Possible oil cooler replacement?

[youngunbd]

I got curious about reading of oil cooler problems and that it is quite a pain to get to and re-seal. I figure there's got to be an alternative that could possibly work better. I guess the first question is what is the cooling capacity of our current coolers, as in surface area inside a standard oil cooler. I was interested in using something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/30-rows-10A...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f3018abc1&vxp=mtr

30 row oil cooler with electric fan. I saw one on a D250 similar to this mounted back under the bed between the frame rails, it worked quite well until it's shoddy instillation made it meet highway 80 heh

I have a second oil cooler as a gift from the previous owner of my rig, I might make a copy of it's mount on the CNC and see what can be done about adapting it to an aux cooler.

Another question remains about the coolant that goes through the cooler, would those ports need to be blocked off or should I connect the front and back and allow the oil to continue unimpeded? What do y'all think about a possible cooler replacement? Something that would possibly be an improvement and more than likely a little easier to seal any leaks if they arise

 

[1466IH]

i would think that if you have a cnc you can make an adapter that will bolt onto the block with an fittings for your new cooler hoses

 

[youngunbd]

I should rephrase that, computer controlled plasma cutter. I'm the one who put it together and ran it at my high school so they let me use it whenever I need something

 

[1466IH]

You should still be able to cut out a piece of 1/2" plate then drill and tap for pipe thread and use a pipe to AN adapter

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[youngunbd]

That would probably work perfectly. Would that type aux oil cooler perform as well or better as our current coolers? Definitely be easier to work on heh

 

[1466IH]

Im not sure performance wise but but most high performance gassers use air to oil I would think you could get lower temps because I highly doubt the air you are pullin through the cooler is warmer than your coolant temp

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[icanfixall]

Our oil is about the same temps as our coolant untill we start towing or pulling a grade. then it jumps up. Heres the deal about block off plates. The front will be simple. A plate probably 3/8 thick with one an fitting for the oil that comes from the oil pump. Now the rear plate is a litle more involved. You will need to install the oil pressure regulator in that plate somehow and you will need a bypass just incase the filter gets plugged up. Or modify the rear header to work without a bundle in it. I have no idea if the headers on our engines can be welded but they might be made of a quality aluminum too. If the rear heater can be welded without distorting it just run the stainless steel braided hose with the an fittings on both ends from the front plate into the modified rear header. Instantly no more oem oil cooler o ring issues...

 

[OLDBULL8]

This has been discussed many times, never seen where it was actually done. The millions of oil coolers on these engines from 83 to 03, operate as efficiently and maybe more so, as any mod to the oil cooling system can be made. A heck of a lot of oil and coolant goes thru them every minute. Changing the O'rings is no big deal, they probably lasted 15 - 20 years, with Viton o"rings, they probably would last 25 years. Grant ya, the OEM ring's get hard and leak, but like anything else on an engine it takes maintenance. Liquid to liquid heat exchange is way more efficient than air to liquid. As far as mentioned, on Hi Preformanced engines, (NASCAR), they mostly run a dry sump where air to liquid has to be used.
The coolant flows from the rear of the block to the front, the oil flows in the opposite direction.

As icanfixall said:

You will need to install the oil pressure regulator in that plate somehow and you will need a bypass just incase the filter gets plugged up.

 

[Knuckledragger]

The block mounted oil cooler was probably put there for a reason. Part of the durability and longevity of these engines is because there are not a lot of surprises. Having the coolant and oil meet in the cooler probably goes a long way to stabilize the engine temps, keeping the oil and coolant relatively similar. Because they are close to the same temp most of the time, they will not make the engine parts grow or shrink at unexpected rates, shortening the length of the engine parts and gasket seals.

Replacing the O rings once in a decade is hardly a hassle I would try to avoid by engineering a whole new bunch of unknown variables that may not even help the "problem" other than relieve you of buying the O rings.

 

[Black dawg]

They are a pain to deal with, but if done correctly, only have to do it once.

I think it is important that the coolant warms the oil also.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

thats my thoughts.when something is known to last so hassle free for the most part for 15-20 years,what's wrong with that life expectancy? nothing.i haven't done it (yet) but replacing oil cooler o-rings,doesn't look so dreadful that it can't be done every 15-20 years lol.you can't beat the water to oil cooling as your primary cooling.seems like whenever something fails on an old idi truck,someones always looking to make it last longer even if it's something known to work great for 20 years...........how many of us are going to be running idi trucks when they're 40-50 years old? let's not get too carried away with a good thing.

 

[jaluhn83]

Not going to work, at least not without a lot more work than you think.

1) The density of heat flow through the water to oil cooler is much higher than you think - I would expect you'd need something similar to the size of a typical car radiator to get the same amount of heat flux.

2) You'd need a thermostat with all the associated complexity and piping. The stock system automatically maintains oil temps very close to the coolant temp which is nearly optimal oil temp.

3) The stock system is full flow - that is it handles 18 gpm of oil at 50+ psi - most aux coolers are not designed for anywhere near those pressure or flows. And remember, if anything leaks or blows out you're going to lose oil pressure real quick and kill the engine. Likewise, any restriction in the system will lower your oil pressure and potentially stave the engine of oil.

4) You'd need a oil pressure regulator valve, oil filter mount & oil filter bypass valve as well since that's all part of the oil cooler.

5) The stock oil cooler is adequate even well above the designed power rating of the engine. My rig is setup with an oil sump temp gauge and I have not seen any evidence of the oil cooler being insufficient even running 20 psi and pulling 21K loads. Under heavy load the oil temp will run 10-20* above the coolant temp, but I've never had it get any hotter than that which means that the cooler is adequate to reject that amount of heat even above stock power. If it was inadequate you'd see a dramatic rise in oil temps under load which you don't.

6) As mentioned above, the stock cooler does need maintenance after 15-25 years - this doesn't mean it's a poor design - just rebuilt it and go another 20 years. Problems like this seem to be systematic to us because all the rigs are older, but that doesn't mean it's a faulty setup, just that we all see old age come in to play at similar times.

An auxiliary oil to air cooler might be a worthwhile investment, but require some work to setup a pump and controller to run it properly.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

An auxiliary oil to air cooler might be a worthwhile investment, but require some work to setup a pump and controller to run it properly.

oh yes.

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?65533-aux-oil-cooler-install&highlight=

 

[youngunbd]

There is a good amount of work involved on modifying anything on most motors, but posting your mod helped a lot with pictures!

I was always curious how efficient our oem coolers were. I don't have my oil pressure sender on yet, or temp sensor but I plan on getting a good baseline for my current driving habits and then deciding if its worth the mods. I wish I had gotten the sensors in sooner, 500 mile move coming up, couple of good mountain passes with a trailer of crap in tow.

 

[OLDBULL8]

Far be it from me to discourage anyone from making modifications on these engines. Certainly not bashing anyone that chooses to do so. I try to put forth all and any information that I might have pertaining to it. Dino oil temp is good for 260* before it would even start to break down, hopefully the engine never reaches that temp, synthetic oil is good for 350*+. The oil coming off the cylinder walls is probably a lot hotter than what would be indicated, with my oil temp sensor in the oil gallery just after the oil cooler, I've never seen over 230*, even after a hard pull and loaded heavily, coolant temp was compatable with the oil temp, so if the coolant system is efficient, it'll take care of the oil temp. with the OEM oil cooler.