front mount oil cooler

[jamie g]

My car has now had the usual mods and has been superbly mapped by you know who (did anyone get those stickers made up
Now I need to sort a front mounted oil cooler so have a few questions:
What size cooler do are people using?
does anyone know the length of tube I need?
Will the push on type fitting be suitable?

I thought someone might have come up with a kit for these popular mods by now....?

Any help much appreciated.

(Oh, i still owe you for that pump daddysumo)

[hollowpockets]

Jamie have a look at the pics in my rebuild project thread.

For the gearbox I used a 10 row temp-a-cure 'wide' cooler from earls, got the mocal pump from think automotive, then also got 10 meters of -6 braided hose, and the anodised screw-fit connections. 120 degree connections at the cooler, a 90 and 45 for the box unions and then a straight and a 180 degree connection for the pump. Think auto are way cheaper than others for this stuff, I got stainless braided hoses and screw fittings for the same price earls wanted to charge for normal rubber and push on fittings.

G

[jamie g]

Thanks for the info, I'll take a look. What about the engine oil cooler?

[daddysumo]

jamie g said:

Thanks for the info, I'll take a look. What about the engine oil cooler?

Is the M400 one not sufficient then ?

[jamie g]

Was hitting 140 degrees at the ring on a very hot day so I'm guessing its not getting enough air flow in the side pod. What temperatures are other people getting?

[hollowpockets]

jamie g said:

Thanks for the info, I'll take a look. What about the engine oil cooler?

Used the 13 row cooler for the engine again both 120 degree fittings. all fittings and 8 meters of hose are size -10. Then got a sandwich plate with thermostat for the engine side, both 90 degree fittings.

G

[jamie g]

Was hitting 140 degrees at the ring on a very hot day so I'm guessing its not getting enough air flow in the side pod. What temperatures are other people getting?

[R0162]

jamie g said:

Was hitting 140 degrees at the ring on a very hot day so I'm guessing its not getting enough air flow in the side pod. What temperatures are other people getting?

Have you considered just adding some fans?
has anybody tried to reposition the oil temp sensor? as from what i have gathered it is currently reading oil temps after the oil return from the turbo, in which case i'm not sure how that 140 reading translates. Where should the oil temp be measured?

[hollowpockets]

Have heard fans have been tried and best results are still front mounting.

I would say even though the oil temp sender is located near the turbo return the majority of the oil in the pan will have come down through the head and block, the reading shouldnt be dismissed as inaccurate. It will only end in tears... As far as I'm aware you dont want to be spend prolonged periods above 130 degrees

[RobP]

jamie g said:

Was hitting 140 degrees at the ring on a very hot day so I'm guessing its not getting enough air flow in the side pod. What temperatures are other people getting?

Above 70mph you're probably not getting any air through the side pods. I turned my oil cooler through 90 degrees added 2 fans (which I use only when on track) and vented the hot air through the wheel-arch liner. Last year at the Ring with air temps above 30deg (track temp probably in the region of 45degrees) oil temp didn't go above 110 (mind you, it was still so hot in the car, even with tunnel mod, that I could only do one lap at a time!) On most normal track days I manage to keep the oil temp below 100degrees.

[Gadgeroonie]

is there any data on the water / oil cooler design that has the rad at the front of the car

it may be an easy mod to convert our water cooler oil coolers to use thier own water rad and not use the engine coolant

(Bondy's charge cooler rad would do the same job here)

---

years ago the escort cosworth had a built in charge cooler that used the coolant to keep it cool ! it was renamed a charge warmer not charge cooler ! Pace brought out a kit to use its own radiator and pump and it was transformed into an efficient system - we may be able to do the same thing with our oil coolers

[jamie g]

If everyone is agreeing that a front mounted oil cooler works, do we need any other options. Or are there down sides to being front mounted?

How much of the floor needs to be removed to fit the cooler to the front? Can the pipes be fed through to the front from one end?

[ACROWE]

jamie g said:

If everyone is agreeing that a front mounted oil cooler works, do we need any other options. Or are there down sides to being front mounted?

How much of the floor needs to be removed to fit the cooler to the front? Can the pipes be fed through to the front from one end?

The other option is to use a water/oil cooler. I have had one on my car for a few years now and never have problems with oil temp on track.

This is the kit I fitted to mine.

http://raceprecision.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11...

The cooler does not need to sit in the airflow so you have more choice's of location. Mine sits to the left of the rad (when looking from the front) in series with the hose going into the rad.

[hollowpockets]

I think the only downside to being front mounted is running the hoses, I took the whole floor off and done tunnel cooling mod and resealed it at the same time as they all needed done. I think you might struggle to do it just using the access panels but it could be possible.

I'm sure the side pod cooler can be made to work but the majority in the u.s have done it front mounted and the majority of big power cars and race cars here appear to have done it front mount.

To add... My own concerns with the laminova type coolers are that
1) when the cooler deteriorates, gets a bump or spike in pressure there is a risk of water going into the engine and also oil getting into the cooling system. I'd rather just have an oil leak and replace the normal cooler and be going again.

2) they put more heat into the engine/turbo cooling system, although the reports are the radiator can mange the extra heat the gauge on the dash won't show if it's running hotter due to being ecu controlled.

They've worked for others but I like keeping them separate.

Edited by hollowpockets on Tuesday 9th August 13:44

[jamie g]

hollowpockets said:

Used the 13 row cooler for the engine again both 120 degree fittings. all fittings and 8 meters of hose are size -10. Then got a sandwich plate with thermostat for the engine side, both 90 degree fittings.

G

Thanks again. I'll order the above, but does the m400 have the thermostat sandwich plate already?

[hollowpockets]

jamie g said:

Thanks again. I'll order the above, but does the m400 have the thermostat sandwich plate already?

Nope not got the sandwich plate as standard, Think Auto supply them as far as I know, I bought a spare funky had.

[Gadgeroonie]

ACROWE said:

The other option is to use a water/oil cooler. I have had one on my car for a few years now and never have problems with oil temp on track.

This is the kit I fitted to mine.

http://raceprecision.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11...

The cooler does not need to sit in the airflow so you have more choice's of location. Mine sits to the left of the rad (when looking from the front) in series with the hose going into the rad.

does the kit come with a radiator

did you have to remove the water/oil cooler that is fitted as standard ?

[XLRONYX]

Edit to say that my location is probably only reasonable with a single turbo conversion.

I installed the Laminova water/oil cooler in my M400. I put it in the cold return side from the radiator. I have not tracked the car, but on 95F days with the a/c blasting my oil temp has never reached 95C according to the gauge. Assuming the oil temp stays under control on hot track days, I think this is a better solution than the front mount air/oil cooler. Lighter, simpler, less stuff in the tunnel.





Jeff

Edited by XLRONYX on Wednesday 10th August 04:18

[ACROWE]

Gadgeroonie said:

does the kit come with a radiator

did you have to remove the water/oil cooler that is fitted as standard ?

Its a similar install to the air cooler. You take the oil feed off the engine in the same way and feed it to the cooler. The difference is you then have a water feed to the cooler as well. It does not come with its own radiator because it use's the main radiator.

[jamie g]

I like the idea of the laminar type cooler but the m400 doesn't have a water take off so I'm not sure how to plumb it in properly.