Oil Cooler Set Up on a Series Vehicle

**isuzurover** · 18th December 2010, 11:26 AM

Perth doesn't have any traffic (compared to bris/syd/melb anyway).

I agree that an oil cooler is overkill on a 2.25D - unless you are fitting a turbo.

The water temp sensor is up the back of the head, so measures the peak water temps. If you want to measure the oil temps as well you can just fit a sensor to the sump. RRC V8s have an oil temp sensor, maybe check where that is located.

On RRC V8s peak oil temps are highest when at high speed on the highway, and above water temps. They can readily get above 110oc

**THE BOOGER** · 19th December 2010, 09:26 PM

I have a series 111 exmil with the 2.6 six and an oil temp guage and it reads off the scale on hot days going up long hills takes about 20 min on level ground to get back into the normal range. I it used to worry me now i only worry if the water temp goes up as well as JD said the readings can scare you the normal cooler is not much use but the HD ones off the fire trucks if you can get one might be better or fit an after market one with a thermo fan otherwise leave it as it is

**Veryan** · 19th December 2010, 10:20 PM

Ok, so what temp would you want to be?

I read that you want it to be a minimum of about 80*C to allow it to start doing its stuff and burn off all the nasties. True? If so what would be the upper limit - i imagine this will partly depend upon oil type and manufacture?

but in general >80*C and <150*C? higher or lower? if you start exceeding the oils rating, will it start to break down and stop doing its job - leading to increased engine wear, nasty build ups etc? I guess this would be more of a problem if you are using the wrong oil?

I was running Castrol GTX 15w-40 Diesel oil. I read in the data sheets; closed flash point of 190*C. I presume I want to keep it below that (!!!?

) There is a whole bunch of other data on there (KV@100*C? and KV at 40*C)??? Are these the operating ranges? I have no idea? I will do a search as I know that Ben has put up heaps on different engine oils.

So, really oil coolers are not really helping to keeping the engine cool** (they do that too), but rather keeping the oil in your engine within its upper and lower temperature limits so that it can do its stuff? (by stuff I mean lubricate effectively)

James

Edit ** except maybe when turbos are fitted and the oil removed the heat from the bearings the turbo runs on

**Veryan** · 20th December 2010, 09:35 PM

To answer some of my own questions and possibly get feedback from others...I have done a little research.

#1; Visiting other car forums from Mustang to Hondas to trucks they reckon 100 - 110*C is pretty normal operating temp (I asume they are running synthetic oil - i will come to this in a minute).

#2; Oil Type - If running mineral oil, max operating temp as far as I can gather is ~115*C before it starts to break down and form nasty sludge etc. can any one confirm this? If running synthetic oil, it is stable upto ~200 - 220*C before it starts to loose its oil like properties, or if you take what the PDS say catch fire.

Thus if running mineral oil in your series landy a oil cooler is a good thing to keep it below 115*C. I notice that the offical gauges only read up to 110*C perhaps this is a reason?

If running synthetic oil, then you want to keep it below its flash point,and from what I can gather <150 - 190*C, with a operating temp of 100 - 110*C as normal.

From what I can gather this was one of the many reason they changed from mineral oils to synthetic - better ability to deal with heat.

Now I am not saying that if you switch from mineral to synthetic then you can do away with oil cooling. That I am sure will depend on your set up/car etc.

Most of this information I have gleamed from offical oil websites and a few other forums, so it may not be fully correct. I hope that it is, but feel free to correct me.

Am I anywhere near hitting the nail on the head, or have i just hit my hand?

James

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