Is an Oil Cooler Necessary?
08-09-2019, 09:26 PM
#25
Former Vendor
iTrader: (31)
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 15,442
Total Cats: 2,100
For the same reason your car has a thermostat: to bring it up to temp faster.
The delta T between the coolant and oil is never larger than the period during warmup. The coolant could be 170*F and the oil could be 60*F if you have a good thermostat and let the car idle for 10min after starting it. The purpose of that warmer is to elevate the oil temperature faster to provide appropriate lubrication to the bearings in the engine. The tiny cooling capability it has after the engine is fully warm is far less important than this primary purpose.
In a street car, you never see the extended, elevated RPM that a track car would see. That extended, elevated RPM is what adds to the oil temp. The power output of the engine, in comparison, is negligible. Thus, the oil will never be that much hotter than the coolant in a street car. Perhaps 30-40*F on a hot day. Keeping the oil cooler transmits some of that oil heat load to the coolant, where it can be effectively shed by the radiator.
So, in a street car which probably has excess cooling capacity anyway, you're going to throw away the device which reduces warmup time (and thus engine wear) and reduces oil temperature in order to slightly reduce coolant temp (and, by default, slightly increase oil temp)?
That would be a dumb thing to do.
The delta T between the coolant and oil is never larger than the period during warmup. The coolant could be 170*F and the oil could be 60*F if you have a good thermostat and let the car idle for 10min after starting it. The purpose of that warmer is to elevate the oil temperature faster to provide appropriate lubrication to the bearings in the engine. The tiny cooling capability it has after the engine is fully warm is far less important than this primary purpose.
In a street car, you never see the extended, elevated RPM that a track car would see. That extended, elevated RPM is what adds to the oil temp. The power output of the engine, in comparison, is negligible. Thus, the oil will never be that much hotter than the coolant in a street car. Perhaps 30-40*F on a hot day. Keeping the oil cooler transmits some of that oil heat load to the coolant, where it can be effectively shed by the radiator.
So, in a street car which probably has excess cooling capacity anyway, you're going to throw away the device which reduces warmup time (and thus engine wear) and reduces oil temperature in order to slightly reduce coolant temp (and, by default, slightly increase oil temp)?
That would be a dumb thing to do.
Reply
0
0
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
