I'll be installing an oil cooler during the off-season and I'm wondering if there are some makes or designs that produce less oil pressure loss than others. I'm currently looking at purchasing a 19 or 25 row Setrab cooler (-10AN fitting) but I'd like additional feedback from those with actual past experiences with oil coolers.

 

My Howe radiator/oil cooler unit with AN-8 lines has about a 5-10psi pressure drop. I would THINK the lines would make more of a difference in pressure than the choice of cooler, as those are most likely similar in dimensions.

 

I'm running a Tru-cool 24 row cooler, -10 lines (I don't know the actual length), with the filter relocate kit that uses the Ford V8 filter. I have a pressure gauge hooked up at the exit of the filter on the line that feeds the cooler, I read 18 psi at fully warm idle, it shows max about 92psi.
Before I had the cooler, I had a pressure gauge plumbed into a T with the factory pressure switch, it would read about 15 at idle, 95ish max.
I can't really attest to the comparison though.... the one before the cooler was an Autometer gauge, the one i have now is a Defi sensor hooked up through the Defi Link system.
The defi one seems much more sensitive to me, and more accurate, but the fact that I moved the sensor probably doesn't help the comparison. I guess you can take for what its worth that at the filter exit (which is down in the front bumper), its still reading about the same pressures as it was right off the block without the cooler installed.

 

I didn't think about specifying my measuring setup: T-fitting off the factory switch, with an autometer gauge for both measurements. Max of about 90psi without the cooler hooked up.

 

As long as you run single pass cooler, you should be fine.

 

I run a 25 row Mocal cooler with -10 fittings and all -10 lines and remote filter and lost about 1 psi at idle and none above 3500 RPMs or so.

 

hmmm...length of piping or your oil pump is not strong enough...might need to use an aftermarket pump like pro drive or so. then again, you might not have enough oil in the motor in the first placev

 

The Prodrive pump gears pump exactly the same amout as OEM VTEC oil pump gears do.