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oil cooler


wemtd

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Our seven's boffins have recommended I install an oil cooler in my (stock) 1.9L duratec.

Does anyone have recommendations for thermostatic plate connector, plumbing (AN -6 or -8) & size of oil cooler appropriately sized for our cars ?

 

cheers

P.

Edited by wemtd
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First time I have been called a boffin. Normally beefcake...

 

 

 

Paul - try these guys. Their stuff is quality. Much Mocal from BAT in many of my cars.

http://www.mocal.co.uk/products.html

 

The USA distributor is here - phone call is best

B.A.T. inc. - Sarasota, FL, USA | Tel: (941) 355-0005

 

 

Edited by Croc
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I'm surprised that you need one on a Duratec. It's a beautifully engineered motor. I am running a 2.3l Duratec with stock compression. I have been running in some mid-90s temps over the last couple of months in SoCal and have never seen 200F on the oil temp (measured in the Raceline oil filter adapter with a VDO sender and gauge). I am also running a Davies-Craig electric water pump and that has kept the coolant temp under 220F on the hottest days in traffic. Normal coolant temp might run as high as 200F.

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To be honest I was surprised to see Paul up in the 220-230F range in a warm tune engine. Paul was also running quite hard - fastest I have seen him lap. There were no coolant temp issues.

 

Oil temps can be influenced by a range of items:

- overfilling a wet sump engine to avoid surge on a track

- where you measure the temps

- choice of oil weight

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Sorry, didn't mean to sound snarky. I have a neighbor who is a retired senior engineer for Garret (turbochargers). We have discussed the issue of oil weight at length and he strongly recommended 0w40 synthetic for the Duratec. I show about 85-90psi cold/20psi hot at idle. Above 3000rpm it's 85-90psi cold/60psi hot. With the bDavies-Craig coolant controller, the engine warms up quickly and remains quite temperature stable after that. Another advantage is the coolant pump continues to run through a cool-down program once the engine is shut down. I raced Formula Vees for a number of years through the era when synthetic lubes were new to the market. We all came to rely on synthetic oils, particularly for their durability at higher temps.

 

Are you running a Raceline wet sump? They are sufficiently baffled to allow you to run with a 5 liter fill in the Duratec with out a problem. If you are seeing a pressure drop-off in competition, I would plumb in an Accusump. I used t run a 944 at Lime Rock and the Accusump was a great help in turn 1 there.

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Not at all snarky, i was filling in a few details I had left out.

Honestly, all this talk about lubricants our resident petroleum engineer's ears must be burning. Other than just over-sizing the pluming with options ranging from AN -6 to -12 referenced I'm at a loss to determine the best hose sizes to use? I've seen it reported that most oil pumps are 8-9Gal/min. However I haven't located a definitive figure for my engine regardless of rpm/oil temp. Using a thermostatic sandwich plate I wouldn't expect the system will see than full pump flow, but how much I haven't the foggiest idea.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update: I measured the holes in the engine entering the filter adapter: They are 15mm ID so ~AN9. which I take to mean AN08 size is just fine... More to come once I actually complete something.

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If your coolant temperature isn't to high and the oil pressure is dropping at high RPM you might have a lot of air in your oil. The spinning crankshaft can cause the problem if the oil level is too high or the pan isn't baffled properly. If you are using synthetic oil and the temperature is below 240 there shouldn't be a problem. That doesn't mean you wouldn't want a oil cooler to knock that down to 220. You need the oil to get hot enough to get the water out. Doing that will reduce the load on the cooling system. The other possibility is the engine oil is collecting in the top of the engine and not draining back. If that is the issue it is very easy to damage the engine. I do not know what type of engine you have, but I am not aware of drain back problems with the popular Ford engines used in our cars. Some engines need to restrict the amount of oil going to the top of the engine and or improve the drain back. All engines have a little blow by. Make sure your breather system is working and there isn't a lot of blow by.

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In the Duratec, the crank sits entirely above the full static oil level with a wet sump. Windage is not an issue with these engines I am told. I have wondered, however, if applying a low surface tension coating to the non-pressurized walls might help a bit for track use.

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I would not run on track without an oil cooler. I have fitted a Mocal water oil cooler, picture attached, not the most professional installation as I never went back and made a bracket, but hey it’s kept the car cool for 5 years of regular track use. The fittings are AN12.

Most people run a standard air oil cooler, which works well.

 

6c8dd6a5d18b253d6e153ef960e80bb2.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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My Cat has a small oil cooler behind the radiator, like yours. A more ideal placement for mine, since it is air cooled, not water cooled, would be in front of the radiator where it gets a steady stream of fresh air. I like your set-up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Many thanks to everyone who helped with advice.

Croc's MOCAL recommendation was spot on. Their UK catalog must be at least 50% educational and very informative. After many delays I finally got it installed today!

 

I choose a Setrab 13row cooler with -08AN fittings & their thermostatic sandwich plate. My searches found this and the mishimoto are the thinnest available. The oil ports from the duratec block into the filter adapter measure ~15mm ID. Which should mate adequately with -08 (~12.7mm ID). It came together nicely with 45° M22 to -08 gasketed swivel hose ends into the sandwich plate and corresponding 90° M22 to -08 AN swivel hose ends. This eliminated the need for an M22 to AN fitting before the AN hose end. My main delay was the mount position. The radiator mounting tabs did not allow space for the 90° hose ends to pass beneath the radiator, and they were not perpendicular to the radiator. A little repositioning of these tabs (lower and perpendicular to the radiator): I'm now in business.

 

This afternoon the engine oil warmed up to 180° and held there. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to refilled and bled the coolant and get out on the highway for a proper test.

oh.. and if everything is copacetic I'm already thinking of adding a top attachment for the cooler.

 

p.

 

DSC_44877 (2).jpg

Edited by wemtd
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I think with the colder weather, you will find that it takes FOREVER to get every thing up to temp with the oil cooler. If you drive much in the colder weather, consider the Mocal temperature by-pass. Before I install the by pass, I made a block off plate, with a hinged section. It allowed me to open a 1/3 of the cooler area, by flipping up the section with a long screw driver thru the front of the grill. Dave W

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  • 4 months later...

I found the 1" thick thermostatic sandwich plate offset the oil filter too far beneath the car for comfort (even with an extra short filter). This led me to order a Raceline.co.uk straight oil filter adapter. I picked it up from the post-office and installed it this morning and am very pleased thus far. The filter no longer extends beneath the chassis and is just above the diagonal frame member in the picture below.

Last week I added upper supports to the radiator to secure the oil cooler.

 

With sunny weather forecast for Friday I hope to test out my winter projects.

 

DCF9092D-EC98-45D0-82C7-962241CF879D.jpeg

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