oil cooler ?

[fritz]

Where would be the best place to attach the external oil cooler lines to the motor?

 

[TType84]

Where would be the best place to attach the external oil cooler lines to the motor?

oil filter adapter.

 

[fritz]

adaptor

any idea where i can find one

 

[forcefed3.8's]

Get an adapter for an intercooled car, along with the biggie filter adapter. Check Gbodyparts.com.

 

[6SENSE]

I got an oil cooler "sandwich adaptor" through Summit some years ago. Call them up and tell them what your looking for, they'll find the part. Wasnt very expensive either.
I grabbed one of those big oil coolers from a 9C1 (police pkg) Caprice, fittings from hardware store, oil cooler hose from local parts store, and has always worked great.

 

[imjoesnuffy]

cooler

I was wondering about the oil cooler, is it really necessary? If you aren't driving cross country do you really need one? Thanks in advance!

 

[Lee Thompson]

This ? comes up atleast once a month and IMO

The top 2/3 of the cyl. bore is cooled by the water jacket that run around it. The bottom 1/3 relys on the oil for cooling. WHY WHY WHY would GM put an oil cooler on the 86-87 if not needed? I have an oil temp gage--as the oil temp goes up, the oil pressure drops. You would be surprised how fast the oil temp. goes up when boosted.

 

[imjoesnuffy]

Thanks Lee. I thought maybe it had something to do with cooling the pistons. Wonder why the Hot Air cars didn't have an oil cooler? Different block design? I am going with an intercooled setup on my hot air block, think I will get it just to play it safe.

 

[Boost231]

i put the 86-87 adapter on my car to run the oil cooler and it works just as good as the 87\'s. dont know what it did as far as the pressure goes since i didnt have a oil pressure gauge before i did this. but it also makes it where u can run a 87 radiator or the pts alum radiator.o and the biggie filter is cool as well

 

[imjoesnuffy]

Filter

Which biggie filter might that be? I have been using the AC Delco PH52.

 

[Boost231]

not sure

i think u can run a bladwin b5 i got a ac delco something on it right now

 

[6SENSE]

Every little bit helps when keeping that boosted motor cool. All I know is with the steps Ive take my motor stays nice and cool. Even in 100deg Summer heat with the AC on.
As far as the Oil cooler setup on the 86/87 cars. The reason why not on our cars I would guess is simply progress, the same reason they were equipped with IC's. However I never thought they were a very efficient setup running all 3 liquids through the same rad. I could have thrown in a 87 rad that I had sitting but no way could I see there being any comparison to the efficiency and performance of an external cooler. My brother [has a 87 TLtd], after a few years of seeing how my car runs has recently swapped out his rebuilt/perfectly good 87 rad for a fbod rad and to go with a external oil cooler.

 

[boostmaster]

Before oil cooler install 5-10 psi oil pressure hot. After oil cooler install 20 psi all day long. No more lifter tap after a 1/4 mile blast.

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

I have my Derale oil cooler and it will go on soon. Brad

 

[tb3]

I've gotten some emails on my oil/tranny cooler install. It was pretty straightforward. I bought a combo Derale from summit racing. Derale Combination Coolers: DER-15902 - summitracing.com
Its a monster, 6 row oil and 4 row tranny. but I would imagine that less frontal surface cooling area is being wasted with a combo vs. 2 seperate ones. I could be wrong, I don't claim to know whats best, but so far, results have been fantastic. I know a stacked plate is better, but for the price ($100 with shipping), and I don't know why I would want to get too carried away with it since the car will never make it past the 12's, and I'm rarely hard on the car.
I clocked the adapter send/return where it would put the hoses in the best position away from other parts. I'm pretty paranoid of anything eventually protruding or rubbing/cutting through those hoses over time. Especially since I've not upgraded to the poly engine mounts yet.
I took a cell phone pic, and you can sort of get a idea of how it looks through the grill, but its hard to tell its in there because it comes black, and the 84 grills are much harder to see through than the 87's. The second pic you can see how I put the oil cooler hoses through the head light opening to avoid tight bends with the hoses(circled). They give you plenty of length with the kit to do this.
You'll have to remove the radiator to mount it of course. I also removed the grill so I could run a fin comb through both sides of my a/c condensor to get any smushed fins back straight and remove all the bugs and debris. (I had a couple really small rocks wedged in the fins too, sheesh, I guess the car might have been drove through hazard county at one point) I didn't remove the condensor to clean/straighten it as my a/c charge is still good. You'll also have to remove those steel cross bars that bolt in front as there won't be room with them. I had either done a search or posted a question on their function awhile back and found out they don't really have one, other than add weight. GM didn't put them on all G body cars, and if there was any of the g bodys gm liked to leave off body strength helping items, it was obviously the buicks as we all know. Also to note, both of those bars are slotted on one end, so I don't know how they could be understood as adding strength. Again, I could be wrong, someone will have to correct me if so. Hope this helps

 

[Jerryl]

Thanks for posting!
I ordered my staked plate cooler as well.
Mainly because it is gets 100+ for a few months here in TX.
Went "middle of the road", 24 plate. It should be efficient enough (although not preferred) to mount is behind the radiator. My thoughts are to "heat up the oil" to operating temp so the pressure is not too high for long when cold. I see 80 PSI@idle in about 40 deg weather with 5W30. Hot idle is right at 20.
Anything much over 80 PSI (is my understanding) can blow the turbo seals.
We'll see ....... it should be MUCH better than “No cooler” IMHO.


Long Manufacturing 24-plate Engine Oil Cooler : JC Whitney: Auto Parts & Accessories

Edit:
Pirce is $55.66 and item# is ZX381482N (Added For furture searches)

 

[tb3]

I know that they (the 24 plate your getting) state that: "Transfers heat more efficiently with less oil pressure drop than tube & fin-type coolers", and I'm not going to argue with the heat transferance being better, theres no doubt about that. But the claim that there being less pressure drop is just hard for me to accept. I'm just a dummy following the crowd alot of the time, but I wonder if there isn't a equation that only "technically" lets them get away with stating there is a less pressure drop with the stacked plate method. When I say "technically", I'm talking about the heat transfer per oil quantity per rate of flow with the pressure drop factor thrown in. Another words, It doesn't make sense to me that you can have less pressure drop with the same amount of oil with a stacked plate where you have to split the flow into very small flat fins and push them through, vs. one tube that has no restrictions period. (other than the bends I guess, but still, theres no change in diameter of the tube). I suppose if I googled this I could come up with some numbers, I may do that next. :smile:

 

[Jerryl]

I know that they (the 24 plate your getting) state that: "Transfers heat more efficiently with less oil pressure drop than tube & fin-type coolers", and I'm not going to argue with the heat transferance being better, theres no doubt about that. But the claim that there being less pressure drop is just hard for me to accept. I'm just a dummy following the crowd alot of the time, but I wonder if there isn't a equation that only "technically" lets them get away with stating there is a less pressure drop with the stacked plate method. When I say "technically", I'm talking about the heat transfer per oil quantity per rate of flow with the pressure drop factor thrown in. Another words, It doesn't make sense to me that you can have less pressure drop with the same amount of oil with a stacked plate where you have to split the flow into very small flat fins and push them through, vs. one tube that has no restrictions period. (other than the bends I guess, but still, theres no change in diameter of the tube). I suppose if I googled this I could come up with some numbers, I may do that next. :smile:

You are correct. That pressure drop is marketing hype ....... It also "could" have some merit to it. Here are my thoughts; Since there is more area to pass oil through (all the fins vs. one tube) you should have higher flow/sec, and therefore less pressure drop. Now, having said that, the bottle neck is still in the inlet/outlet. So given the same size inlet/outlet between the 2 type of coolers, the pressure drop would be not be much different.

Now, with more surface area exposed, the cooling will be increased. The cooler fluid should drop in pressure. So, the marketing hype states that there is less pressure drop. Is there? Sure, Technically speaking. Will one ever see the difference? In a controlled laboratory test, sure. On a TR, probably not. Pressure drop is a requirement for cooling as well, but how much is a question involving quite a few variables …………………… Yadi yada

In the end, we really should ask the manufacturer making such claims: Where exactly did you measure the pressure drop at and what was the test criteria and design?

My main reason for settling with this unit and posting? I "just" could not locate another "cooler only" for that price. It had been stated by some of the experts that the stacked plate cooler (in the transmission area) is a better cooler. I have not seen any data on comparison testing between any of the coolers.

 

[Jerryl]

Well, finally got the install completed.
Here are a few things to watch out for. The set-up is a “Stock Hot Air” implying: AC, Mechanical radiator fan blade, and, Shroud installed.
The cooler was installed “after the radiator”. Not the best place, but good for now and I did not feel like taking the front off and having longer hoses made.

1. The stock 87 oil cooler adapter plate, needs to be rotated so the lines straddle the lower radiator hose.
2. You will need fittings to the connections (If you use a threaded oil cooler) so the flared fittings at the end of the stock hoses can connect.
3. You will need a 90 degree adapter so the hoses are “long enough” and do not interfere with the mechanical fan.
4. You “may” need to clearance the hose or pipe of the plastic fan shroud. I used ½” pipe, so clearancing was required to make the shroud fit.
5. I used a WIX filter with some fresh 5W30 and a bottle of EOS. Previously, I used the Delco PF52.

In the end, this is what I noticed:
1. Cold start-up Oil pressure dropped from 70 to around 60. (Must be the WIX filter)
2. Hot idle (In “D”) increased from 18-19 to about 20 – 21 psi (RPM around 825)

If I would do it again, or give some advice, I would recommend you get a complete aftermarket kit and do not use the 87 parts, unless you get the parts REAL cheap.
The total cost of the parts was about $125 about the same cost as a complete kit.
This did not include the cost of the labor and headaches!