Oil Cooler - Is it really necessary?

Tractionless

My 25 row has been reduced via plate to a 19 row and will still only get up to 160*F with a termostatic plate when cold in Florida. Never seen over 210* in dead heat of summer. If you live in a cold region and not tracking I don't see any reason to get larger than a 19 row. Mine is a Setrab.

I bought used for a known good engine, surely another enthusiast would gladly help you out with actual shipping costs and not try to make additional profit as businesses do.

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Toys Not Tots

Red Voodoo

While we're on that subject, I've noticed the same characteristics with my 34-row thermostatic cooler (sans a thermo-plate). On a cool morning with 40*F - 60*F outside temps, I'll be hard pressed to get my oil gauge over 160*F when maintaining a steady speed in high gear (like on a freeway). Stop and go driving in traffic and on surface streets will usually get the temp up to near the optimal 180*F and will hold there unless I stay at an increased speed for too long, when it will begin to drop. I haven't taken the car on any spirited runs yet this year, but the highest I've seen the gauge go is about 200*F in traffic with outside temperatures in the mid-70s. At these running temperatures, I'm not concerned about over-cooling the oil, since I understand the internals of the motor can run ~75*F hotter than the sump, therefore allowing the oil to hit that critical temperature mark before falling back into the pan. Running the recommended synthetic oil with 5,000 mile change intervals will likely be sufficient unless my current driving patterns change (read: car mainly used for short trips).

Is it necessary to have an oil cooler? It's all going to come down to the use and location of the vehicle. Track and race applications seem to demand it. Extreme hot climates will likely benefit from one as well. I used to run in the 220*F - 230*F range without the cooler in a casual commute. It wasn't until I creeped over 245*F during a mountain run last summer that I even considered investing in a cooler. I'm happy with my investment.

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Tractionless

240* in Florida summer during a highway trip cruising at 80mph did it for me.

I've read +20* internally but in any event I'm still comfortable with my temps. plus as high at the 75* you mentioned. For what it's worth the ECU uses the data supplied to the OE oil temp gauge for limp mode so the engineers must be comfortable with the internal temp. delta.

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Toys Not Tots