lt1mc

iTrader: (1)

why do guys delete oil coolers? its kinda crazy cuz i see some people adding them and some people deleting them. is there some kinda of debate about whether they help or harm? i need to either grab a cooler and run my line or get a new oil filter adapter to finish up my swap, so please give me your opinions guys.

buffman

iTrader: (9)

vettes didnt come with one from the factory. Neither did my buick. I guess it all depends on what you're trying to do.

dhdenney

iTrader: (53)

My motor had it so I see no need to delete it. If the cooling system is working, I have no reason to think the oil cooler isn't working.

Mighty Whitey

I think a few people have problems with them leaking over time.. oil in the water, water in the oil, or both (yuck!)

of the ones I've seen, the f-body's route coolant to the oil, which isn't that bad if a hose gets snagged and starts to leak (not good, but not horrible)

some B-body's have oil lines running to the radiator and back- bad deal! if one of those hoses gets a hole rubbed in it, your motor is toast, quick!

I've seen a lot of problems with diesels blowing the o-rings in the cooler and getting oil in the coolant (oil psi greater than water psi) and some extreme cases seeing water in the oil.

my car didn't have one on it, and with a good synthetic oil, I wouldn't think it would be needed to be honest. besides they just clutter up the engine bay and make it a PITA to get the oil pan off in the car!

moserman

iTrader: (7)

i had a hell of a time buying the cooler lines for my camaro, mine is a 93 and there was supposedly only 4 left on the EAST COAST, fortunately i live about an hour away from philly and there was 1 down there, but i dont know if its any different from other years tho. mine also was OEM not some shitty knockoff

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

The main reason people remove them from f-bodies is because the catch garbage and carbon chunks and tend to reduce oil flow. When I took mine apart it was packed with black carbon chunks. I decided to delete it on my new motor, I figured this could not hurt considering that the Vette never had it.

lt1mc

iTrader: (1)

so what is the advantage to an oil cooler. obviously it cools the oil, but what is the advantage to cooling the oil?

Ralls

iTrader: (32)

Thermal breakdown, engine wear, etc. This won't necessarily cause that if the cooling system is working good, but it helps. It's not the cooler's fault that it collects deposits and junk. It's cause that person doesn't properly change the oil. Same thing can happen with the radiator or trans cooler.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

Anyone have a pic..?
I have a Power Steering Cooler...is it similar to that?

dhdenney

iTrader: (53)

On the F body the factory one routes coolant through the top of the oil filer. I've always kept mine cuz I've never had any problems with it. I think the aftermarket ones look similar to what you've probably got. About 1/2 a trans cooler--small tube and fin deal.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

I am not running one in my Caprice but left the one in my wagon.
The one in the wagon is in the radiator so it regulates tempature. The police Caprice got one in front of the radiator which blindly cools wether it needs it or not.

The Caprice I change the oil in roughly every 3K just because pushing a stock shortblock this hard I like to open the oil filters and keep an eye on things, with the relatively short interval I don't worry about heat damage to the oil.
The wagon with the cooler I tend to do 5K miles, near stock, cheap oil, 215K miles on it.

Another reason I don't run one on the Caprice is any extra length of plumbing is a restriction and after losing one shortblock due to bearings I want to try and keep this one alive longer. The last one was over 100K much of that time modified so I got my moneys worth.

dhdenney

iTrader: (53)

Something I was thinking about last night was heat damage to oil. While I was tracking down my overheating problem, I would see engine temps reaching the redline. I am running Mobil 1 15w50 and was wondering if I should change the stuff. In addition to the hot engine temps, my oil cooler was running the hot water to the filter. (That last part may be moot as temps may have equalized.) I was just kinda wondering how long it takes for heat to degrade the oil.

lt1mc

iTrader: (1)

so what do you guys do when you delete the oil cooler? can i modify the stock oil filter adapter or do i need to get one without the lines? the only ones i can seem to find are for oil coolers/remote mount filter setups

buffman

iTrader: (9)

DH, while engine oil and coolant temps are related, they usually aren't the same. In order to know what the engine oil temp is you'll need to run the appropriate gauge. From observation on my car engine oil temps peak after driving 40 degrees higher than coolant temps. Synthetic oils usually dont have to worry about heat damage until over 300 degrees

TXFORMULA

somewhere online-it may have been here in another thread,but i saw some people saying that the stock oil cooler is junk. that they found cooler oil temps without it,it also said that is why the corvette didnt have it bc i think the vettes still have the plugs where the lines would be...

dhdenney

iTrader: (53)

I think you should be able to remove the giant nut that holds the cooler adapter into place and screw an oil filter onto it directly. Then that bottom outlet on the water pump just gets a hose to the bottom of the radiator.

dhdenney

iTrader: (53)

I used to run a gauge with my other oil pan. I junked the Canton and picked up a Milodon which did not have the appropriate plug so I do not use it anymore. I tend to agree with the oil temp reading about 40* higher than coolant. I cannot remember as it's been about a year since I had my oil temp gauge hooked up. Synthetic oil degradation started to cross my mind last night as this thread popped up. I was seeing 240* coolant temps while I was tracking that problem down and probably did 300 miles plus in the process. With a 40* rule of thumb, I was running borderline 300* on oil temp. I might ought to change it.

buffman

iTrader: (9)

No vettes didnt run an oil cooler because IIRC there was simply no room for it.

They run the same offset adapter but without provisions for an oil cooler. Its the same adapter my roadmaster came with. Has one hole and that was for the ybody oil temp sender.

Matt

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

The lack of room was the reason they went without the oil cooler and the fact they went without the oil cooler is the reason they came factory filled with synthetic.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

The advantages of cooling the oil are obvious. However an air cooled oil cooler is far more effective for doing this than the water type found on stock f-bodies.

It is thought by many that the LT1 oil coolers are used to actually get the oil to operating tempertures faster by using the coolant to improve emmisions. The oil takes much longer to reach operating temps than the coolant.