The alternative oil cooler
05-10-2014, 03:26 AM
#1
Thread Starter
The alternative oil cooler
I have always been someone who likes to tinker. After some agro with oil coolers and fractured lines or leaky fittings i had a thought about using the existing OEM donut oil cooler. My plan was to move the OEM donut oil cooler out of the cars coolant system.
Now the vast majority of parts i had already collected from where i had the cooler set up before. This is pretty much the full list of parts i have used
- 5m of 13mm ID car heater hose £15
- 2m of 8mm ID vacuum hose £10
- 90degree 1/2 bsp fittings x2 £10
- 1/2 bsp to 13mm barb x2 £10
- 8mm barbed t-piece £5
- 13mm t-piece for bleeding point for precharging the pump
- Various jubilee clips £10
- 7 litre of motul premixed coolant £45
- SM Engineering coolant bottle £80
- Fahler 14psi Safety radiator cap £10
- 12v 600LPH 13mm inlet and outlet water pump £22
- Aluminium angle 120mm x50mm x5mm £10
- Aluminium bar 20mm x10mm x 1000mm £20
- Various nuts bolts, loctite etc. to secure bolts and ensure leak free connections on the cooler £20
- 19row narrow mocal oil cooler £90
- 12v supply and switch to operate the pump. Mine is from the lower part of the drivers side dash £15
This is the basic design of what i was hoping it would turn out like
I started by removing the front "stiffener" and replacing it with a custom piece made out of the aluminium bar. This is quite straight forward as you can use the OEM bar as template. The only thing you need to consider is that the OEM bolts will not be long enough if you choose a thick bar.
I then mounted the mocal oil cooler(which will serve as a watercooler) as shown which sits like this from the front bumper
I then attached the 1/2 BSP fittings along with the barbs fitted and used loctite 577 which is always great for us at work for sealing connections and it didnt let me down this time either.
I have mounted the pump on the bar as well using the same adhsive for go pro cameras as well as a couple of tight cable ties to stop it moving anywhere. I may well knock up some sort of aluminium bracket at some point but for the moment its fine. A little information about the pump, it consumes one amp at 12v and it shifts alot of water. I have tested it and it is more than enough to flow the entire coolant system in 10 seconds. How long it will last is anyones guess but i think it will probably fine aslong as the coolant temperatures don't go mad. It is designed to be submersible and isnt self priming but thats not much of an issues, aslong as you get some coolant to the inlet side of the pump it will pump away no problems. Being submersible its also waterproof so no issues of it getting wet in the rain
The coolant bottle has evolved to be honest, i started with a cheap bottle but soon found that the coolant is so good at soaking up the oils heat from the OEM donut cooler that it expands too much and starts to pressurise the coolant bottle. I had a look around and found Spencer at SM Engineering and his bottle was perfect. I knocked up some brackets to secure it to the front crossmember and it sits like this. I now use a 14psi radiator safety cap plumbed into the OEM radiator expansion bottle. This means that if the pressure becomes too much it will just vent it into the standard radiator bottle the same as if the OEM radiator over pressurised.
You can just see in the photo below where i have put the t-piece in for the expansion bottles
You can see from this photo that the install is pretty tidy, i need to adapt a few parts like i need a 90 degree elbow on the coolant bottle return so that the return hose hasnt got such a bend in it.
The connections on the OEM donut cooler are pretty straight forward. What you have is two coolant lines from the engines cooling system connecting on to 13mm barbs on the cooler itself. To remove the engines coolant system from the loop you have to use a piece of radiator hose line to bypass the Oil cooler. This removes the OEM cooler completely from the loop. You then just plumb in the separate cooler yourself and its all done
Now your probably thinking why go to this effort when you could of just fitted a straight forward oil cooler.
Well theres alot of pro's to doing this type of system
- No oil pressure drop associated with lines or coolers. More oil pressure is a good thing!
- If something fails the worst that can happen is that i loose some coolant. If a oil cooler and lines fail then the engine is dead if you dont switch it off quickly.
- It works very well, surprisingly well, i was shocked at how much heat it removes from the oil. On trackdays i have no doubt that it will perform excellently. The only modification i need to make is to fit a fan to the cool the radiator when the cars not moving after a session. It will be connected to the same switch as the pump control.
- I get additional cooling when i want it, not like with oil coolers where even with a thermostat it can be nigh on impossible to get them upto 100c in the winter. You always have a certain amount of oil flowing through the thermostat
- OEM donut oil cooler does its job well but when on track and with coolant temperatures of over 90c its not able to have enough effect on cooling the oil as you would want. By separating it out of the system you make it easier on the cars coolant system but you also increase the ability to cool the oil as instead of 90c coolant going through the donut its much lower say 60c.
Cons
- Not cheap and alot of drilling, tapping and time is needed to get it all installed. Its never going to be an off the shelf kit but i love doing stuff like that so it doesn't bother me. It keeps me busy during my lunch breaks.
- Longer oil warm up times but this really isnt a big deal. If you have the pump on a switch like i have then because there is no flow of coolant the oil system warms up very quickly. Water/antifreeze is also such a good conductor of heat that there is no chance of thermal shock when you switch the pump on because its already warmed all the way through.
- Additional weight from the fittings and extras, i would say its minor maybe a couple of KG's over an existing oil cooler.
I have to say so far im impressed. It works better than i thought it would. I have also consider using the switched output on my SPA gauge to control the pump and fans so if the oil temperature hits a certain level the spa gauge will switch the pump on and off. I have a trackday coming up and that will be the real test to see whether it will have enough cooling to keep up with the heat being chucked into the oil. Worst comes to worst i would have to swap the cooler out for one that has a larger surface area.
I realise this is abit different from the Norm and not everyones cup of tea but alot of thought and time has gone into this. I have not seen anyone do it before. I have read others discussing the idea but yet to see anything.
Video showing the whole system in operation
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfIC_ncY-Qk[/media]
Now the vast majority of parts i had already collected from where i had the cooler set up before. This is pretty much the full list of parts i have used
- 5m of 13mm ID car heater hose £15
- 2m of 8mm ID vacuum hose £10
- 90degree 1/2 bsp fittings x2 £10
- 1/2 bsp to 13mm barb x2 £10
- 8mm barbed t-piece £5
- 13mm t-piece for bleeding point for precharging the pump
- Various jubilee clips £10
- 7 litre of motul premixed coolant £45
- SM Engineering coolant bottle £80
- Fahler 14psi Safety radiator cap £10
- 12v 600LPH 13mm inlet and outlet water pump £22
- Aluminium angle 120mm x50mm x5mm £10
- Aluminium bar 20mm x10mm x 1000mm £20
- Various nuts bolts, loctite etc. to secure bolts and ensure leak free connections on the cooler £20
- 19row narrow mocal oil cooler £90
- 12v supply and switch to operate the pump. Mine is from the lower part of the drivers side dash £15
This is the basic design of what i was hoping it would turn out like
I started by removing the front "stiffener" and replacing it with a custom piece made out of the aluminium bar. This is quite straight forward as you can use the OEM bar as template. The only thing you need to consider is that the OEM bolts will not be long enough if you choose a thick bar.
I then mounted the mocal oil cooler(which will serve as a watercooler) as shown which sits like this from the front bumper
I then attached the 1/2 BSP fittings along with the barbs fitted and used loctite 577 which is always great for us at work for sealing connections and it didnt let me down this time either.
I have mounted the pump on the bar as well using the same adhsive for go pro cameras as well as a couple of tight cable ties to stop it moving anywhere. I may well knock up some sort of aluminium bracket at some point but for the moment its fine. A little information about the pump, it consumes one amp at 12v and it shifts alot of water. I have tested it and it is more than enough to flow the entire coolant system in 10 seconds. How long it will last is anyones guess but i think it will probably fine aslong as the coolant temperatures don't go mad. It is designed to be submersible and isnt self priming but thats not much of an issues, aslong as you get some coolant to the inlet side of the pump it will pump away no problems. Being submersible its also waterproof so no issues of it getting wet in the rain
The coolant bottle has evolved to be honest, i started with a cheap bottle but soon found that the coolant is so good at soaking up the oils heat from the OEM donut cooler that it expands too much and starts to pressurise the coolant bottle. I had a look around and found Spencer at SM Engineering and his bottle was perfect. I knocked up some brackets to secure it to the front crossmember and it sits like this. I now use a 14psi radiator safety cap plumbed into the OEM radiator expansion bottle. This means that if the pressure becomes too much it will just vent it into the standard radiator bottle the same as if the OEM radiator over pressurised.
You can just see in the photo below where i have put the t-piece in for the expansion bottles
You can see from this photo that the install is pretty tidy, i need to adapt a few parts like i need a 90 degree elbow on the coolant bottle return so that the return hose hasnt got such a bend in it.
The connections on the OEM donut cooler are pretty straight forward. What you have is two coolant lines from the engines cooling system connecting on to 13mm barbs on the cooler itself. To remove the engines coolant system from the loop you have to use a piece of radiator hose line to bypass the Oil cooler. This removes the OEM cooler completely from the loop. You then just plumb in the separate cooler yourself and its all done
Now your probably thinking why go to this effort when you could of just fitted a straight forward oil cooler.
Well theres alot of pro's to doing this type of system
- No oil pressure drop associated with lines or coolers. More oil pressure is a good thing!
- If something fails the worst that can happen is that i loose some coolant. If a oil cooler and lines fail then the engine is dead if you dont switch it off quickly.
- It works very well, surprisingly well, i was shocked at how much heat it removes from the oil. On trackdays i have no doubt that it will perform excellently. The only modification i need to make is to fit a fan to the cool the radiator when the cars not moving after a session. It will be connected to the same switch as the pump control.
- I get additional cooling when i want it, not like with oil coolers where even with a thermostat it can be nigh on impossible to get them upto 100c in the winter. You always have a certain amount of oil flowing through the thermostat
- OEM donut oil cooler does its job well but when on track and with coolant temperatures of over 90c its not able to have enough effect on cooling the oil as you would want. By separating it out of the system you make it easier on the cars coolant system but you also increase the ability to cool the oil as instead of 90c coolant going through the donut its much lower say 60c.
Cons
- Not cheap and alot of drilling, tapping and time is needed to get it all installed. Its never going to be an off the shelf kit but i love doing stuff like that so it doesn't bother me. It keeps me busy during my lunch breaks.
- Longer oil warm up times but this really isnt a big deal. If you have the pump on a switch like i have then because there is no flow of coolant the oil system warms up very quickly. Water/antifreeze is also such a good conductor of heat that there is no chance of thermal shock when you switch the pump on because its already warmed all the way through.
- Additional weight from the fittings and extras, i would say its minor maybe a couple of KG's over an existing oil cooler.
I have to say so far im impressed. It works better than i thought it would. I have also consider using the switched output on my SPA gauge to control the pump and fans so if the oil temperature hits a certain level the spa gauge will switch the pump on and off. I have a trackday coming up and that will be the real test to see whether it will have enough cooling to keep up with the heat being chucked into the oil. Worst comes to worst i would have to swap the cooler out for one that has a larger surface area.
I realise this is abit different from the Norm and not everyones cup of tea but alot of thought and time has gone into this. I have not seen anyone do it before. I have read others discussing the idea but yet to see anything.
Video showing the whole system in operation
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfIC_ncY-Qk[/media]
05-10-2014, 07:26 AM
#2
I nearly asked you a few weeks ago if you had removed your last oil cooler as I couldn't see in in your photos anymore!
This does look a good idea, I don't particularly trust the oil cooler that I recently fitted to my car due to the potential damage that could happen if a hose or something started to leak. Mine does over cool on the road when cruising even with a higher temp stat in place. I'm even considering blanking the front of the cooler off with a piece of polycarb for road use!
This does look a good idea, I don't particularly trust the oil cooler that I recently fitted to my car due to the potential damage that could happen if a hose or something started to leak. Mine does over cool on the road when cruising even with a higher temp stat in place. I'm even considering blanking the front of the cooler off with a piece of polycarb for road use!
05-10-2014, 08:27 AM
#3
I like it =) The header tank looks very smart and it's a good idea to have the expansion pipe to return to the engine expansion bottle.
I'd always prefer OEM to non standard any day of the week and with this system you get the best of both worlds. I've always thought that this method would be a much better way to run charge coolers for boost applications, as opposed to using engine coolant which as you say runs at around 90 degrees Celsius.
I'd always prefer OEM to non standard any day of the week and with this system you get the best of both worlds. I've always thought that this method would be a much better way to run charge coolers for boost applications, as opposed to using engine coolant which as you say runs at around 90 degrees Celsius.
05-10-2014, 10:00 AM
#4
Thread Starter
I nearly asked you a few weeks ago if you had removed your last oil cooler as I couldn't see in in your photos anymore!
This does look a good idea, I don't particularly trust the oil cooler that I recently fitted to my car due to the potential damage that could happen if a hose or something started to leak. Mine does over cool on the road when cruising even with a higher temp stat in place. I'm even considering blanking the front of the cooler off with a piece of polycarb for road use!
This does look a good idea, I don't particularly trust the oil cooler that I recently fitted to my car due to the potential damage that could happen if a hose or something started to leak. Mine does over cool on the road when cruising even with a higher temp stat in place. I'm even considering blanking the front of the cooler off with a piece of polycarb for road use!
All these issues meant i never run the oil cooler on track as quite frankly i didnt trust it.
05-10-2014, 11:08 AM
#6
Thread Starter
I could Mattie but the only switch i could find switched on at 90c and off at 80c. Abit too warm for my liking really and at the moment its abit hit and miss knowing what temperature i want the coolant to flow compared to what the actual oil temperature is doing. I should sit down and look at the spa gauge outputs as i know it can switch 100ma relay and then the cooling would be based on the oil temperature. This would probably be the best set up but i need to sit down and look at the gauges pinout diagrams.
I know i need to keep an eye on it at the moment as there is the potential that if the oil gets too hot then it will get to the point where its saturated the coolant and then starts over pressurising it. On the road it seems fine but track will be the real test. My gut feeling is that i will get the desired effect cooling wise but that the radiator/cooler wont be able to shed the heat quick enough, thats where maybe a fan will come into play and i have loads of high flow 120mm fans from my various PC builds. We will soon see.
I got some clever little devices from factoryeffex.com that you stick onto a surface and they then show the temperature, similar to what you would have on a tropical fish tank but a much higher scale. They work well and i have one on the coolant bottle and one on the top of the radiator to measure whats going on
I know i need to keep an eye on it at the moment as there is the potential that if the oil gets too hot then it will get to the point where its saturated the coolant and then starts over pressurising it. On the road it seems fine but track will be the real test. My gut feeling is that i will get the desired effect cooling wise but that the radiator/cooler wont be able to shed the heat quick enough, thats where maybe a fan will come into play and i have loads of high flow 120mm fans from my various PC builds. We will soon see.
I got some clever little devices from factoryeffex.com that you stick onto a surface and they then show the temperature, similar to what you would have on a tropical fish tank but a much higher scale. They work well and i have one on the coolant bottle and one on the top of the radiator to measure whats going on
Trending Topics
05-10-2014, 11:17 AM
#8
Thread Starter
Oh yeah and one thing that shocked me is that the Stock Donut cooler is pretty much £400 brand new from Honda. I picked up a spare for £30 on ebay just incase i encounter any problems.
05-10-2014, 11:20 AM
#9
Thread Starter
05-11-2014, 12:56 AM
#10
Registered User
Yeah I saw how expensive they where. I have my old one sitting in my garage so be interesting to see how well it works for you as the big issue with oil to air coolers is the pressure drop. Only problem with drilling and tapping the sump is the temp switch has a course thread it would work but just be weak. They do have a oring so shouldn't need to be tight. Keep us posted with how it works. What I would like to know is how quick it lowers the oil temp if you switch it on at 90c and turn it off at 85c.