Okay, so I have been looking at radiators, being that I am getting this creepy vibe from the end tanks of my stock one. The question of the day is, what is better for this kind of application, running a oil to water oil cooler in the rad or what. I am thinking that this may be better, being that it will keep the temps as close to even as possible, lowering oil temps, raising water temps, but keeping them constant with each other.

Opinions, reccomendations, and any other HELPFUL info accepted and thanked for in advance

 

wtf ?
stock rx-7 comes with a huge oil coller, it's pretty much biggest u can find in any stock car
why u want to cool oil in the rad ?

 

To keep the oil and water at a more common temp. It adds a constant to the engine operating temperatures, reducing the time it takes for the oil to warm up compared to the water and keeps them at a common temperature, which is a good thing in any engine.

 

the oil to water cooler in a radiator wont be big enough to cool a roatrys engine oil, you can run your power steering into it or your trans fluid and cool it... but keep the stock oil cooler

 

I was planning on keeping the stock oil cooler, but ALSO using the oil-water heat transfer on a radiator would be a nice feature to help speed up warm up times of the oil and get the car to operating temp faster. As I said before, though, I prefer it due to the fact that it keeps the temps more constant.

 

its not needed the oil in an fc has a thermostat too

 

Is this the 'bypass valve' located on the driver's side of the cooler? I had no idea the oiling system had a thermostat... that scares me. Something I ought to check out!!!

 

If that is the case, I would still want to invest in this possibly, being that it will warm the oil up faster by running the oil through the coolant in the radiator, getting it to operating temp faster. That is one of the biggest points that I like about the setup, whereas everyone is conserned with the cooling aspect of it. In reality, this will do no cooling, actually, it will probably heat the oil up a little. On the flip side, it will cool the coolant by transfering the heat from the coolant to the oil. This may not make sense as of yet, but when you wake up later tonight in a sudden epifini (sp?) you will realize that this translates into cooler operating temps, which is a good thing.

Now, you will ask yourself over and over again, how does heating the oil with the coolant in the radiator lower my operating temps? The answer is, where does the heat from the coolant go? Into the oil, which means that the oil will warm up. Now, for the oil to warm up, that heat has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is the radiator and its coolant. By doing this, you are equalizing out the temps, and lowering them. If I do this, I will set it up so that the oil comes from the cooler and goes into the radiator, therefore the maximum potential for heating of the oil will occour (that sounds backwards...but just wait). As the oil heats up, the coolant cools off, and the oil will NEVER in this process exceed the temp of the coolant. If it does, the heat exchange then reverses itself by heating the coolant with the oil. In essence, it is a perfect type of design. You get absolute temperature control in 2 directions.

The question then becomes, has anyone tried this on the forum yet, or will I end up being the maiden guinea pig for this?

 

We're talking a matter of a few minutes to warm up the oil here... you should not be pushing the car past 3K until the COOLANT is upto full temp... your oil will be upto temp long before the coolant is.

You're talking about all this fabrication of piping JUST to warm up the oil 5 minutes quicker? Be my guest, as its your car.... but sounds pretty pointless to me.

 

If you are wanting to do that buy a rad made for an automatic trans. The atf cooler in them (most of them anyways) runs through the rad. you can use the piping for the atf for your oil.

 

In my opinion the goal should be to get rid of the heat, not pass it back and forth between the fluids. The most direct path to the airflow is the fastest way to get rid of the heat. Have fun, though.

 

been watching too much nascar lately While the theory is OK the details need some work. The main reason race teams do this is to save space and weight.( smaller and compacted colers ) As the cars will be moving fast enough that the coolers get enough air to cool. The oil usually only runs 20-25 degrees hotter than water temps. And as said before the oil will reach temps around the same time as the water.

If you hada race car this would be a Feasable project. Without that need it is just trying to be different.

The down sides are ,... If it leaks internally like many race ones have done. You then have a nice chocolate milk substance to get flushed out of the engine,.... if it doesn't blow up.

You have now reduced the effieciency of the radiator by taking room away from it and donating it to the oil cooler. And if you are going to still run the stock cooler, then this rad/cooler combo is a waste of time as the thermo on the oil will control flow thru the coolers.( Much like the water thermo)

Th general rule of thumb to remember is that you will NEVER gain something in one place,.. without Losing something in another,

Meaning that yes you may equal th temps out but:... The temps are now BOTH Higher than before and you have Less fudge room for temps.

Good for racing bad for daily driving. IMO. Not t