Oil coolers


ijwhiteman

ijwhiteman

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Basically are they worth spending £200 for... I plan on occasionally track days with the odd excurtion to the nurburgring once or twice a yr. On the road i really don't see a point but if its going to protect my engine i'd rather be safe than sorry...

:nice:
 
yes,not needed for road but work wonders on track and sounds like youll be doing good few per year so good safety measure(with a stat)

before you do buy a good oil temp gauge so you have good idea of whats temps your hitting on track and you can make judgement yourself
 
i always wanted to know this also, then there is the whole group of people that think oil coolers lower oil pressure or put extra strain on the oil pump etc... so confusing :(
 
If you track your car an oil cooler is a good investment.

If you only street drive. don't bother with a cooler, its not needed.

A oil cooler setup 'will' lower your oil pressure. A simple law: Pressure will remain constant when there is no flow, but as soon as you introduce flow you will get pressure drop. Its like when you put your finger on the end of a garden hose. It builds pressure (no flow). As soon as you take your finger off. The water explodes out. After a few seconds though it will slow down to a trickle (flow).

Also take note on where you measure your pressure from. If you measure before a resistance you will read higher and may think everything is good.

I have installed my cooler setup, but also modified the oil pressure relief valve to increase pressure.
 
I have a standard EK radiator at present and when round the ring with my B16 the thermostat certainly raised a lil. I have since removed the aircon to allow more air into the engine bay for cooling.

Autobann88 do quite a good kit bout £210 delivered...

I'll find a link.

My mate spun a main bearing through not having a cooler...

On the lowering oil pressure it wasn't a good idea buying a hamp oil filter then... It states a 5psi increase in oil pressure..... I thought that was a good thing.

So will this set up of an oil cooler actually run ok on the road if its designed for high extremes of track use.
 
ijwhiteman said:
Autobann88 do quite a good kit bout £210 delivered...

I'll find a link.

My mate spun a main bearing through not having a cooler...

On the lowering oil pressure it wasn't a good idea buying a hamp oil filter then... It states a 5psi increase in oil pressure..... I thought that was a good thing.
Click to expand...

-MFactory also has a good kit
-Your mate probably spun the main because he did not have a baffled oil pan, and lost oil pressure for a moment on a hard turn.
-hamp filter raises pressure because it filters a bit less so the oil pump does not work as hard, there good, don't worry.
 
i think oil coolers are a good investment.i had a trust one in a civic and a dc2 also.i never tracked either but even when driving vigorously on deserted roads they always kept oil temp down to about 70 degrees.i saw a video on youtube of a dc2 on track without one and temp was reaching 120 or so i think they are great piece of kit anyway.also neither car used so much as a drop of oil and oil pressure was always healthy(guages to know this)
 
ijwhiteman said:
I have a standard EK radiator at present and when round the ring with my B16 the thermostat certainly raised a lil. I have since removed the aircon to allow more air into the engine bay for cooling.
Click to expand...

Having removed the AC to allow for air to flow into the engine bay can actually RAISE the coolant temperature even more.

Why?

Air is lazy and seeks the path of least resistance. Ever wonder why non-AC civics had that plastic block off plate? It's to ensure air is forced THROUGH the radiator and not AROUND it.

Ever see those nifty radiator cooling plates to block off the holes at the top of the radiator support? Same idea.


The OEM oil cooler does a fine job of controlling oil temps while maintaining proper oil flow/pressure. The crux of the system is the stock radiator - since it is an air-to-fluid exchange setup, the size of the radiator can and will directly affect the oil temp.

I suggest getting a dual core, full width radiator while paying particular attention blocking off any gaps on the sides/top and bottom of the core. This can be achieved with fabricating aluminum fins/shields or some race teams even opt to use expanding foam....which is a great idea. When was the last time you had to remove your rad? :p

FWIW, the Super Taikyu Spoon DC2 I had the pleasure of inspecting very closely years ago DOES NOT run an external oil cooler and to this very day, it continues to compete in the eastern United States without one. It does not even have an oil temperature gauge!

I spoke to Spoon president about this and he says that oil pressure is a lot more important than oil temperature - when using a good oil (they swear by Motul 300V). Personally, I'd like to have both monitored.... but he's the one with worlds of experience and many winning cars... :bow:

Does this mean an external oil cooler is not necessary at all? No.

I would run one in a Turbo Honda or high compression, larger displacement (2.0L) Honda that sees track duty.

It is said that the smaller oil filter is better since it has less surface area to expand which can cause oil pressure fluctuations. Supplement this with a hose clamp (the type used to secure silicone sleeves on your intake) fitted tightly around it and of course, always use a baffled oil pan.

If possible, increase your oil capacity.:drive:
 
RagingAngel said:
Does this mean an external oil cooler is not necessary at all? No.

I would run one in a Turbo Honda or high compression, larger displacement (2.0L) Honda that sees track duty.

It is said that the smaller oil filter is better since it has less surface area to expand which can cause oil pressure fluctuations. Supplement this with a hose clamp (the type used to secure silicone sleeves on your intake) fitted tightly around it and of course, always use a baffled oil pan.

If possible, increase your oil capacity.:drive:
Click to expand...

Wow thanks for that.

I remember you saying to me to overfill the oil by half a litre before i went to the ring so i take it thats what you mean by oil capacity. Oil pressure is better because it keeps it more stable?

So to sum up i would be better off finding a itr rad thats full width? My idea was that the way to keep engine bay temps down was to cool it hence i thought that cooler air directly to the ex manifold would keep temps down... nice try i guess.

Oil wise i use silkoline 5w 40 fully synthetic combined with a hamp oil filter. so in other words don't buy a cooler get a baffled sump? My engine is pretty much standard just with breathing modifications.:nice:
 
Baffled sump is a must Ian, also running Pro-s car has been running spot on - 5 trackdays so far this year, oil cooler is not essential for me so far, unless your car is set up for full race mode. I did have one installed on my track 172 a few years ago, only managed one track before somebody wrote it off so never got to see the benefits.
 
Brilliant cheers mate. I'll make sure i get one fitted before my next track day or ring trip. Probably silly question but it is an easy job to change the sump isn't it??? Just unbolt the old and bolt on the new?
 
RA are you saying to put a hose clamp around the exterior of the oil filter?
 
Not sure on how easy a job it is, TGM did mine, just welded in 2 more plates £150 all in I think :eek:
 
blinx9900 said:
RA are you saying to put a hose clamp around the exterior of the oil filter?
Click to expand...

correct. With the amount of flow going through the filter and with how VTEC is completely dependent on oil pressure, you want this to be as stable as possible.
 
ijwhiteman said:
Wow thanks for that.

I remember you saying to me to overfill the oil by half a litre before i went to the ring so i take it thats what you mean by oil capacity. Oil pressure is better because it keeps it more stable?

So to sum up i would be better off finding a itr rad thats full width? My idea was that the way to keep engine bay temps down was to cool it hence i thought that cooler air directly to the ex manifold would keep temps down... nice try i guess.

Oil wise i use silkoline 5w 40 fully synthetic combined with a hamp oil filter. so in other words don't buy a cooler get a baffled sump? My engine is pretty much standard just with breathing modifications.:nice:
Click to expand...


You really want a radiator like this size:
eBay Motors: Mishimoto Aluminum Radiator 94-00 01 Acura Integra M/T (item 320307218375 end time Dec-01-08 20:58:54 PST)

It is NOT a direct fit as the side where it normally accomodates the AC does not have provisions for a proper fitting lower bracket.

It is going to take some minor fabrication. Slight overfill is correct.

I would also look into running some silicone hoses. Get yourself some gauges too!
 
RagingAngel said:
If possible, increase your oil capacity.:drive:
Click to expand...

sorry to hi jack, but are you saying it would be a good idea to cut up and modify the sump making it deeper or wider, so it effectivly holds more oil, but will show a normal level on the stick, so..... it can hold more oil with out the level being overfilled, is this right? or would overfilling a slight amount be more effective?
 
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b16 mini said:
sorry to hi jack, but are you saying it would be a good idea to cut up and modify the sump making it deeper or wider, so it effectivly holds more oil, but will show a normal level on the stick, so..... it can hold more oil with out the level being overfilled, is this right?
Click to expand...

if you have the ability to perform this type of fabrication...then yes..that is absolutely correct.
 
RagingAngel said:
if you have the ability to perform this type of fabrication...then yes..that is absolutely correct.
Click to expand...

indeed i do:D, i will give this a go some time on a spare sump pan, may need some advice on where to add the baffels when i do it:nice:

top notch information as always RacingAngel:nice:
 
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