Oil cooler advice

[bobcowan]

Originally Posted by lovehamr

Bob, would you mind posting pics or a scematic of how you did that?

It wasn't very difficult. I got the idea from a friend of mine, and used all off the shelf parts. Nothing fancy in my garage.

The first step was to tap into the oil pan. I installed a pair of -10 bungs, pick up at the bottom of the sump, and return at the front of the pan. Initially I used bolt in parts, with a gasket. Later on I welded some to the pan.



The Tilton electric pump was designed to move gear oil from the trans or diff through a cooler in back. It has no trouble moving hot engine oil.



I mounted the pump to the frame rail. I didn't like the cheap mounting bracket it cam with. So I added a hose clamp for extra protection.


I routed the cooling line from the right side of the sump, along the right frame rail, through the cooler, back along the left frame rail, to the pump, and then back to the front of the pan. I don't have a picture of it, but I also installed a filter just past the pick up. If I blow up another engine, it will keep trash out of the cooler and pump.

The pump is controlled by a manual switch on the dash. If the pump is off and the pan is hot, you don't want to turn the pump on while the engine is running. That will dump a slug of cold oil into the pan. It can shock the pump and break things - like the distributer gear, or oil pump drive shaft.

I instaled the pump at the end of the circuit, as that's where the oil will be coolest. In theory, the pump will last longer with less heat exposure.

The pump is also self priming. When I change the oil, I run the pump when the pan is empty, and that pulls the old oil out of the cooler and lines. When I refill the pan and run the pump. Very simple.

The whole thing works quite well. The electric pump doesn't flow as much oil as the engine pump, so it doesn't cool quite as well. It's gotten as high as 220-225*. But with a good synthetic oil it's still way below max temp.