Thread: R380 Gearbox Oil Cooler

Every TD5 I've looked under here had the oil cooler fitted

This is the simple pipe that crosses under the bellhousing and up the drivers side of the engine and returns, not the proper heat exchanger hanging in front of the radiator like the Tdi powered Wolf's sport.

yep the basic out and back cooler is standard on the td5 defender in aus

Would you guys consider it worthwhile to run the pipe from gearbox out and back in again?

LR Australia have said its not worth it, and certainly not worth installing a "proper" cooler for the Australian climate (even in the desert) ????

Makes me wonder and am interested in your thoughts.

R
Jon

its worth it.

anything you can do to keep the oil cool is worth it.

Hi Jon my TDI did not have a gearbox oil cooler so I bought one from the wreckers it is the standard Landrover one. An advantage of having one is that the gearbox oil capacity increased a little, I think about 3-400ml. I figured if the oil capacity is increased then it would last longer and run cooler. The bell housing had a flat square section on the bottom of it which I drilled and tapped to secure the standard bracket which came attached to the pipe work. I then drilled a piece of alloy angle to bolt to the timing cover at the front of the motor to support the front U shaped bit. The fitting on the side of the gearbox was unbolted and the oil cooler one bolted straight on. I hope this helps.
Regards
Flatty

Search "cooler" on the Ashcroft site, they support what you think.

I believe there's a thermostat in there on ours, can't comment on home market spec R380s.

I've had 5th gear issues a couple of times which I'm sure the result of non-stop 5th gear touring in summer. My trans specialist wouldn't fit a cooler last time, he didn't think the oil pump was up to it. The replacement pump was a different shape/design though...

And the 300tdi R380s have a proper cooler...

A proper cooler is on my to-do list. Oil-to-water anyone?

Regards
Max P

Thanks guys.

The garage did mutter something about the oil pump not being upto the job??? Dont know about that, I thought all R380 oil pumps are the same.

The adapter plate that Ashcrofts do doesnt have a thermostat in it, its simply an ally block that has the oil ways milled out in it. The cooler matrix they sell wont fit on my vehicle, its the wrong shape (I have air-con and an uprated intercooler so it has to be wide and not very high).

I managed to get the proper / genuine adapter plate from British Offroad. I figured that if I can get a cooler that I can fit in the space available I might get Enzed or someone similar to make up a set of braided cables.

R
Jon

Jon, I've taped a thermocouple to the by-pass tube for the pump (where the t/stat housing bolts on) on a 300Tdi R380 and it hit over 75*C within about 7km from home just cruising up the highway @ 100km/h.

IIRC the t/stat opens around that temp.