24 replies to this topic

[Madmax]

not too sure what he means either? whats the point in a dummy oil cooler?

[bluebottle]

the other thing to think about if you fit an oil cooler is that its quite vulnerable, being stuck out at the front of the car. i've had an oil cooler fitted for years, but only because my car needs it, being a kitcar with a chin spoiler the gearbox doesn't get the same ammount of cooling air as a mini, and on long runs the oil pressure would get dangerously low, a cooler cured this.
but over the years i've had 2 oil coolers fail on me, one was supply pipe failing, dumping the oil on the dual carriage way, the second time was after hitting a pigeon at speed, took out my grill AND my oil cooler, both of these as you would imagine rendered the car undriveable.
if you still go ahead and fit a cooler, it quite normal for your oil pressure to drop about 10psi compared to what it was before, and also bare in mind when doing oil changes you have to put in extra oil to fill up the lines and radiator.

[Madmax]

mines being mounted either behind the grill (clubman) or on the side of the flip front brace bars, with extended hoses, so hopefully out of the way of debris

ill make a scoop to channel air to the cooler if need be, ill have to check what the oil temp is like where i first mount it.

[Dan]

what the hell is a dummy oil cooler?

Bluebottle is right, oil rad's are fairly fragile. Even if it is behind the grille it is worth thinking about fabricating a cage for it from some heavy gauge mesh. And always use the best quality cooler lines you can get.

[Alburglar]

Does anyone know of an oil cooler with a built in thermostat?
because a sandwich plate one will look neat but won't fit, and an inline one is gonna have plumbing everywhere.

[bluebottle]

just another small point, dont be tempted by a second hand set up, the oil cooler can trap all sorts of rubbish, so why risk your engine for the sake of a few quid for a new radiator.

[Alburglar]

Have done my home work now.
On my engine, and I assume on all other A+ engines the oil filter has loads of clearance so I am gonna fit a sandwich plate with a thermostat. I will post pics when I've fitted it.

[Dan]

Depends whether you have the crappy late oil filter head or the earlier one which seals better. The earlier head is much longer and lower and takes the filter quite close to the subframe.

Also think about what might happen when the steady bar rubbers wear out, the engine rocks loads and if the filter hits the frame you will empty the sump really fast.

[Alburglar]

It really isn't that close.

[Alburglar]

Anyway. For £30ish. You can put a blanking plate on the sandwhich plate and get a remote filter head. All probs solved.