Oil Cooler bypass to fix overcooling in winter months
 

I am running a Setrab oil cooler core with a Mocal thermostatic plate (Maximal Performance kit). My car is also turbo charged. In Indiana weather below 60F it takes an extremely long time to get my oil in a descent operating range 180F+ to actually enjoy the car. I don't really want to completely pull the oil cooler kit each winter. Fortunately the car is somewhat of a garage queen and doesn't get out much once the roads get salted here.

My best thought was disconnecting the two lines to the core and capping them and installing a bypass loop between the inlet and outlet -an fittings on the sandwich plate. Any concerns or better ideas for this issue.

I imagine I could also block the core but that will require removing the bumper and will somewhat block the intercooler and radiator.

My last car I just put two sheets of foam rubber on it and zip tied them on, and it was enough that I could get to tempurature withhout much trouble.

Sounds like your thermostat is not working properly.

If you had one of those IR temp sensors, you could determine what temp the thermostat is actuating.
Other than that, the people that do not have a T-stat cover the cooler like @Indy_FRS suggests.

Just cover it with some cardboard. Granted with snow, you probably want something more sturdy, but that's the idea.

I run a mishimoto thermostatic cooler they sell different temp t-stats for it, you might want to check if your brand does too. Warming up shouldn't be a issue it should be 95% closed until temp is reached it will never close 100% as it is designed that way to avoid air getting trapped in the system. The problem you should run into is it constantly going in and out of the temp range you want to remain in, not taking a long time to heat up. good luck

Good point, I'll definitively look into troubleshooting whether it is stuck open or not. I do have an IR laser temp gun between that and my oil temperature read out hopefully I can make a conclusion whether it is working.

Even with a functioning thermostat, it will take noticeably longer to warm up. Like others said, just cover it with something.

Yep, like ol @P@ul suggested, just cover up the core.

Back in the day, when we had very large radiators (which by their large size did most of the cooling), because they weren't shrouded, it was common to slip a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator, so the engine would warm up.

I had an MGB in CT that I drove for several winters, that had an oil cooler up front, that I used to duck tape over in the winter time.


humfrz

If 95% of the oil in the cooler is not flowing then 95% of the problem is not the oil cooler because only 5% is going through and it would have to be artic temp to even remotely effect it like -50. You can try to cover the oil cooler but I would be shocked if that worked. If no results happened try the radiator by covering it with cardboard. Don't forget to check your coolant level as that can cause it to not heat up in the winter.


ECUTEK I believe has oil temp monitor as well you can use to confirm if the oil is cycling or not.


As far as coolant is concerned if the t-stat is stuck open a bit it will cause longer warm up times, if its not stuck open it does not effect the heat up cycle because the coolant is trapped in the block with out being able to circulate just like on a oil cooler with a t-stat


What outside temps are having, that will have a effect along with oil weight.


Covering any part is not fixing the problem its circumventing the problem.


If you just had a non thermostatic and it did this then yes cover the cooler BUT this exactly why thermostatic coolers were designed to stop long warm ups

If you have a large enough oil cooler the thermostat will not be able to keep the temps up. This has been proven. We tape off all or some of the oil cooler heat exchanger when not tracking or in colder months.

But does it take awhile to warm up or does it cycle in and out?


What are the outdoor temps that start effecting this and does cooler placement have any bearing on said problem?


I think the coldest its been in san Antonio in the morning is 40degrees and mine is working fine. warms up pretty quick but it does drop in and out of optimal range a bit at hwy speeds I was just going to order a higher temp t-stat. My placement is behind fog light area. thanks

I use my licence plate in the winter months to block airflow, perfect size for the job.

I tape over mine. Still takes longer to warm up than my other car. But can't remember how long it took stock.

After 10 mins driving keep it in high rpm for a few minutes. The oil seems to retain heat for a while when I have it blocked off. Like if the oil is 80c and I run third gear on highway and get it over 100c. Then cruise in 6 temp very slowly drops 1 degree at a time but stays above 90c

My thought process was that when mine opened, the extra quart and a half that started to flow was the reason. With mine bolted up on the passenger side the extra length of the lines really increases the volume of oil needed. My car takes 8 quarts total with deep oil pan. so does it heat up like factory, no but it doesn't take a whole lot more time maybe 3 minutes as a guess.

Thanks everyone for the replys I'll try covering the core and see what kind of results I get with that. I was just trying to find a solution that didn't require me to remove the bumper an additional two times a year, although I am getting quite fast with it. The 15 row Setrab core have is definitely oversized for what I use it for.

I am also running 5w30 oil, I may start returning to 0w20 during winter months. I might have not noticed this if it wasn't for having an oil presure sender. On cold starts I'm over 100PSI for atleast 5 min of idle.

I still might just detach and plug the oil cooler lines and build a small bypass hose for the sandwich plate. Then I won't have heat the additional quart my oil cooler and hoses hold.

Due to the size of oil cooler, even in 80-90 F temps the oil temps level out at 150-160 F street driving. Last weekend on track I saw 184F Max temps without tape in 45 F ambient.
@mkivsoopra

Do some data logs then.

Even stock with no oil cooler, it takes 6-7 minutes on the highway for my oil to get up to temp. I work at the airport, so I basically leave the parking lot, have a 1 mile drive, then I'm on the highway.

@Indy_FRS as others have mentioned, cover it with a plate. I originally had my license plate on the grill but now I have it side mounted - I installed a black block off plate where the original plate mount was. Since I have a high-mounted oil cooler (JR), it basically covers the entire thing.

If you want to bypass the cooler instead of covering it, could you just detach the outlet hose from sandwich plate at the cooler and connect it to the inlet side of the SP? Then connect the hose from the outlet side of the cooler to the cooler's inlet? Hope this makes sense, it did in my head. :)

That's a good idea, however I live in a state that doesn't require front license plates therefore I have a complete intact front bumper. Also to mention I do not have access to my front tow hook where some front plates mount due to my aftermarket crash bar. I'll definately weigh my options, in all honesty the car probably won't get driven a ton until March when all the bastard road salt is removed from the road.

Stick your hands between the grill with tape. My bumper doesnt come off to tape it. I have Jackson racing oil cooler

This is what i did. Ended up removing oil cooler though but im running a bypass loop cuz didnt feel like removing sandwich plate

Look this is simple:
If you are running a thermostatic sandwich adapter plate, then it SHOULD warm up to the temp that the thermostat is set to and stay there in very cold weather.
This is not good for long term driving as you want the oil to get above 212F at least occasionally to boil off the water.

If you are running a sandwich adapter that is NOT thermostatic, then to disable it for the winter just:
Unscrew the oil filter.
Unscrew the Tstat plate and put in a ziplock bag & ziptie the plate off to the side.
Screw the filter back on.
Done.

if you do this while the oil is fairly warm, it wont dump much oil into the bag.
if you put it in, in the cold, then expect it to dump some oil out when the outside temps rise again.

I just cap my lines and remove the sandwich plate when it started to get cold and the track closed. I don't mind doing it this way as I see a thermostat as just another thing to fail or leak.

The boiling thing is a fallacy. The optimum temperature is 180-190 F. The water evaporates just fine at that temp. It doesn't need to boil which, BTW, is below 212F because the crankcase pressure is slightly below ambient pressure.

Check out my build log in signature, I had my plate drilled in the grill and not the bumper. The holes are barely noticeable and I even run the plate during summer because I like to DD as close to 200F as possible. When I get to the track, I remove :)

PV=nRT, yo.

Man, all I do is remove the thermostat all together from my Mishimoto plate as it is a normally open setup the lets most of the oil bypass the cooler, but when it gets hot it closes and that forces the oil through the core and around to the other side. It still takes up a little space in the bypass area, so I removed it all together for max bypass flow. The coldest my car has seen so far this year is -20C and it warms up fine.