5 replies to this topic

[gutted]

Looking at getting a Mocal oilstat to regulate oil flow through the cooler. The one I'm looking at is only good for oil temps up to 140 degrees, though.

Problem is that I haven't a clue how hot the oil will get - is it anywhere near 140? Is it much lower/higher?

This is for an otherwise standard Metro Turbo application. Hope you guys don't mind me asking for your help... (Also cross-posted this on another Mini forum - apologies if you've seen my question before!)

Cheers,
Dan.

[Purple Tom]

I fitted a Mocal oilstat to my 1293 - I doubt the oil will get above 140 degrees at any point, I doubt it'll climb above 110. One thing to bear in mind is if you fit the oilstat that mounts on the filter housing, you may have to modify your subframe ever so slightly, to allow you to get the filter on and off properly. I just ground a small section out of mine to give the clearance.

Hope that helps!

Oh, and if you're concerned about oil temperature it would be worthwhile fitting a gauge. Somerford Mini's do a sandwich plate that fits in between the block and filter housing for about £12 - it has the threaded hole to allow the sender unit to screw in - in fact, here's a pic of my sandwich plate and oilstat:

sandwich plate:



oilstat:



subframe mods:



Hope thats useful

Tom

[gutted]

Nice one - thanks Tom.

I was looking at the oilstat that sits inline in the oil cooler inlet hose. I saw it on http://www.thinkauto.com, and I was thinking of the OT/1. I think this one is supported by the oil pipe itself, and (hopefully) doesn't need any extra bracketry. But in the Metro engine bay, I've got a bit of room to play with if needed.

What sort of effect have you noticed with yours? Worth the £25ish and a bit of hassle to fit it?

EDIT: good idea about the oil temp gauge, too. I totally want to get a set of gauges; in order of importance (for me) I wanted to get: oil pressure; oil temp; water temp; turbo boost. Problem for me, though, is that I want to keep my car looking as original as possible. I can't figure out a way to get the gauges in there without spoiling the look. Was considering taking out the ash tray, and sticking a set of 3 guages in there - but still unsure.

Edited by gutted, 28 August 2006 - 04:27 PM.

[Turbo Phil]

I've run my car without an oil cooler for the last 3 years, as the oil just doesn't get hot enough to warrant one. It rarely goes over 80deg, even under "spirited" driving. The only time it see's any real temperature is on a long motorway journey when it'll climb to 100-110, though a decent modern oil should be ok at this temp. As space is limited in my engine bay i've never fitted it ......
I'd say if your planning on doing track days or a lot of motorway work then an oil cooler could well be a useful addition, but i'd certainly fit a stat, as oil that is to cold is as bad as oil that's to hot.

Phil.

[AlexF2003]

unless your oil is regualrly going above 120 or you are using rubbish oil (shame on you!) then you don't really need an OC.

Some people like the reasurance of them and other people (like me) need them.

Alex

[gutted]

unless your oil is regualrly going above 120 or you are using rubbish oil (shame on you!) then you don't really need an OC.

Some people like the reasurance of them and other people (like me) need them.

Alex

Cheers for the info. As for my car (it's a Metro Turbo), it was fitted as standard... I'm rebuilding it from scratch (it's going to e concours material) but I was thinking about fitting a non-standard component (the oilstat) to help keep the engine running as well as possible. General opinion from various sources, though, is that an oilstat isn't really necessary. It's good, in a way, as it means I won't be changing the look of the engine bay so it's still up for winning concours prizes

Thanks to all for the advice!

by the way - I was chatting to Mocal the other day, and it turns out that the oil temp will generally be between 80 and 100 degrees. For long motorway journeys, or track days etc it may get up as far as 110. But this is on a virtually 100% standard setup.