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Oil Cooler?

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RickB

RickB

Yoda
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Anybody running their spridget with an oil cooler?
Adding a larger one has really helped all my other vehicles.
I know I would have to look for something specific to my Nissan A15 - but this is more of a general "what's everybody think?" question.
 
Used one for quite a while. Very happy with it helping keep the summers heat down.......
 
Maybe I'll head over to the autozone & see what they have.
Who knows, maybe there's a kit available /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Rick
Remember that you are in a "no-heat" land. 85 degrees yeaterday was almost a record. An oil cooler around here may cool the oil more than you really want and your Datsun motor is engineered well enough that it would be overkill.
(my 2 cents!!)
Bill
 
Yes, understood.
I was thinking about the type with the thermostat valve, so if I head off to the Gorge for the weekend this summer I won't have a problem. I like to go to central & eastern Washington during the summer, and that's 'heat land'.
 
Those valve type ones are nice but pretty expensive. Another way to do it is to put one of those "masks" over the oil-cooler and just remove it when the temperature outside is higher (like today!!!)
Bill
 
Ahh yes, the old cardbord in front of the radiator trick.
 
I live in central Texas where it is summer for 13 months of the year. Up until now, my cooling has been pretty much stock everything on my 1500. If anything, I have a problem getting my car up to a good running temp.
 
Most will say that an oil cooler isn't needed; if the engine overheats then there is a problem in the cooling system somewhere and should be fixed. I do however have them since the oil is cooled by the engine block and the engine by the coolant. That means that your engine oil is about 20' hotter than your coolant. I use an inexpensive ($40) permacool 1060 remote thermostat on my 1275 but you can plumb it to the 1500 as well.
 
I have never run an oil cooler in my race car.

That doesn't mean it isn't a good idea, but my car seems fine without it here in the northeastern USA. The 1500 rad is very efficient; oil and water temps are on the cool side with a blanking plate in the thermostat housing. The car never uses oil, even after a 3 or 4 hour enduro. And it's one more thing to break/leak/wear out.

Maybe if I was racing in Florida or Arizona I'd feel different.

By the way, oil coolers are like sludge traps and can get pretty gunky after a while. And they are impossible to clean out properly. If I were running one, I'd replace it on a regular basis.
 
What's "a blanking plate in the thermostat housing"?
What is it and what does it do?
 
RickB said:
What's "a blanking plate in the thermostat housing"?
What is it and what does it do?
Click to expand...

If you run the car without a thermostat, it will run too cool.
So, the thermostat is replaced by a blanking plate. The blanking plate is a piece of sheet metal with a hole in it. This hole (about 1.5", in my case) reduces the amount of flow so that the car will run around the correct temps. The hole in my blanking plate is sized so that it allows the car to get to about 165 F on a hot day when running hard.
Racers don't care about quick warm up or having a good heater. And unlike the thermostat, a blanking plate can't go bad.

If my car had a modern computerized engine, a blanking plate would not be a good idea; computerized cars have sensors that react to a number of engine conditions including a fairly narrow band of allowable engine temperatures (often above 212 F).
 
Ah, thanks - makes sense to me.

So, given that my car acts like it either has a broken thermostat stuck open or no thermostat at all I should look into this. Who knows what the BDPO did.

Hey, has anyone coined the phrase BDPO yet?
(Brain Dead Previous Owner)

I don't refer to the one who did the engine & tran swap - he knew something about what he was doing.
It's the guy I bought it from - geeze. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/pukeface.gif/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nonod.gif
 
Since I built Miss Agatha from the ground up I guess that makes me the ODO=Orginal Darn Owner.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]So, given that my car acts like it either has a broken thermostat stuck open or no thermostat at all I should look into this. Who knows what the BDPO did.[/QUOTE]

What are the symptoms? If anything those conditions would make your car run too cool. I think someone said this earlier in this thread, but let me echo it: make sure you have everything in your cooling system working as it should before you make changes. An oil cooler or blanked thermostat could cover up a much more serious problem (leaking head gasket, clogged line) that needs your attention.
 
It runs cold on the way down off the mountain in the morning run to work. Never gets up past about 140F.
On the way home if the weather is cooler it gets up to about 170F.

If the weather is hot it runs warmer, like about 190F.
This is going uphill from Issaquah to North Bend on I-90 for those of you familiar with the area.

If it is hot out & I drive it hard the temp can go above 200F.
 
My DPO put a 145 thermo in my car to cover up a leaking head gasket. I fixed the head gasket and and replaced with a 185.
 
Well even when my temp was over 200F I didn't lose any water.
That being said, I need to find a new gasket & get a new thermostat in hand and then open it up & see what's in there.

Today it didn't go over 185F on the way home. Average driving, warm ambient temps (76F). Maybe I'm just thinking up problems where none exist. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
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