Anyone installed an external engine oil cooler?

[beagle3]

I think that I would like to install an external engine oil cooler on my 1990 w350.

Is the turbo oil line the best place to brake into the system? And

where is the best place to mount the cooler on a standard trans truck? Does some sell a kit for this?



Thanks. Mark

 

[ScottB]

I'm not sure why you need to run an external oil cooler, because I would think that the internal oil cooler would be sufficient. But you could run your oil cooler inline before your turbo. I have heard of people doing this to help cool the turbo. Or you could run it in line after the turbo to cool the hot oil before it enters the pan. Let me know what you come up with.

 

[A Johnson]

I do not know why someone would want to run an extra cooler unless your oil temp is running over 230*(and is there another issue causing this?)



Not being an oil expert there may be some advantage to it, I guess I will let you decide that.



As for location I would caution against teeing in anywhere around the turbo, for two reasons. First off you dont want to get into any kind of drainback issue with the turbo supply line, that would cause dry starts. The second is you don't want any kind of restriction on the drain side, as this can cause oil to push out the seals. Even excessive blowby on an unmodified engine can cause oil out the turbo seals, so it doesn't take much of a restriction in the return to prevent oil from returning to the pan. My . 02.

A Johnson

 

[Texas Diesel]

I agree with you that a engine oil cooler would not be a bad idea, we see 100F + here and pulling 12,000#'s I see my oil reach 230F, too hot for my tastes. The coolant temp stays in the normal range and EGT stays at 1150F.



I added a remote oil filter from citydiesel.net and intend on splicing in a cooler some day, just moving the oil filter where the air hits it has lowered the oil temp mildly. See my album. With a remote cooler (5/8" lines) it would be easy to the return hose run to a cooler. Plus you would be cooling a lot more oil than the turbo line would allow.



Permacool makes a 5/8" oil thermostat that will bypass the cooler until the oil hits a certain temp.

 

[A Johnson]

Optimum oil temp?

Tex, some info for you.



I went out and looked thru my Big cam 4 and Signature manuals and found this:

Big Cam 4, The thermostat will bypass the oil past the oil cooler until it reaches 230F then it opens until oil cools to 225F.



ISX/Signature, to test the t-stat, suspend it in oil and heat until oil is 240F, t-stat should be fully open.



The ISB manual did not address oil temp that I could find quickly.



"94" B series manual said, "typical oil temp. is 230F"



It looks to me that they dont want too cold of oil due to possibility of varnish and sludge, the same reason they want minumum coolant temp to run 160F. In my experience oil temp usually ran 25-30F higher than coolant, when on the dyno with stock horespower. This would put the average oil temp @ 190f when coolant is at 160F min.



So, my suggestion is if you want to run an oil cooler, don't let it cool below 180-190F to prevent sludge.



I freely admit I don't know the advantage to cooler oil, it just looks like the Engineeers of these engines want fairly warm oil.



Do not mean to start another oil argument, its just info I found to help you guys make decisions.



A Johnson

 

[Texas Diesel]

A Johnson,



That is good information, thanks for sharing

Here is a response from Cummins on same subject:



Oil Temp: should not exceed 250-260 deg. F at any time (oil tends to break down, drastically reducing its life, if it runs at temperatures higher than 250-260 deg. F)

--

Joshua Berman MidRange Service Cummins Engine Company

-- email address removed -- Cummins Homepage: www.cummins.com



Sounds like that may be the design temp too, guess I'll leave it alone after all, atleast I can easily reach the oil filter now.



Thanks