Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: bikinilust
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
BTW ... it's technically an "oil cooler".
Notice how I put the word WARMER in parenthesis....
I personally do not consider it an oil "cooler" because coolant at about 195 Degrees farenheit does not do much for oil cooling, opposed to coolant increasing in temperature helping warm oil during a cold start. I consider it an emmissions feature because the sooner the engine warms up, the sooner the piston rings and cylinder walls will expand and create optimum compression, the lower the cold start emmissions....
So yes, they do call it an oil cooler, but I call it an oil warmer.
Yes, it does help to "warm up" the oil during a cold start, but it's main function is to keep the oil cool.
They are really oil coolers, because if you run an engine hard for a long time
the oil temperature will go well above the coolant temperature - like in the neighborhood of 250+ deg F ... so coolant at 195 deg F is used to cool the oil back down to near 195 deg F. You wouldn't really want to cool oil lower than that anyway, as then all the condensation wouldn't ever get burned off.
The exact same device comes on many Harley Davidsons for this reason. Air-oil coolers are not necessary and only add to the cost of the car.