Oil Cooler Choices

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Soak_n_Fused

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Ok so this was brought up in another thread of mine.

i currently have and air to oil cooler and i think its running oil in my truck cooler than i would like for the winter

2005 f150 xlt 5.4 3v
oil tems in the winter at running temp around 170
in the summer towing hard right at 210 which is about perfect i believe
*please correct me if im wrong
A optimal oil temp is 190 to 210 degrees f

before my oil cooler i was running 235 for an oil temp in the summer while towing

oil/ air cooler VS oil/water cooler

there is several types and i dont want to run the oil cold but stabilizing it around the 210 degrees would be nice

what are the pros and cons

someone was very smart to mention that oil would heat up quicker with oil to water cooler especially if in the heater core loop which totaly makes sense

i know ford has used the oil to water coolers on a few different vehicles

Lets hear those opinions

Thank you so much in advance
 
I would leave the oil cooler you have alone, and just put a cover over it during winter. You may have to adjust it, depending on temperature changes.
 
It is tricky to use "ideal oil temperature" since your oil temperatures are going to vary considerably depending on where the sender is.

It sounds like you are measuring after the oil cooler when any value for "ideal oil temperature" should be quantified; measured at the oil outlet or in the sump, but not at the inlet, which is what you are doing.
 
I assume we are talking about an engine oil cooler NOT a transmission oil cooler.

One thing I do not like about Air to Oil coolers are the hoses carrying your engines life blood.
I have had them burst in the past, and it really spoils your day!

I really don't see a downside to a Oil to Coolant heat exchanger.
 
Originally Posted By: expat
I assume we are talking about an engine oil cooler NOT a transmission oil cooler.

One thing I do not like about Air to Oil coolers are the hoses carrying your engines life blood.
I have had them burst in the past, and it really spoils your day!

I really don't see a downside to a Oil to Coolant heat exchanger.


Problem is, many of them use external hoses themselves.

The sandwich types are just as prone to leaking at their seals as the external types are to leaking at their hoses.
 
I also do not like the hoses carrying my oil all over

Its on a thermostat 160 is partial Flo
180 full oil flow

Also I believe the factory oil temp sensor is in the oil pan
 
Honestly, the 235* you started with before the cooler isn't too bad. I usually don't start to worry until a motor is seeing 240+ sustained oil temp or 250 - 260 in bursts, provided it's maintaining adequate oil pressure.

But being that you already have a cooler on there, I'd say the easiest thing to do would be to put a thermostat like one of these in line: http://www.improvedracing.com/oiling-system/oil-thermostats-c-3_34.html

They've got both a 203* and a 215* thermostat on that page. Either should work well. It'll probably sit right around that thermostat temp in the winter, and you'll probably see about 10* over that when working it hard in the summer.
 
Originally Posted By: Soak_n_Fused
before my oil cooler i was running 235 for an oil temp in the summer while towing


There's no problem here -- certainly not one that necessitated an oil cooler installation.
 
The oil cooler has a thermostat 160 it opens 180 it runs wide open

So would you recommend a 5w30 and lose the oil cooler

The temp questions are why I'm asking about the oil to water cooler it would help oil warm quicker at the same rate as the coolant

AND keep it just a slight bit cooler
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: expat
I assume we are talking about an engine oil cooler NOT a transmission oil cooler.

One thing I do not like about Air to Oil coolers are the hoses carrying your engines life blood.
I have had them burst in the past, and it really spoils your day!

I really don't see a downside to a Oil to Coolant heat exchanger.


Problem is, many of them use external hoses themselves.

The sandwich types are just as prone to leaking at their seals as the external types are to leaking at their hoses.


I don't see any more chance of a sandwich type leaking at the seal, than an oil filter canister leaking at it's seal.
 
Your oil filter canister gets a new seal with each new filter. The sandwich cooler does not.

I'd trust a set of stainless braided hoses and race fittings over the typical sandwich cooler seal any day of the week.
 
Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Originally Posted By: Soak_n_Fused
before my oil cooler i was running 235 for an oil temp in the summer while towing


There's no problem here -- certainly not one that necessitated an oil cooler installation.


The Ford 5.4 3V is notorious for getting nasty with its phaser actuation when the oil gets into the higher temps.

When mine was too hot, it would run like garbage and sounded like glass marbles were being thrown down the intake.
 
Double wasp this is what im trying to avoid. I just replaced this motor and all the timing parts involved. what did you do to prevent this [censored]. I don't want it to happen again
 
The oil/water coolers look factory and bring the oil to temp quicker but in extreme conditions the size of your radiator is the limiting factor.
If you can deal with a slower warmup, a thermostatically controlled oil/air gives you more control over oil temps without putting any extra heat into the cooling system. I like mocal oil coolers for durability any sizing options.
 
so if they say that engine oil usually only trails motor temp by 15 degrees and im running coolant at 196 then id be right at 211 for oil temp I think right now im way to cold and covering the cooler doesn't work very well I think I might just take the cooler off?!

my max last summer was right around 225 to 230 sump temp I believe

is that ok on full synthetic
 
Originally Posted By: Soak_n_Fused
so if they say that engine oil usually only trails motor temp by 15 degrees and im running coolant at 196 then id be right at 211 for oil temp I think right now im way to cold and covering the cooler doesn't work very well I think I might just take the cooler off?!

my max last summer was right around 225 to 230 sump temp I believe

is that ok on full synthetic


As long as the motor is holding good oil pressure and sounds happy, 230* wouldn't worry me at all on a good full syn.
 
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