Oil Cooler Location

Afternoon guys,

I'm looking to get an oil cooler fitted but I am unsure of best location. I've read people fitting a big one in the gap between the intercooler and radiator and others fitting it in the space infront of the passenger side wheel arch so it doesn't block any other radiators. In this thread post 8 pedrosixfour has fitted one infront of the arch but said it was a tight squeeze. What is the biggest cooler that would fit here? A 25 row at what width?

If the car isn't moving much there isn't going to my much air flow if its sitting in front of the arch. If its in between the radiator and intercooler then the fan would always be drawing air through but I'd then have 3 coolers all using the same airflow...

Anyone like to suggest what they think is best?

Passenger side equivalent of stock IC apaerture. Slot arch liner to allow air egress. Ideally duct air INTO cooler. Standard width race coolers will fit, maybe a 25 row with 90 degree fittings, probably less. Without the stock ducting rad and front mount IC efficiency will already be terrible, don't make it worse with something else diverting air and adding heat.

Would you need to add more oil of using an oil cooler?

Yes, but the internal volume of the pipes, thermostat and cooler will be less than you think.

a must have modification for a modified single car.

In my car I noticed a good 15-20C decrease in Oil Temps due to a Cooler on the Motorways.

Yes, but the internal volume of the pipes, thermostat and cooler will be less than you think.

I was thinking 0.5 to 1 ltr?

About a litre as a rule, with smallish coolers. Bear in mind oil that is too cool is as bad as oil that is too hot. You need about 100C to drive water from the oil. I see cars without `stats and oil temps of 70C on some modded road cars. No use at all... Especially if they just do short journeys!

About a litre as a rule, with smallish coolers. Bear in mind oil that is too cool is as bad as oil that is too hot. You need about 100C to drive water from the oil. I see cars without `stats and oil temps of 70C on some modded road cars. No use at all... Especially if they just do short journeys!

I wasn't too far off then.

My initial thought was more until I actually thought about it.

Think location of the cooler will be just as important?

It was the stock hard lines to the original PS cooler and the fact that I wanted to mount the cooler perpendicular to the incoming airflow that caused me all the hassle when trying to fit the oil cooler mate. The oil cooler is pretty wide and trying to keep it far enough away from the inside of the front bumper (so that a slight knock didn't rupture the cooler) limited the area in which it could be mounted properly.

Since then I've removed the stock PS cooler and all the lines running to it in favour of a new PS cooler mounted in the nose cone of the car, along with that I've removed the windscreen washer bottle from behind the engine oil cooler to allow better airflow through the cooler. The arch liner on the passenger side is already louvered (like the driver side).

My oil on a stock sysetem doesnt go over 100C on normal driving, could my oil temp gauge fitten in the sump be reading wrong ??

Thanks Chris, that pretty much covers what I was asking. I currently have a 62mm single turbo which is only oil cooled, it's only been on short runs and only a few WOT pulls but I have noticed the my cam covers being extremely hot afterwards even with light throttle cruising before stopping. I do not have an oil temp sensor so I can't say what temps I have been hitting. Water temps have been sitting normal however this is from the stock gauge.

The downpipe is zircotec coated and also has been heat wrapped. I have a turbo blanket on there as well but under bonnet temps get pretty high to the point where sitting idling for a few mins can see IAT's up to 70 degrees.

I have since removed the manifold to get it wrapped as well. This and the oil cooler should sort temps out.

Chris you said that 70 degrees for oil temp was too low, I had planned on fitting an 80 degree oil and water thermostat as the car will be seeing a fair bit of track use. Do you think this is still too low?

Thanks

It was the stock hard lines to the original PS cooler and the fact that I wanted to mount the cooler perpendicular to the incoming airflow that caused me all the hassle when trying to fit the oil cooler mate. The oil cooler is pretty wide and trying to keep it far enough away from the inside of the front bumper (so that a slight knock didn't rupture the cooler) limited the in which it could be mounted properly.

 

Since then I've removed the stock PS cooler and all the lines running to it in favour of a new PS cooler mounted in the nose cone of the car, along with that I've removed the windscreen washer bottle from behind the engine oil cooler to allow better airflow through the cooler. The arch liner on the passenger side is already louvered (like the driver side).

Ah ok, your's looks like a tidy job but as you said there didn't look to be much space left. Was just curious really as to how big a cooler I can actually get squeezed in or should I be aiming for positioning for efficient airflow and focusing on ducting properly rather than size.

I must double check what space I have there with my IC pipes running round