kylesyles13

Ok so i have my 94 z28. Stock engine besides intake. Had a buddy run a question by me when we were talking bout my low oil pressure. Since i checked the engine with a mechanical gauge and it still read bad he said he one time had a friend block off there oil cooler and it dropped oil pressure. So does a 94 camaro (or the lt1 for that matter) supposed to have a oil cooler?

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

It's not really an "oil cooler". "Chilled" coolant comes from the water pump, circulates through the oil filter coolant adapter and returns to the radiator. The oil never leaves the adapter above the filter.

The problem with this setup is that if you overheat the engine, coolant that's overheated goes to the adapter and HEATS the oil.

Most people remove it, some install real coolers in front of the radiator and run oil lines with a real cooler adapter.

kylesyles13

Alright so there's no oil cooler that can be blocked and that can reduce pressure. Only thing this could be more is bearing or oil pump. I would think it's bearings were bad it would bee making noise and its not

93M6Formula

My oil pressure went up when I deleted my "cooler". Not sure why but it did.
What kind of oil pressure are you seeing?

kylesyles13

At idle about5 maybe less. But no overt heating. No noise. I don't get it

shbox

There have been people that have found blockage in the factory oil cooler. Whether removing it will result in an oil pressure increase may be a case by case basis. Easy enough to do, though. For f-bodies, oil coolers were optional until 1996 when the option was dropped.

kylesyles13

Do i have to drop engine?

93M6Formula

Oh no, you just unbolt the cooler from the block and shave down the little ***** on the bolts you take out so they don't interfere with the filter. Gotta drain the coolant first and remove the hose from the radiator and the waterpump that go to the cooler. Then just get the bypass hose that is for LT1 cars that WEREN'T equipped with the cooler and put it on. You can either use a taller filter or the stock style. The taller one fits but is hard to get off if you have longtube headers.

shbox

Do you know if you even have an oil cooler?

kylesyles13

No ima jack it up and check it out this weekend. The bottom block on this car was replaced so idk what the guy put on

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Ironically, Its an oil warmer, not cooler. Oil takes much longer than coolant to reach normal operating temperature. By warming the oil up as quick as possible, emissions are reduced. Simply put, its only for reducing emissions after startup and until the engine is a normal operating temperature.

It is very commonplace to remove, will not hurt a thing especially since they tend to collect solid particles of junk.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

I disagree. Coolant has a much larger reservoir of several gallons compared to oil at five or six quarts and it goes through a large radiator. Oil stays in the engine and is exposed to the inner surfaces of the cylinder walls-directly exposed to the combustion.

On cold days, how much running does it take to get the heater to blow hot?

I say the oil heats up quicker than the cooling system.

kylesyles13

I'm just trying to figure out what ifs causing my low oil pressure

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

You could remove the oil cooler to see if that helps.

You'll need to loop the coolant hoses together.

It'll look like this when it's removed:

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

Many times these quickie question threads become a discussion about more than the original question. This is normal, makes the thread more informative and expands the information knowledge base.

BTC

My oil pressure improved pretty dramatically when I removed my oil cooler. My car had been sitting for several years and the oil pressure dropped a lot shortly after getting it running. I changed the oil filter at same time I removed the cooler, so it could have been a combination of the two that improved my oil pressure.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

Any additional plumbing is restriction maybe there is some answer to more pressure without the cooler in that fact?
Far as coolant vs. oil temps, coolant flows around the combustion chamber, never owned a vehicle with an oil temp gauge but coolant around the chambers makes me suspect coolant will heat quicker despite the substantial greater volume.
The quickest access the oil would have to combustion heat would be the back of the pistons, otherwise pretty much everywhere else it can get heat from has water contact too and in places like under the valve covers there is a lot of water between the chamber and the oil up by the springs.