oil cooler, fittings up or down?

harman.khinda

The instrctions from Z1 say to fill the oil cooler with fresh oil, to prevent a dry start scenario. Modshacks DIY suggests to install the core with fittings facing down so all the oil can be completly drained.

If I install the core, fittings down the oil cooler will have to be empty and might cause a dry start. Ill be able to completly drain the oil every oil change. Wont this cause a dry start every oil change?

if i install it fittings up i can prevent the dry start but will always have a quart of dirty oil in the car. this seems like the better option.

am i missing something?

370ZilverZ

I installed mine facing up. Out of the 6.5 quarts of oil in the engine, cooler and lines, I don't see the residual amout left in the cooler will be enough to be concerned with especially if you are changing on regular intervals. I also added a magnetic drain plug to make sure I capture metal shavings in the oil and not have them recirculating.

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370ZilverZ Journal

BMW Z4

harman.khinda

Yep gonna be installing magnetic drain plug, filtermag, and bigger oil filter. Id like to have the option to go extended intervals but ill have to keep regular intervals because of the dirty oil.

harman.khinda

somebody needs to do a diy for the 7AT tranny cooler.

BigT

Fittings should be mounted facing up or the side as to avoid air pockets.

http://bmracing.com/wp-bnmcont/uploa...er_techdoc.pdf

BigT

This is 100% not necessary. Think of all the cars out in the world that come with oil coolers from the factory. I have yet to hear of any requiring the oil cooler to be drained. I have owned two other cars with factory oil coolers and they did not have any requirement or recommendation to drain the coolers during oil changes or ever.

In the event that you feel an oil cooler becomes contaminated (for example, your motor blows) it is highly recommended to replace the cooler. Its really almost impossible to clean one. The oil filter does 99% of the job to keep crap out, and thats really it.

harman.khinda

thanks BigT, great info. i feel confident mounting the fittings up is the correct way.

harman.khinda

should i use a thread locker (blue) on the fittings or general purpose grease?

BigT

Liquid tephlon will work. Just don't put too much so you don't get any inside the line.

SPOHN

In requards to the dirty oil at least take the cooler off every third change.

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BigT

Wow, I keep seeing this on this board.... The probability of you getting some dust or dirt into your cooler by removing and installing it is probably higher than it ever getting dirty by always being connected.

Cleaning out the cooler is like saying you need to rebuild your motor every 3 oil changes because its dirty now.

SPOHN

Have you bumped your head? If your careless and just throw your cooler to the side and clean it off with dirty rag, roll it in the dirt while reinstall it in a windstorm that might be the case.

And then to say that's equivalent to rebuilding your motor is about the most ludacris statment I've ever heard. My recommendations are on par to what most all shops would say and have said. But who am I?

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BigT

I'm very curious to know which shops told you to clean out your oil cooler so please do share.

And, I still don't understand the logic. How will the oil cooler get dirty and not the rest of the parts in the motor? Is the oil cooler a filter? Will it get clogged up? I'd think the bearings in the motor will spin before a row in a cooler gets clogged. I'm pretty sure most oil adapter plates direct the oil through the oil filter first, before sending into the cooler and thus, filtered oil is always entering. If the cooler is clean from the get go (brand new) then you will never ever have a problem. If for whatever reason you feel your cooler is dirty, you are supposed to replace it. If your oil is in fact getting that dirty, you're either not changing it fast enough, or you have other issues with contamination.

I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, please do not misunderstand me. I'd rather everyone really understand and put this to rest.

SPOHN

I'm not saying clean the oil cooler itself literally. Just empty out the old oil to ensure you have nothing but clean oil threw out. Which to me and others seems logically. If you leave oil in the cooler (due to the oil cooler being mounted upright and won't drain) everytime you change a small portion will have remained after being threw many cycles thus it's best to have fresh clean oil (100%) changed ever so often. Not much different than flushing your brake system. Wouldn't you agree?

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BigT

Eh, I see you're point to a certain extent. But, brake systems do not have filters and change intervals as often as engines do. Like I've said constantly before, there are many cars out in this world that have factory air/air oil coolers. However, not one single manufacturer requires the residual oil to be flushed out during oil changes. Trust me, I've looked. I've been on google for the last 30 minutes searching for something. (if anyone does find something, please post it)

Then again, its your car. Do whatever makes you happy I guess. If I had to put my best educated guess on it, I would replace the oil cooler entirely with every engine rebuild in a race car (race engines typically last 1 season) and every 50,000 miles on a street driven car.