DIY Oil Cooler - Oil Pan Heat Sink

B&W_Evader · 04-24-2012, 11:07 AM

I've had hot oil problems like most of the people on this forum. No limp mode yet but I baby it when it gets up to 260. I hate the idea of leaving a quart of dirty oil in the engine every oil change so I looked for something else. Came accross an oil pan spacer. Thought hey, I could coil a pipe in the oil and run radiator fluid through it. But the though, worst case, what it it leaked and I filled the engine up with radiator fluid... That would be "bad".
Then I thought, hey, someone must have a finned oil pan that I could just swap out. But noooooooooooooo, couldn't find one. Found one with fins that's about 1/8" tall but really, is that going to do anything? So I started looking at heat sink extrusions and trying to find the best one for the application. Boned up on my heat transfer calcs when I noticed some of the manufactures had most of the work already done. Had some extrusions quoted but those guys want large quanties or really want to rape you. Really, $750 for 9" of a 12" wide extrusion? F-them. Stumbled accross these guys. I would of thought "what a rip-off" if I hadn't had the first quote.

Heat Sinks - Cool Innovations Inc

Picked up one of the largest one they make for about $300 delivered. Received it last night and started working on it.

B&W_Evader · 04-24-2012, 11:12 AM

This large heat sink is actually 2 smaller ones joined together. I was thinking weld but I found out that it's glue. First step is to reinforce it so it doesn't come appart as I'm modding it or during driving. Got 8 holes drilled and tapped for a 3/4" aluminum L from home depo. (Didn't have to buy it, had it laying around the house from other projects) Phone was dead last night, and charging now. Should have some pics tomorrow.

axio · 04-24-2012, 12:20 PM

Keep us posted, curious so see how much it helps. good luck!

B&W_Evader · 04-25-2012, 10:56 AM

This is the heat sink and the tools used to get the first set of hole in.

B&W_Evader · 04-25-2012, 11:02 AM

In my research I found 1 guy complain that the 1" oil pan spacer the lowest part of the car. This heat sink is 1" thick so I figured I'd try to fit it a bit. If you look at your oil pan, it has 3 levels about 2mm appart. Here I removed material from where the lowest area will be. Spent about an hour using a pneumatic die grinder on this area. I'm sure my neighbors appreciated it. LOL

modme · 04-25-2012, 11:21 AM

Interesting idea. How do you plan to mount this to the oil pan? From my basic computer building experience, you need to maximize the mating between the two surfaces. Even microscopic grooves can affect heat transfer. That's why computer cpu has thermal compound between the heatsink and cpu.

Also, do you plan to modify or remove the lower plastic cover? I imagine you would want max air passing across the fins.

MattP725 · 04-25-2012, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by modme

Interesting idea. How do you plan to mount this to the oil pan? From my basic computer building experience, you need to maximize the mating between the two surfaces. Even microscopic grooves can affect heat transfer. That's why computer cpu has thermal compound between the heatsink and cpu.

Also, do you plan to modify or remove the lower plastic cover? I imagine you would want max air passing across the fins.

Also your first idea of a liquid cooled pan isn't far off from what Nissan began doing in 2012 (and earlier outside of the US). If you want the liquid cooled option see if you can get the OEM parts off a 2012.

B&W_Evader · 04-25-2012, 11:43 AM

For mating, I have some high temp thermally conductive epoxy coming in. Will use it to contour the top of the heat sink to match perfectly to the oil pan.

Duralco 132-1 (due 5/1)
High Temperature Adhesives and Epoxies, Ceramics, Insulation, Epoxies and Epoxy

Then, yes, a little thermal conductive grease to go between the two. I think I have some in my desk somewhere so I haven't bought any yet.

Attachment will be by springs. There's 2 holes in front of the pan and 2 threaded holes behind. I'll use a stud with a hole in it in the threaded holes. Loktite-ed in. Shooting for about 30# of pressure (4-5 gs) against the pan.

It may fit under the cover without mod. It's going to be close. I'll try it with the cover first. It looks like there should be some forced air flow through that area without mods. If it's not enough I'll be making a custom cover. Saw in another thread the dealer wants $950 for one. Another rip-off.

B&W_Evader · 04-26-2012, 10:51 AM

Not much progress last night. Made the M8 spring studs and took the debris cover off. Started some dry fitting. Think I'm going to do a bunch more die-grinding before molding it in place. Pan image shows the front holes I'll be using.

B&W_Evader · 04-29-2012, 05:15 PM

Friday I went to town grinding the heat sink down a bunch more to improve fit. Took a picture put the phone died. I'll post if it took.

Saturday, installed my brakes, then worked on the mounting bracket. Dry fitted and decided I didn't like the springs I had.

Sunday morning: bought some new springs. Finished the bracket, installed. Still needs a little fine tuning but good for now. Prepped the area for molding. Wax mold release then PVA mold release on the pan. Made some duct tape dams on the the plate to hold the epoxy in while sitting. Wiped the plate down 3 times with IPA and then mixed up the epoxy and cast it up against the oil pan. Sitting in the garage and curing now.

Being impatient... I warmed up the oil to 160 to try to get the epoxy to kick a little faster. Went down and felt the fins. Good news, they were nice and hot. Just a couple of degrees cooler than the actual pan.

Should be able to finish it up Monday night.

wstar · 04-29-2012, 06:25 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, 10:48 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, 11:00 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, 10:47 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, 10:52 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.

04-24-2012, 11:07 AM	#1 (permalink)
B&W_Evader Track Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: CA Posts: 972 Drives: slower than before Rep Power: 387	DIY Oil Cooler - Oil Pan Heat Sink I've had hot oil problems like most of the people on this forum. No limp mode yet but I baby it when it gets up to 260. I hate the idea of leaving a quart of dirty oil in the engine every oil change so I looked for something else. Came accross an oil pan spacer. Thought hey, I could coil a pipe in the oil and run radiator fluid through it. But the though, worst case, what it it leaked and I filled the engine up with radiator fluid... That would be "bad". Then I thought, hey, someone must have a finned oil pan that I could just swap out. But noooooooooooooo, couldn't find one. Found one with fins that's about 1/8" tall but really, is that going to do anything? So I started looking at heat sink extrusions and trying to find the best one for the application. Boned up on my heat transfer calcs when I noticed some of the manufactures had most of the work already done. Had some extrusions quoted but those guys want large quanties or really want to rape you. Really, $750 for 9" of a 12" wide extrusion? F-them. Stumbled accross these guys. I would of thought "what a rip-off" if I hadn't had the first quote. Heat Sinks - Cool Innovations Inc Picked up one of the largest one they make for about $300 delivered. Received it last night and started working on it.

04-24-2012, 12:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
axio Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: SF Bay Area, CA Posts: 271 Drives: '09 370Z Rep Power: 16	Keep us posted, curious so see how much it helps. good luck! __________________ GTM Stg II SC w/ Aquamist methanol injection, GTM oil cooler, Berk HFC, Stillen CBE, BC ER coilovers, Hotchkis sways, TWM short shifter, Clutch spring mod, CarboTech XP8s

04-25-2012, 11:21 AM	#6 (permalink)
modme Enthusiast Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: NY Posts: 345 Drives: G37 Rep Power: 16	Interesting idea. How do you plan to mount this to the oil pan? From my basic computer building experience, you need to maximize the mating between the two surfaces. Even microscopic grooves can affect heat transfer. That's why computer cpu has thermal compound between the heatsink and cpu. Also, do you plan to modify or remove the lower plastic cover? I imagine you would want max air passing across the fins. __________________ GTM Twin Turbo Stage 2\|GTR Turbo/Engine Gauges\|KW V3 Coilovers\|HKS Exhaust\|Oil Cooler\| Vossen CV1

04-25-2012, 11:43 AM	#8 (permalink)
B&W_Evader Track Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: CA Posts: 972 Drives: slower than before Rep Power: 387	For mating, I have some high temp thermally conductive epoxy coming in. Will use it to contour the top of the heat sink to match perfectly to the oil pan. Duralco 132-1 (due 5/1) High Temperature Adhesives and Epoxies, Ceramics, Insulation, Epoxies and Epoxy Then, yes, a little thermal conductive grease to go between the two. I think I have some in my desk somewhere so I haven't bought any yet. Attachment will be by springs. There's 2 holes in front of the pan and 2 threaded holes behind. I'll use a stud with a hole in it in the threaded holes. Loktite-ed in. Shooting for about 30# of pressure (4-5 gs) against the pan. It may fit under the cover without mod. It's going to be close. I'll try it with the cover first. It looks like there should be some forced air flow through that area without mods. If it's not enough I'll be making a custom cover. Saw in another thread the dealer wants $950 for one. Another rip-off. Last edited by B&W_Evader; 04-25-2012 at 11:51 AM.

04-29-2012, 05:15 PM	#10 (permalink)
B&W_Evader Track Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: CA Posts: 972 Drives: slower than before Rep Power: 387	Almost done Friday I went to town grinding the heat sink down a bunch more to improve fit. Took a picture put the phone died. I'll post if it took. Saturday, installed my brakes, then worked on the mounting bracket. Dry fitted and decided I didn't like the springs I had. Sunday morning: bought some new springs. Finished the bracket, installed. Still needs a little fine tuning but good for now. Prepped the area for molding. Wax mold release then PVA mold release on the pan. Made some duct tape dams on the the plate to hold the epoxy in while sitting. Wiped the plate down 3 times with IPA and then mixed up the epoxy and cast it up against the oil pan. Sitting in the garage and curing now. Being impatient... I warmed up the oil to 160 to try to get the epoxy to kick a little faster. Went down and felt the fins. Good news, they were nice and hot. Just a couple of degrees cooler than the actual pan. Should be able to finish it up Monday night.

04-24-2012, 11:12 AM	#2 (permalink)
B&W_Evader Track Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: CA Posts: 972 Drives: slower than before Rep Power: 387	This large heat sink is actually 2 smaller ones joined together. I was thinking weld but I found out that it's glue. First step is to reinforce it so it doesn't come appart as I'm modding it or during driving. Got 8 holes drilled and tapped for a 3/4" aluminum L from home depo. (Didn't have to buy it, had it laying around the house from other projects) Phone was dead last night, and charging now. Should have some pics tomorrow.

04-29-2012, 06:25 PM	#11 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	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

04-30-2012, 10:48 AM	#12 (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.

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