mrlegoman

I have a turbo road race car with high oil temps. I'm playing around with oil cooler locations and one of them places the oil cooler over the intake manifold.
I plan to use a Mocal sandwich plate. So I am concerned that since the oil cooler feed line is located prior to the oil filter, that I will have a oil drain back condition.
Most oil thermostats I have seen are still partially open to prevent an oil lag in the flow when they open full.
But if the oil in the cooler and lines drain back when the car if off, does this cause problems during cold starts?
I guess I don't fully understand the flow path of the oil. Is the filter the last stop before the oil is returned to the pan or is it the first before going through the engine?
Will I experience any oil starvation while on track when the Mocal thermostat kick in and the lines to the cooler are empty?

srmofo

the filter is the first stop.....also the thermostats stay partially open to prevent "shock" to the parts when the tstat does open. it keeps the oil flowing so the oil in the cooler doesnt get to ambient temps. cold oil thrown on hot fast moving parts usually isnt a good combination. I honestly would not mount the cooler up above the intake. That just sounds like you are asking for problems

mrlegoman

^ Makes a lot more since.

I've only considered mounting it up top because I have space limitations and I've seen Sti kits with the oil cooler mounted high up.

My concerns are oil pressure, oil flow back, dry starts, and oil starvation. Doesn't seem to be a lot of knowledgeable info on the subject for road race cars.

welfarepc

just remember, hot air rises