keep or get rid of the oil cooler? HELP

[tonys87]

im having a f body rad installed and a trans cooler. i know some people here are running without the oil cooler and getting rid of the adapter also, im just not 100% thats a good idea..please help me make up my mind. and has anyone had bad or good results from doing so? i also run a ball bearing turbo cooled by water so i figured it should be ok. and its a street car. thanks tony

 

[BlackBandit]

Obviously it would be better to keep an oil cooler. Normally GM doesn't waste money on parts it doesn't need but to tell you the truth you'll probably be fine without it. Just monitor your oil pressure/temps.

 

[Squid4life]

I swapped in the same radiator, planned on installing an external oil cooler but still have not. Still runs 160 all day long here in San Diego without, but I imagine oil would last longer, stay even cooler with the cooler. It is still on my list, but has made it so far.

 

[GNeric]

Same here. I don't have the cooler back on my car yet. Been running it like this for over 3 years and I just keep an eye on the oil and my temps have never gone above 181 in the summer with the F-body rad and a front mount.

 

[tonys87]

i guess ill be getting rid of it for now..thanks

 

[bmackinnon]

While many people will swear the oil cooler is unnecessary, my guess is that if they had an OIL temp gage..... like I do.... they might have a slightly different opinion. Summer driving here in Alabama with my water running 185 (180 thermostat) has the oil running around 230-240 at the cooler inlet once everything is stable.... with the cooler.... 250-260 is probably ok on oil temp, but I don't like to see it that high... and that's where it goes if the car is run hard for a while and the water gets up to 200-ish.... just a reference point for you...

 

[BlackBandit]

While many people will swear the oil cooler is unnecessary, my guess is that if they had an OIL temp gage..... like I do.... they might have a slightly different opinion. Summer driving here in Alabama with my water running 185 (180 thermostat) has the oil running around 230-240 at the cooler inlet once everything is stable.... with the cooler.... 250-260 is probably ok on oil temp, but I don't like to see it that high... and that's where it goes if the car is run hard for a while and the water gets up to 200-ish.... just a reference point for you...

This is exactly the reason I tell people to monitor their oil pressure/temps. Good info.

 

[JDSfastGN]

I don't think your going to hurt anything as long as it has good oil pressure. Hotair cars and most cars in general do not have an oil cooler on them and they last for a long time. Of course I think its always good to have cool oil, but i don't think its a must have unless your pressures are already on the lower side.

 

[nick368]

im having a f body rad installed and a trans cooler. i know some people here are running without the oil cooler and getting rid of the adapter also, im just not 100% thats a good idea..please help me make up my mind. and has anyone had bad or good results from doing so? i also run a ball bearing turbo cooled by water so i figured it should be ok. and its a street car. thanks tony

I have a 66BB, but it doesn't have a Wet kit on it. I have the F body Radiator, Oil cooler and tranny cooler. I personally would keep it, what harm can it do????

 

[BEATAV8]

I ditched my oil cooler so long ago that I forgot the car ever even had one.

 

[Dr.drivability]

We recently installed an engine for a customer and advised him to "ditch" the 23 year old cooler and lines. He stubbornly wanted to keep the car original. Guess what, leaks, restrictions etc!!! We run PTE turbo savers on our own cars that we purchased from Full Throttle. In my opinion it gives you extra oil volume, which, I feel will result in lower oil temps. Just my $.02 worth!! Dave, CW AUTOMOTIVE Race, service and repair turbo Buicks in michigan!!! 810-531-1326

 

[Clark6]

im having a f body rad installed and a trans cooler. i know some people here are running without the oil cooler and getting rid of the adapter also,


Im in this same predicament as we speak.. have the engine in and ready- gotta go buy some fluid (im going with the Evans Coolant) and got to get the F radiator and connect my sensors and hoses and im done. I was also told to ditch the cooler. so i have .....and gonna see how things go on the break in. Besides Grumpy say's he's had cars since the late 80's and once the radiator goes bad he leaves the cooler off and no problems in over 20 buicks after the swap. So If the engine builder said to, and Grumpy then thats good enuff for me. I will keep watch though.:wink:

 

[GNVYUS 1]

What matters with oil temps is the oil viscosity at that given temp. So when you ditch the cooler you need to go to a higher viscosity oil in the 212 temp range. I run 10W40 now and wouldn't hesitate to run 20W50 since I have a preluber for start up lubrication. I doubt anyone on here starts there GN in weathers below zero so no need to use 0W oils.

Adding oil capacity will help keep temps a bit lower too, but ditch it and change your oil weight.

 

[tonys87]

lots of good info. ill stick wit 20/50 and monitor the oil pressure

 

[Squid4life]

wouldn't hesitate to run 20W50 since I have a preluber for start up lubrication.

What type of preluber do you run?

 

[Lee Thompson]

Do your eng. a favor

And keep the cooler.You have a 1/4 in. line feeding the HOT turbo center section which drops that oil back into the pan. It is on there for a reason (assuming you street drive your car--race car --I can see not having one). I too have an oil temp. gage and it can get really hot and I have a large external cooler.

 

[T- Type Tim]

stolen from vortex
Most engineers seem to think that oil should be at least 180 degs in order to burn off condensation and allow the additives to properly clean. On the other hand, oil temperatures that rise much above 200 degs begin to contribute to thermal breakdown which shortens the life of the oil and its effectiveness as a lubricant. How high is safe? I would guess that the curve steepens greatly at 215-220 degs when it comes to oil life. Okay, we can change the oil more frequently, right? Yes, but.....

The but is that hot oil splashing on the bottoms of the pistons, etc. contributes to detonation. We do not want 250 deg oil heating up the piston surface and pushing our engine closer to the detonation limit that what it was when we tuned for maximum safe performance on a colder engine.

The factory oil cooler is often discarded after an engine rebuild and not replaced with an alternate cooler. Many seem to think that the only purpose of the cooler is to prevent coking in the turbo bearings after the engine is turned off by reducing oil temps. While this has some merit, the factory was also concerned about detonation and realized the need to make the engines as consistent as possible.

 

[Lee Thompson]

cooler

If available, look @ a cross section view of a V-6 Buick. The bottom 1/3 of the cyl. bore is cooled by the eng. oil.

 

[spoolie]

if youre scared of oil temps/oil breaking down...use syn oil. there are tons of factory turbo'ed cars that have no oil cooler. what does a factory tr cooler look like?

 

[insane6]

I disconnect my oil cooler lines and my car ran cooler.