I am not a thermodynamicist, nor an aerodynamicist, and not even a mech-e. But I have some doubts. I think it'd depend on what you're looking to cool and where. Big honking turbo track monster operating in the desert in 110F heat? Many doubts. Daily with occasional track days in moderate temps with no turbo? Probably overkill. Somewhere in between? Eh.

My big beef is the protective plate at the back of the cooler. I expect that it will reduce flow through the cooler significantly. How significantly? Dunno. I don't expect debris to come flying at the back of the cooler at a 90 degree angle, which is what it's seeming to prevent. I'd expect it to be more of a shower of crap, coming from the top of the wheel-well. In which case I'd prefer to see more of an overhang behind the cooler and less of a wall.

The ducting is ... incomplete. Air can very easily go around the cooler towards the outside of the car, which it will absolutely do. And the ducting is cut for a specific brake duct setup, which is itself not doing much (duct too small, too bendy, and fed poorly).

And finally, without knowing the cooling needs, I'd wager that the cooler is too small to be of much help if you actually need a lot of cooling.

One more finally - I'm assuming those zip ties are for illustrative purposes only. The stainless braided lines will absolutely chew through them in short order. In one pic it looks like they wrap the line with something before applying the zip tie, that's better, but not great. Zip ties are more for organization and routing encouragement, rather than providing actual support, IMHO.

Free advice from a stranger on the internet, take it for whatever it's worth!

 

As above re the 'I am nots'.

That looks too small, too restricted. Good location, you need to look at Lokiel's solution for that position. Bigger, better protected, ducted. And, for my money, lose the SS braided lines - use where necessary, there are other options where it is not.

 

I'm not any of those things either.

I'm not sure if the plate at the back is for protection or just for structure. The entire thing is cantilevered out into space, and only attached to the frame rail with two bolts on the inside. That looks kinda flimsy to me, but perhaps the plate/bracket is stiff enough to address it. I agree that it looks restrictive though.

It's not going to fit well if you've got intercooler tubing going through that area. Obviously not an issue if NA. Looks like that's 2" brake duct hose, which is pretty small. 2.5" or 3" takes up a lot more space.

I am less concerned about the braided steel lines than others -- I use them on my oil cooler and they've been fine. that said, I do have coolant hose sliced lengthwise and zip tied around a bunch of mine to protect other things from them. It's easy to do.

It is good that they are using 8 bolts on the cooler itself. Many people only attach them at the top and/or bottom, but they really need to use both sets of holes or use long bolts that go all the way through and have spacers to fill the gaps between the two flanges.

--Ian

 

I have not seen this brought up in this thread yet, so here is a question...

How strictly important is it in a vertically mounted Setrab cooler to flow oil in from the bottom to purge air out of the top? I have researched this and found answers varying from, "Oil is thick enough and pressure is high enough that air is easily forced out either way--total non-issue." to "ERRMAGERRD! YER ENGINE IS GONNA DIE!!!1!" Logically thinking, I believe the former has to be correct. However, there is a ton of super smart internet consensus on the latter (and we know what that means.)

Anecdotally, I just realized I have been pumping to the top for 9 years on my 50% track car with no issues and no cool or hot spots in the cooler core as measured with an IR thermometer.

Whaddya think?

 

I think It’s more a generic rule to think about air pockets and when that bubble may be introduced in the system. Couple variables, like cooler size, height relative to outlet, added thermostat, or horizontal mounting. If it’s low in the fog light area, oil will roll back into the cooler. If any air, it’s minimal in short lines sloping from the sandwich plate. If you’ve installed it high above the IC or bumper, that whole area is a possibility for draining.

You Just wouldn’t want your engine running full tilt, and oil is filling long, empty lines in the meantime. By that time engine should be pretty well oiled though, negligible damage? Dunno. I can’t remember if my sandwich plate closes completely of leaves a pinhole to pre fill the hot path. I wouldn’t rebuild an installed system - But if you’re gonna do it, might as well design for it if you can. Same price for fittings end of the day.

 

I have seen it asked a bit, and the answer always seems to be along the lines (sorry) of 'never been an issue, don't worry about it'. For packaging reasons mine is arranged with the ports vertical, but the inlet is the top one, any bubble is going to have go the long way round!

 

It could conceivably be a problem, but if it isn't, then it isn't.

I sincerely hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the responses.

I researched this more and found...

1. Setrab's instructions say it doesn't matter and are far more focused on anti-vibration mounting than flow direction
2. Engineering consensus from race teams is oil should flow bottom to top unless you can ensure proper bleeding of the core--especially if it is higher than the oil pump
3. Internet consensus seem to be bottom to top if feasible, but there is the usual 'expert' noise as mentioned

In my case, I am using the same Mocal thermostatic sandwich plate everyone uses that has a bleeder hole to fill the cooler before the thermostat opens. I also use oil filters that have good anti-drainback valves. I see no rise in oil level when the car has not been run for several days, so I don't think the core loses much or any oil when sitting. And, after installation, the car took 5 quarts to fill, and every oil change since then has been the normal 4 quarts. Pretty good anecdotal evidence that my top to bottom flow is fine.

Most importantly, the car has done 70(!) track days the way it is with zero explodage.

Having said all that, I just decided to upgrade to a 25 row since I have recently, finally trubo'd it, and will replace the 9 year-old lines as part of that process, so will make sure the flow is bottom to top going forward just because.