Kfxguy

iTrader: (1)

I would like to try and lower temps of my coolant, trans and engine oil a little bit. Is there any reason i should not put an oil cooler inbetween the oil pressure feed and the turbo? In other words, run my turbo oil pressure line to a cooler in front the radiator and out the cooler, to the turbo. yes? no? maybe so?

TastyBacon

iTrader: (1)

You wouldn't get nearly as much oil flow through the cooler that way versus putting it in the main oiling loop. It would be easy to plumb, though.

Kfxguy

iTrader: (1)

Yes it would be easy to plumb, maybe help cool the turbo and oil down a little. Maybe the oil being dumped back into the engine would be cooler? Probably just wasting my time?

TastyBacon

iTrader: (1)

Probably.
Probably.

Kfxguy

iTrader: (1)

Man I did a search on it. This is what I’ve learned:

1) mostly on import sites, the replies from the forum members were dumb and not informative
2) no one posted anything but speculation
3) it’s still probably pointless the more I think about it lol. Say my oil temp in the engine is 200f. The cooler cools it to say 170. It hits the hot housing of the turbo, it can’t compare to cool it down when hot exhaust housing is bolted to it.


Which makes me wonder why in the heck exhaust housings arent separated/insulated from center section and turbine.

LetsTurboSomething

The only response ive ever read to post about the cooler being before or after the turbo that made any sense was one where the guy reasoned that the cooler is to add longevity to the oil's usable life and that cooler oil deposits less carbon and that the length of time the oil is too hot has a greater effect on the oil breaking down than the peak temp it sees. It's always going to hit its break down temp at some point in the system, getting it back down past that threshold is the important part. Therefore it was better to place an oil cooler right after a peak heat source. As long as the oil is less than something like mid-200 degrees there is no lubrication gain to be had from lowering the temp of the oil. If the turbo oil drains right back into the pan via a hose like 2 feet or less then I would think that to be adequate to get that oil cool. Also, its a tiny amount of oil actually going through the turbo and its there a really small amount of time. The oil running down the heads is probably frying pan temp by the time it drain back to pan.

If you have an oil temp sensor in the pan and that oil is getting to hot, that would be the time for a cooler i think.

BlwnLs1GTO

iTrader: (12)

It's never a bad idea to add an oil cooler. however, I don't know if/what kind of difference it will make on your turbo or other parts. But it will cool the oil down!

stevieturbo

Yup lol.

A cooler thermostat is an easy cheap start.

Polyalphaolefin

A cooler only adds life to the oil within reason. You want the oil temps be >212*F but <240*F for normal driving. Cooler temps than 212*F means you get insufficient evaporation of water and fuel contamination, which will shorten oil life. This is especially true with a turbo car where richer air/fuel mixtures and higher blow-by is present.

I wouldn't worry about an oil cooler unless the oil temp is creeping over 250*F periodically. If you need one, I wouldn't put it on the turbo feed nor drain. Use a sandwich plate off the oil filter housing with a thermostat. You can also consider a remote mounted oil filter with a larger Ford sized 3/4-16 threaded filter. You get better oil flow through the filter and a slight cooling effect since the filter isn't sandwiched between a hot engine and even hotter header.

With the turbo, I also recommend using an oil formulated with a decent bit of PAO for high temperature stability and shear stability. Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w-30 would be an entry level for this category with Red Line HP 5w-30 and Driven LS30 5w-30 topping that list. I use LS30 in my 5.3L with a Fram Ultra XG9837 filter changed every 10k miles.

With the turbo and rpm, I'd more concerned about oil aeration than temperature.

Hope this helps.

Mr.Kincade

I've been running an eBay oil cooler for the last three years.
After making back to back pulls my idle pressure takes a hit, I flip the fan switch and within a few minutes my pressure comes back up and is more stable.

70DusterDev

Where do you run your cooler?

ddnspider

iTrader: (26)

I think you're better off putting it downstream of the turbo. Better to cool the oil before it goes back in the motor. It seems a little bit of a waste to do it pre-turbo given that you may get 20F or something out of the oil only for it to go into a 500F CHRA.

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

I'd have a really tough time plumbing an oil cooler to/from my turbo. But if I could adding it post turbo with an exchanger might be something I'd look into.