daboy155

I have a 1998 turbo LS, moving from VA to Nevada in 4 days and driving my car out there. I have an oil cooler with a powerful mini spal fan mounted on it where the stock battery used to be (and i relocated the battery to the trunk) my oil temps dropped from 230-240 to 180-190 after adding the oil cooler(and after multiple pulls). (my coolant always stays at 185 and never goes past 200 unless I'm idling with AC on full blast)

I went on a 2 hour test run a couple days ago, the only issue is that since it's a 5 speed the RPMS hang around 3500 at 75 MPH (which is the avg speed i'll be going on the highway) the oil cooler starts to not be able to keep up, it never goes above about 215, but if it's hotter outside and if i drive longer who knows.

I'm thinking about taking some tubing and sticking it on the side of my intercooler and having it just run straight to where the oil cooler fan sucks air through, any other effective ideas? I'm not looking to relocate my oil cooler. Just need some way to air or circulate the engine compartment.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

It's your location, plain and simple. You can always convert to water chilled oil cooler which doesn't require the fan.. (and I don't mean an oem water/oil cooler)

daboy155

Yeah you're right, I'll pick up a water cooled unit in a few weeks, anything I can do short term to help since I'm leaving in a couple of days? What do you think about running some intake type tubing from the front grill to the oil cooler

Geis

I mean, if you're asking if it will work I don't imagine how the hell it wouldn't. Probably better than nothing tbh, I usually cruise at 70 on the freeway but 75 should be alright.
Complete the build log with vids and everything or we aren't helping anymore :p



Jk

wantboost

iTrader: (2)

Ducting the oil cooler will help. Proper ducting can increase cooler efficiency 100% if done right

Ditch the puller fan, this isn't a radiator we are taking about. Get 3" or 4" brake ducting and buy a fan used for brake ducts, then buy a duct that fits over the front of your oil cooler. Have the duct either draw air from in front of the intercooler or from the front bumper or just somewhere it can get cold ambient air. You'll see a dramatic increase in the stability of oil temps.

A few more tips.

Run a thermostat oil block. Running oil through the cooler 100% of the time makes it take longer for the oil to get up to proper operating temp, not to mention that running oil through the cooler before it's reached the temperature point at which it needs to flow through the cooler is just useless and serves no purpose. You'll notice that it gets up to temp faster and you'll notice oil temps will stay much more stable. Even more so with the ducting and fan I mentioned. Most oil cooler designed thermostats are fully open at 180-190F. A proper thermostat block will allow a small amount of oil to circulate through the cooler at all times. This prevents cold oil from entering the engine suddenly which can destroy vital engine components.

Don't run the fan constantly. Again this makes it take longer for the oil to reach operating temp and puts unnecessary stress on the electrical/charging system. They make thermal switches mounted in AN fittings with a wide range of temperatures between 160F and something like 250F and they eliminate the need for a switch to run the fan unless you want the ability to override the thermostat. Place on of these on the oil line exiting the engine. You then run the ground line for the fan relay to the thermostat and when the preset temperature is reached it closes the circuit and turns on the fan. Again you'll see faster operating temp times, more stable oil temperatures, and a marked decrease in strain on the electrical system.

If you don't know where to find these parts I can give you links. Your setup will be much more efficient if you follow my instructions.

As far as coolant temps. Run a good aftermarket radiator, 180F thermostat, distilled water and water wetter (no glycol based coolant) or switch to Evans waterless coolant (best **** made), high flow electric fan(s) with a proper shroud, and have the fans come on somewhere between 180-200F. If coolant temps still aren't stable then consider a cooler thermostat and having the fans come on a bit earlier. If all else fails then run ducting. Close the gap between the bumper and intercooler all the way around. Close the gap between the intercooler and radiator. If it's small enough you can use basic household weather stripping. If it's larger then use aluminum sheet. Also run a cooling panel on the upper core support. Also run a divider between the radiator and AC condense that touches the back of the intercooler core. This will prevent air from being diverted from the radiator when the AC fan is on. These steps virtually guarantee that any air entering the front bumper has to pass through the radiator.

If you still have coolant temp problems you will have to consider a full width radiator.

Another thing that will help airflow through the intercooler and radiator in addition to helping hot air leave the engine bay (thus minimizing heat soak) is to space out the back of the hood. Forget what you've heard about doing this, DSPORT did a test on spacing out the hood and collected tons of data by placing thermocouples and temperature sensors throughout the engine bay to monitor both the air temperature and surface temperature of key components under hood in addition to monitoring engine coolant temps and IATs (air filter was inside the engie bay). Spacing out the hood saw a significant decrease in under hood ambient heat and reduced heat soak tremendously on things like the intake manifold. They also saw a drop in coolant temps and they became much more stable. IATs were also lowered.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

I don't think the ducting is going to help. Not in the way you want. The fan actually can cause more of an issue than a true oil source.

Oil to water coolers are options for those with limited spaces, and there are options that put the OEM to shame, because they are not attached to the engine block itself. For what you have now, just being so far back by the battery tray alone with a fan isn't enough to cool down effectively, because the fan itself still has to draw air in from an air source. The upper area of the firewall is hardly a good place for that.

The oil/water ones I'm referring to are really the Laminova series.

Laminova oil-to-water oil cooler C43 series

C43 oil-to-water schematics





R34 and R35 GTRs use this type with a Nissan oil sandwich plate

daboy155

Haha okay I'll take a couple vids later today

daboy155

Wow great post thanks for all that info I really appreciate it. Luckily my coolant temps are under control, I did use some ducting like you mentioned for now, seems to be helping a lot, buy I'll know for sure in a couple days. I do have a oil thermostat on there already, its a 180 unit so that helps the oil stay at ideal temp

daboy155

Thanks, I definitely need one of those units, ill put that next in line on the parts list once I get some money, they look very effective, especially since I can keep my current location

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Actually you don't keep the same location. This replaces the Air-to-Air cooler that you currently have. As long as you have an oil thermostat on the sandwich plate you're using, you're fine, but the fittings will have to be able to work together.

m4xwellmurd3r

Wow, I didn't even know about those, let alone know they were so compact (from what it looks like)

Im guessing those plumb to the same coolant as the engine block?

wantboost

iTrader: (2)

Yes. However remember that they will only keep the oil temps as low as coolant temps and depending on cooling system capacity and efficiency can actually raise coolant temps significantly. By design coolant temps will increase slightly but if the unit is sized properly it shouldn't cause an issue.

However they are considerably more costly than a typical liquid to air cooler.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

You get what you pay for. That's why I suggested it. You want the damn car cool, or do you want to f**k around because you didn't have enough in the paycheck this week?

wantboost

iTrader: (2)

True. Personally I use Setrab coolers for various uses. They haven't failed me yet lol.

m4xwellmurd3r

Honestly the cost of the units don't seem to bad, though I'm not sure what size unit would be good for a sub 400whp turbo car in the az hell fire summer days.

Even na I need to think about investing in an oil cooler. My oil temps get pretty toasty on the freeway, and I've peaked 240F+ during summer. It negatively affects my water temps too (from 180f, to 200-202f) though I do have a gsr trans so cruising on the freeway is close to 4k rpm)

And hell, I could always add a bigger rad. Mine is a stock 84 scirocco rad. A thicker unit with the same width/height would drop right in.

Those don't require a seperate thermostat either from what it seems, since your regulating the temp to the waters temp. If anything, it could aid in speeding up the oils warm up time since water heats up faster in a car than the oil.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

m4xwellmurd3r

Car is a da integra. Not gonna put a half sized in that lmao. The scirocco rad fits the core frame perfectly. Its actually has more cooling capacity than the OEM as the scirocco has a similar core size, but is a dual pass dual core vs the single core the integra came with.

I have to try and get my oil temp probe put on my new pan. My old pan was a gsr unit and my header rubbed on it so I'm thinking that may have contributed a bit to the oil temps.

Its not a tuning issue as far as I can tell. Afrs are dead on and timing is still roughly stock since its a pretty mild engine

I might take some cardboard and seeing what I can do about blocking some gaps and see if that does anything for it.

Now that I think about it though, my oil temps might be staying below 220 now that my header doesn't tough my pan. I know for sure I saw water temps of 209 when the oil temp was above 230f. Now it stays around 202ish when the oil hits peak temp

I need to find some time to put my temp sensor onto my new pan.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Sure, again, get what you feel is best.. But you can't look at just whether or not it is half-sized or not, but who is making it. Yes, it makes that much of a difference. I'll use a half-size Koyo or Ron Davis over any other full-sized OEM styled radiator anyday for the attack.

But I digress. I'll be running a Ron Davis full sized next year after changing exhaust manifolds and turbine housings.

m4xwellmurd3r

Coolant temps aren't my issue. Its the oil temps mainly. The radiator itself keeps the engine really cool, but when the oil temps start to climb it obviously starts to saturate the cooling system. It never over heats though.

What sort of things cause high oil temps? It only happens when running the car somewhat hard above 4000rpm. Normal driving it tends to stay pretty much inline with my water temps.

I haven't been able to check my oil temps since switching pans, but I think my previous issue was my header rubbing against the pan

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

The proximity of the header does increase the oil temperature, but not to the degree you're thinking.

Oil temperatures really are increased by the rate of increased cylinder pressures from increased engine load of turbocharging. Whenever you compress air, you've increased the speed of the air molecules, that increased speed creates exothermic heat.

Since this compression is continued into the cylinder chamber, that heat from the compression can get very high. Increased compression means increased cylinder pressures, which affect EVERYTHING, from coolant to oil lubricating the bearings, etc. When a car like those in heavy street conditions and even in road racing conditions have their oil experience continued exposure to these cylinder pressures, oil temperatures go up.

Remember, you're effectively increasing your static compression to more of a dynamic or effective compression to a ratio of over 17.0:1!! That heat is going to raise oil temperatures in a way that NA won't....(well, it will, but just not as quickly). This is why oil coolers are installed in both NA and in turbocharged applications, especially those that engineers designed for the car to be used for "spirited" driving experiences.

Look at Evolutions I - X, all have air-to-air oil coolers from the factory. (THis is also why their front bumpers are designed the way that they are).

Honda GS-Rs and Type Rs have oil-water oil coolers due to that same expectation of spirited driving.

So, yes, Oil coolers are a great thing to have, but for most people on this particular forum, they aren't needed. But that does change based upon environmental conditions (like in a dry-desert like climate), racing conditions based upon purpose, and other factors.

m4xwellmurd3r

My cars still na, which is why my oil temps are concerning to me. Its running around 10.7-10.8:1 compression, so its nothing wild. Stock head/cams. I really think its the as heat killing the temps (phoenix, az) cool nights around 80+ and its no problem. But once its over 100-110 the oil temps start spiking somethin awful. I think regardless an oil cooler is gonna be a much needed add on. Especially once I turbo it. I'm still na but I stick around here a lot because of the kind of knowledge base and because I will end up going forced induction with both my cars.

I will also add (and anyone who knows me personally will confirm) I run my **** pretty hard. I don't abuse it per say, but I do put my foot down on it on a regular basis. The engine itself doesn't mind it at all, but the oil temps could use some help for the climate conditions

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

B20sedan has a boosted g35 making 600whp 600 tq

He lives in arizona too.

m4xwellmurd3r

Boosted infiniti? Haven't seen any of those, though I'm not really in tune with the local car scene. I just kinda do my own thing and help out my 2nd gen buddies lol

Az is brutal though. I'm tempted to find a scrap hood and vent it to see if I can get the iats to drop simply because the under hood temps during the summer get so high. Same reasoning for the oil cooler. Az is just too damn hot for my driving style.

My butt dyno can even tell the power drop when its a cool 75-80 at night vs 100+ during the day.