Oil cooler

[TOOMANYTOYS]

i need to put a new radiator in my 87. I'm leaning toward the f body replacement. My question is how important is the oil cooler? The car already has an external trans cooler so that's not an issue. I just don't want to eliminate something and have it come back and bite me

 

[earlbrown]

Oil technology has came a long way since 1987... That being said, it can depend on many factors.

Like where you live, dino .vs synthetic, oil change intervals, etc...


The only correct (simple) answer is by looking at your oil temp. If your oil gets too hot, then you need an external cooler. That's it, not really rocket science.


Keep in mind the factory oil cooler isn't really a cooler as much as it is an 'equalizer'. Since it's in the coolant, it can only cool oil IF it's hotter than the coolant. During warmup it's an oil heater. The factory thermostat was 195F and the car came with 80's spec dino oil.

Most of us run better than that now.

The radiator mounted 'coolers' are to help aid in warm up for emissions/wear reasons. And to be there if oil/trans get hot as hell all of a sudden, the coolant can help keep that from going catastrophic. I don't really care about that last part because if my engine/trans get hurt enough to barf heat like a boiler, it's already too late. Heating hell out of my coolant wont save the day.

 

[TOOMANYTOYS]

I live in NYC. Oil changes are always synthetic and the car has a 170 t stat. The car is more of a driver with the occasional wot burst. Actual usage of the car is on nice weekends. Can't do much "driving" here in NYC between traffic speed and red light cameras

 

[robertf]

.

 

[V6sleeper]

Oil cooler not really needed. trans cooler is a different story.

 

[cruzn57]

your car is set up for an oil cooler,( hoses, etc) so why not use it,
needed ? maybe not, but is alot of the stuff we put on our cars really needed ?
( probably not,LOL)
I run an oil cooler ,(external) as I live in Az, and it makes me feel better about it.

 

[TOOMANYTOYS]

Can I run an external oil cooler? Anybody done this?

 

[cruzn57]

yes, thats what I use, as my rad does not have oil cooler, ( replacement rad)
but, look for a engine oil cooler, NOT a trans cooler !
typically eng cooler has larger passages (less restriction)

 

[TOOMANYTOYS]

Ok now that sounds good. Do you know what brand you have? Are there adapters for the fittings or do I need to have new hoses made?

 

[earlbrown]

the threaded holes on the oil cooler sammich adapter are 1/2NPT. You can convert to AN fittings for fancy schmacy braided lines, like this....

Or just get some 12/NPT to barbed brass fittings and use hoses and clamps.

Whichever you do, tape off the bypass valve and port the inlet and outlet of the sammich adapter.

In this picture it doesn't look like much was changed but it real life it looks much better.

 

[robertf]

the threaded holes on the oil cooler sammich adapter are 1/2NPT. You can convert to AN fittings for fancy schmacy braided lines, like this....

Or just get some 12/NPT to barbed brass fittings and use hoses and clamps.

Whichever you do, tape off the bypass valve and port the inlet and outlet of the sammich adapter.

In this picture it doesn't look like much was changed but it real life it looks much better.

Does anyone sell these fancy schmacy braided lines pre made for direct replacement?

 

[earlbrown]

You have to build them yourself. There's no way to sell fancy schmancy steel braided lines if you don't know what oil cooler is used, where it's mounted, or what size lines you need.

They're really easy to build if that's the way you want to go.

 

[dank GN]

This is the one I bought awhile ago with -10 lines and fittings . One day I'll plum it in

 

[dank GN]

This isn't the set up I had for sale for awhile