Power steering cooler and engine oil cooler sizing
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I am in the process of adding a power steering cooler and oil cooler to my 01 Camaro. I autocross and track this car, but I also drive it on the street. I am fabing a horizontal mount behind the radiator for the oil and power steering cooler. When I am street driving the car I plan on blocking off the oil cooler and power steering cooler. Everything I have read states without a thermostat is hard to keep the temps where they need to be. This is why I am mounting the horizontally behind the radiator so I will be able to block them off. The question I have is what size cooler will I need? I am in the south and in the summer time is very hot. I will be racing in 95 degree weather for 20 min session.
Thanks for your help
chase
Thanks for your help
chase
#2
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I swapped out my power steering "cooler" with an actual cooler and significantly dropped my temps. Didn't track it yet but after blasting through some back roads temps never went over 170F using a small AutoZone cooler. Not bad considering before it would get to 220+. Link here:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...er-delete.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...er-delete.html
#3
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For the PS, bigger is better. Tough to get that fluid too cool, even on the street. I would install the biggest cooler you can fit in the space you have.
Simple tube and fin coolers are much less efficient that a plate style cooler. And heat sinks are just about worthless.
Engine oil is a different story, though. Minimum oil temp seems to be about 180*'ish. Maximum temp depends on the type of oil and the application. Straight dino oil can't handle high heat for very long. But a true synthetic like Redline or RP can handle a lot of heat for quite a while.
On the street, it can be hard to get the oil hot enough to work correctly, even with a cover and thermostat - been there and done that. Coolers also add extra plumbing, extra weight, extra cost, and additional leak/failure points.
I would install a oil temp gauge and see what your oil temps on the track really are. And at 20 minutes per session, you may only need to use a true synthetic oil and change it a little more often.
BTW, M1 is NOT a true synthetic.
Simple tube and fin coolers are much less efficient that a plate style cooler. And heat sinks are just about worthless.
Engine oil is a different story, though. Minimum oil temp seems to be about 180*'ish. Maximum temp depends on the type of oil and the application. Straight dino oil can't handle high heat for very long. But a true synthetic like Redline or RP can handle a lot of heat for quite a while.
On the street, it can be hard to get the oil hot enough to work correctly, even with a cover and thermostat - been there and done that. Coolers also add extra plumbing, extra weight, extra cost, and additional leak/failure points.
I would install a oil temp gauge and see what your oil temps on the track really are. And at 20 minutes per session, you may only need to use a true synthetic oil and change it a little more often.
BTW, M1 is NOT a true synthetic.
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Check out http://www.improvedracing.com/ they have everything you need. They Sponsor my car and I have everything on my car. I'm running an inline thermostat and front mounted oil cooler. They make a nice little adapter for your oil lines that has the thermostat built in it. Really clean way to do it if you have the room from the exhaust. For PS, I've found that the factory hose cooler does just fine, but the issue is the power steering pump itself. TurnOne will re-valve your pump or you can pick up a new one that is already set up. I have a TurnOne pump on my race car and my street car, never had an issue since I installed it. Before, it would puke out PS fluid from the resovoir, especially at the autox. If you see what you need on Improved's site PM me I can give you a discount code to save you a few dollars. Also, Second on the oil temp gauge.