for the extra fittings and lines.

Expensive but seems like a much better solution, especially people like me where the fall and spring can be pretty cold. Plus I plan on using the 34 row Setrab so I definitely don't want any circulation going through that giant cooler until I need it.

Thanks Chris....I dug a little more into the Mocal external hermostat. Turns out it works just like the take-off plates:

Flow diagrams on page 3 at the link: http://97.74.103.94/files/thermos$.p...t1=Get+Pricing


Looks ike the Canton is the only full shut-off option out there (so far)

nice detective work, guys!