Oil-to-Water Cooler

[Orion ZyGarian]

I've been strongly considering running an oil-to-water cooler (a la 1JZ, 2JZ, and every car from the mid 90s on) on my 7M instead of an oil thermostat on a full flow aftermarket air-to-oil cooler setup, since thats one of the functions of it. Thoughts?

 

[jdub]

Why would you want to add heat to a cooling system that's at it's limit?

 

[nathaninwa]

is the system at its limit? what kind of additional btu's are added? Ive got a 2j in my Volvo and am running my oil filter externally, totally bypassing the stock oil flow route. With just over 6 quarts in my system, and no cooler at all, my temps stabalize right around 210* but take forever to warm up. Its almost 10 miles before im seeing 180*, a good temp to start asking 600whp out of the motor. Im actually installing a full flow heater I built that will use the hot side radiator tank to feed it, then return tothe cold side. I have my old oil cooler thats mounted up front and will use that to cool the water before it gets to the cold side and have more of a temperature maintainer, and hopefully quicker oil temp warm ups.

 

[Orion ZyGarian]

Well I'll be running a vented hood and ducting at the very least, which I'm hoping will help a noticeable amount. So far it doesnt look like my turbo will be water cooled either. I dont think it'll put strain on the cooling system with how big my oil cooler I'm using is. I'm worried about overcooling the oil, then using the coolant system to warm it back up and keep it at temperature

 

[nathaninwa]

you should run at least an oil thermostat. Earls makes an awsome full flow unit. Id warm it with the water and let the cooler decide when to cool it. I did mine since the 2j pc looks really restrictive. Im running -8 right off the pump and feed it with a -8 fitting in the block inlet of the old oil filter housing. I took alot of sharp 90* corners out. My idea was flow this time around, so i made a pretty trick full flow heater that doubles the water area for heater, and cooling.

 

[Orion ZyGarian]

Well the idea is that the oil-to-water cooler will work as a rudimentary thermostat instead. My plan would be to use a 1J/2J one most likely (though theyre pretty much all the same size), if not a bigger one off of a European car (BMW, Volvo, etc. all use bigger ones). It is said that the 2J one is a bit restrictive, but I'm not so sure. Just trying to get a good reliable setup that works as well as I can do it. If not, I will most likely end up with a Mocal or Earls or something. I already have the oil cooler and filter relocation setup, so it would be easiest to have a regular sandwich cooler on there as well.

At any rate, I also have an AccuSump (IJ's old one) that will be going in as well. I imagine with the sump and oil cooler setup, I'll be running 8 or 9 quarts of oil, so obviously a bit more than the 5, and will take longer to warm up

 

[nathaninwa]

its worth a shot, i see your location now is Florida. im up here in Washington so i would worry about the cooler, but you might not have to.

 

[Orion ZyGarian]

Most of the year is very hot and humid, hence my choice of oil cooler. It will be in SOME stop and go traffic, but mostly on the interstate, so I think there will be enough of a gradient in temperatures that I cant just leave it full flowing all the time and expect it to be right.

 

[Orion ZyGarian]

Any other thoughts?

 

[IJ.]

I'm with JDub, I don't think the cooling system is up to any extra load.

 

[jdub]

I'm with JDub, I don't think the cooling system is up to any extra load.

That's what I think and why add that level of complexity for very little gain, but what do I know...

 

[Orion ZyGarian]

Oh I agree. If anything, this will relieve some of that though. Here, I made a dye-uh-gram:

Oil goes to the filter, then to the air-to-oil cooler. It gets cooled the most by that. In case it gets overcooled, it also goes to the oil-to-water cooler, which will warm it back up to where it needs to be (again, its mostly a thermostat in my system). Then, of course, I have IJ.'s old AccuSump too.

If anything, I imagine that it will be less work for the cooling system. If the 19 row cooler I have cools it down too much, then the coolant will warm it back up a bit..so the heat gets transferred from the coolant to the oil.

 

[jdub]

Do as you will...personally I don't see any benefit. The KISS principle is alive and well...what I see in that diagram is additional failure points...

 

[Orion ZyGarian]

It's no different than having an oil thermostat in place, just switched where it would be in the system. Originally, I planned on running a water-cooled turbo, but it's looking like I wont be doing that quite yet, and I thought plumbing might be easier actually if I use it straight from the turbo.

My goal is to get the oil up to temperature as quickly as I can while keeping the temps from climbing too high. I think with the accumulator, it'll take plenty longer to get up to temperature. Since it will be a daily driver, this is especially important to consider. Sounds like you're not too keen on the idea though.