DIY Oil Cooler - Oil Pan Heat Sink

wstar · 04-29-2012, 05:25 PM

Will be interesting. Some additional passive cooling to the oilpan will help, but not as much as actual cooler will. If you're not fond of the extra volume with the long lines and large core of an air cooler, you coud also look at an oil:water exchanger like some of the race teams have used. e.g. complete-oil-coolers-ecd54 - oil-coolers - The Laminova heat exchangers - Laminova

B&W_Evader · 04-30-2012, 09:48 AM

Drove it to work today, and you're right, not as much as I would expect from a traditional oil cooler. Without the dust cover, looks like it'll be a solid 15 degrees, maybe 20. Normal drive to work temps will go to 220. Today they stayed at 195. Looked like they went up 5 degrees to 200 at the end of the commute. Didn't pop the heat sink loose off the mold release before the drive so maybe it came loose from the thermal cycle. Hope so, it felt like it was on there pretty good last night.

B&W_Evader · 04-30-2012, 10:00 AM

Here's the pic from Friday. Should get some final pics tonight. The second part is deeper and larger but took less time since I had a better cutter. Man this made a mess with aluminum shavings flying everywhere.

B&W_Evader · 05-01-2012, 09:47 AM

Finished her up last night... YAY!
Here are pics of the before and after I popped the plate off. You can see I skimped a little bit on the epoxy. Should of used the whole kit instead of just half. Would of poured over but I had things protected from that anyway. It's 5-10% contact patch missing, think I'll leave it alone for now.

B&W_Evader · 05-01-2012, 09:52 AM

Here's the dust cover reinstalled. I needed to space out the rear side. You can see the washers I put under the center 2 bolts. Might even help on allowing more air to get through. Last pic is through the gap in the side of the cover. It's pretty darn close. Will look for rubbing at the next oil change.

Drove into work this morning and the temps were exactly the same as they were yesterday. Solid 15 degrees. Was worried the cover would screw it up but looks ok for now. Also, used 1 small 1 gram package of CPU heat conductive grease. Figure I'll add one every time I do an oil change to keep it all fresh.

Time to put this baby to a real test.

B&W_Evader · 05-05-2012, 09:57 AM

Got a chance to really push the car up a mountain road and see how the cooler compare to a previous run.

Previous run:
Temp: 55-60F, Raining, about 50% max on the throttle, little to no brakes,
Oil Temp max 260F

This run:
Temp: 65-70F, Dry, max on the throttle of 100%, lots of brakes
Oil Temp max 260F

Basically pushed it a lot harder on a warmer day and kept the temps to what they were last time. I'd say this is a nice improvement for your average driver allowing moderate small improvement for spirited driving, but you won't find me doing this road once the summer temps kick. It won't be enough with this alone.

Compdoc777 · 05-05-2012, 10:48 AM

Yeah the DIY oil cooler will net you much more cooling. I used to get up to 260 with light driving. Now I can't get over 200 driving insane. The pan idea is good it would be better to have a aluminum pan with higher capacity maybe another quart and oil cooler combo.

04-29-2012, 05:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3595	Will be interesting. Some additional passive cooling to the oilpan will help, but not as much as actual cooler will. If you're not fond of the extra volume with the long lines and large core of an air cooler, you coud also look at an oil:water exchanger like some of the race teams have used. e.g. complete-oil-coolers-ecd54 - oil-coolers - The Laminova heat exchangers - Laminova __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

05-05-2012, 09:57 AM	#6 (permalink)
B&W_Evader Track Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: CA Posts: 972 Drives: slower than before Rep Power: 387	Got a chance to really push the car up a mountain road and see how the cooler compare to a previous run. Previous run: Temp: 55-60F, Raining, about 50% max on the throttle, little to no brakes, Oil Temp max 260F This run: Temp: 65-70F, Dry, max on the throttle of 100%, lots of brakes Oil Temp max 260F Basically pushed it a lot harder on a warmer day and kept the temps to what they were last time. I'd say this is a nice improvement for your average driver allowing moderate small improvement for spirited driving, but you won't find me doing this road once the summer temps kick. It won't be enough with this alone. __________________ \|RIP\|6spd-sport\|OSG-LSD\|XP8\|RBF600\|Eibach Sways\|RE-71R\|FI-34Row\|Gen3-CAI\|Yaw P.S.\|

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04-30-2012, 09:48 AM	#2 (permalink)
B&W_Evader Track Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: CA Posts: 972 Drives: slower than before Rep Power: 387	Drove it to work today, and you're right, not as much as I would expect from a traditional oil cooler. Without the dust cover, looks like it'll be a solid 15 degrees, maybe 20. Normal drive to work temps will go to 220. Today they stayed at 195. Looked like they went up 5 degrees to 200 at the end of the commute. Didn't pop the heat sink loose off the mold release before the drive so maybe it came loose from the thermal cycle. Hope so, it felt like it was on there pretty good last night.

05-05-2012, 10:48 AM	#7 (permalink)
Compdoc777 Enthusiast Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Cypress Posts: 277 Drives: 2011 Nismo #4 MB Rep Power: 14	Yeah the DIY oil cooler will net you much more cooling. I used to get up to 260 with light driving. Now I can't get over 200 driving insane. The pan idea is good it would be better to have a aluminum pan with higher capacity maybe another quart and oil cooler combo.