Laminova Oil-Water heat exchanger

Cupcar

Has anyone installed one of these Mocal Laminova oil to water heat exchanger oil cooler units on their 370Z?

http://97.74.103.94/files/laminova.pdf

They come in 3 sizes a 90mm, which is equivalent to a 10-13 row Setrab 225 matrix cooler, a 180mm which is equal to a 16-19 row Setrab and a 330mm which equals a 25-30 row Setrab.

Oil-water heat exchanges are very efficient, my GT3 has oil-water heat exchanger and my 350 Z has one as well, but this was deleted for the 370 Z and I suspect why the 370 has issues with oil temps.

The Laminova unit would be easy to install in a radiator hose with an oil bypass plate under the oil filter and running oil lines to the Laminova. No thermostat required and the oil is both warmed and cooled by the unit.

ChrisSlicks

The Australian and Middle-East spec cars get a smaller version of an oil to water cooler mounted to the oil filter fitting. They do work, they are effecient but have to be properly sized and the water cooling system may need upgrades to compensate for the extra heat load. The cheapest effective solution is still an air to oil cooler.

__________________
Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

SE

I was actually thinking about installing one, however since I already have an oil cooler we would most likely be installing one with an in-line thermostat using the existing Setrab cooler as a secondary.

ChrisSlicks

Definitely wouldn't hurt to have both. Even with the giant oil cooler I have I have hit 270F on track, water temp never went above 210F.

__________________
Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

ChipsWithDips

Bringing this thread back from the dead because I've been looking into the possibility of a Laminova lately.

Here's some links. Link in OP is not working for me
Laminova Catalog PDF
Cheapest online store I found for 43mmx330mm version

I like this idea compared to air based coolers since it:
- brings oil up to operating temperature faster
- doesn't require extra thermostat
- takes up less space
- weighs less supposedly (haven't seen numbers on this)
- no added obstructions to front grille
- maybe cool oil better than air cooler, if radiator is sufficient
- probably could be accomplished with less hose/fittings overall compared to air coolers?

Basically to me it feels like a more elegant solution to oil cooling overall.

Only real disadvantage would be if it ends up putting in more heat than the radiator can handle. I have a feeling that if you are staying NA then that shouldn't really be an issue. It's hard to estimate just how much more heat you this will require the radiator to remove though.

The main thing I'm wondering about right now is how you would install such a thing. For the oil line a regular oil filter sandwich plate adapter should be fine I think. But where you would tap into the coolant?

I know some 350Zs have OEM oil-to-coolant coolers right under the filter. I've seen there is an extra nipple on their thermostat housing, but where does the other end of the coolant go.
I wonder if a 350Z thermostat housing will drop in to 370z so we could use that extra nipple? Or maybe the stock one could be tapped for this. This nipple is not particularly large, so whether it flows enough for cooling under high load is questionable.

Or would you just replace one of the hoses going to/from the radiator? I would think it would be nicer to put it somewhere where the coolant flows through it even when the thermostat is closed, but not sure if that really matters.

Another possibility could be to put it in line with the heater core hoses. Not sure how much flow that gets either.

Also, would the orientation of the cooler matter at all? Does it matter if the coolant or oil flows horizontal or vertical? Or can you basically mount it any way that fits?

cossie1600

Air-cooled oil coolers are way more effective than water based oil coolers. Coolant runs between 180F-210F, it would take forever to cool down your oil with coolant that warm. At the cost of $400, you are basically half way to a real oil cooler. Also the thought of a giant heat sink inside the engine bay is just plain stupid.

roy'sz

i agree cossie, 400 would get you a 19row and an added 150 gets a 25 with the mocal plate. The car would have a lot of heat with a cross flow cooler like that. There is a reason why nissan didn't have that in their car.

ChrisSlicks

If it works for the AM Performance Grand AM car I don't see why it wouldn't work for a standard track car. Granted AM has a uprated radiator, but we're not driving 3 hour races either.

__________________
Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

ChipsWithDips

Yeah exactly what I'm thinking. I've read a couple people mention that AM performance is using a liquid cooler, but couldn't find any other information on it. Where are people getting the info? They've just seen the vehicles in person? Is there any pics or explanation online anywhere of their setup?

cossie1600

Unless you plan to remove safety features and bits and pieces of the engine, not sure where you are going to have room. Water=weight too. I am not saying they don't work, but pretty useless on a street car.

ChrisSlicks

I don't think the added volume is that significant, the unit itself is fairly small. Granted the plumbing is a little tricky given that it is inline with radiator hoses.

__________________
Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

ChipsWithDips

Here's a couple pictures I found of the AM Performance setup, from their website's media page.



They are using a C&R Racing heat exchangers.
I'm guessing it's an 18 row version just by eyeballing it and comparing to the dimension spec sheet

memorylasts

Subscribed!

__________________
somewhat-journal-thingy

MattP725

Sounds promising. Could def help with over cooling. Right now I am idling at 160ish w my cooler. Makes me nervous and I'll have to fab a block off plate.

roy'sz

just get a mocal plate and go online to get the fittings from BAT in florida. They do the direct double male adapters for the mocal thermo adapter. cost 20bucks for fittings and 90 for the adapter.