Every oil cooling solution I have read about has an oil cooler on the same circuit as the oil pressure for oiling the internals of the motor (either in series or parallel). I'm just thinking that maybe it can be totally separate circuit on a stock motor setup. Is there a reason it wouldn't work to use a differential oil cooling kit? Has an electric pump, can be turned on with temp switch only when needed, pull oil from sump through heat exchanger and return it to sump.
Yeah, that should work. But its a expensive way to get what you need. You already have oil at pressure, in most cases you'll have an easy point to plumb it in and out of the engne to cool it. As long as your oil system can build enough pressure, and the cooler/ takeoff/ hoses arent too much of a restriction there usually arent many drawbacks to doing it that way.
thanks for reply. For my project: the other option would be a sandwich plate and a mechanical thermostat. the electric pump setup would cost more, but not a bundle more. I guess the bigger issue in my mind is to avoid robbing any pressure from stock pump or installing a bigger internal pump which also has drawbacks. Pros and cons to different setups i suppose but i'm most interested in knowing if this is an option - if it will actually cool the oil or if it needs to be part of the internal oiling circuit.
What engine? Lot's of heavy duty SBC engines use a plate between the oil filter and engine block, lines to cooler ahead of the radiator. I've got 'em on all my cars. That is, all the ones with Chev, er, GM engines... Brian
Pontiac 455. From what ive read from others with pontiac, The sandwich plate seems to affect oil pressure. Have you noticed change in pressure after install?
What's your application? I'm just wondering why you think you need the cooler? You can cause more issues with the oil running too cool than a bit warm. The thermostat is a good idea, but I'd think I'd want to see if it may ever open before spending the effort / money for the system.
motor cools okay. it's not a band-aid i'm looking for. just lower oil temps. not a race car, but i have a manual trans and sometimes it's more fun to drive with a handful of RPMs and that's when oil temps can approach and exceed 275 when having fun on hot days then i feel like i need to let the oil breathe a bit. it would be nice to dial in a cooler at 230. i have read that people tapping into pressure side of existing oil circuit have seen pressure drop 8-10 psi.
Why would it rob any pressure? Maybe slight loss from line expansion, but the oil isn't going anywhere... The cooler and lines should be sized to minimize restriction. Besides, why pump the oil through a cooler and right back into the hot pan? Best place for the cooler is in line right before the oil goes into the galleys, so the engine sees the coolest possible oil.
I had to put a remote oil filter on a 421 Pontiac due to frame clearance issues. While that isn't exactly what you are doing I found that there was at least 10 PSI loss compared to the block mounted oil filter. The remote filter had half inch lines to it; my plan was to increase the line size to see if it helped. Selling the car solved the oil presssure and all the other problems at the same time.
That ^^ is the first thing I thought when I read this idea. It won't be anywhere near as effective at controlling oil temp. Think about it, have you EVER seen this done before? probably not, and I think there is a reason for this, otherwise race teams a whole lot smarter than us would be doing it
i don't know. seems to be what has happened to others. also takes longer for pressure to build up. maybe the stock pump just isn't enough for the additional pipeline? i guess i thought it would be like how a pool heater just circulates it, except this would turn over all the oil in the sump through the cooler every 30 seconds. it seems to work on differentials. i'm not arguing or looking for a certain answer... just thinking out loud. thanks for comments.
i guess i thought it would be like how a pool heater just circulates it, except this would turn over all the oil in the sump through the cooler every 30 seconds. I'd be concerned with this setup competing with the engine oil pickup and also how much air it might introduce. You do not have those issues with a rear gear. An oil pan with a few more quarts might be enough to do what you want to do.
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