Which Type of Oil Cooler Thermostat?

[madjohnny]

Can anyone tell me the pro's and cons of having the thermostat in the sandwich plate as opposed to an in-line type?

I would imagine the sandwich plate variant will be thicker/deeper possibly giving clearance issues but involves more expensive Aeroquip style connectors, 4 extra @ £20 a throw, plus the extra for the in-line thermostat up and above the sandwich plate type.

[wilf]

My sandwich plate with t'stat is the same thickness as one without.

I did do some work on it with a die grinder to improve the flow capacity of the oilways - recommend you do the same.

Less connectors by going the sandwich plate route.

[madjohnny]

Wilf, price is the main concern, if there's no real advantage can't see the point in paying an extra £100 or so.

I'm sure I can "WASTE" that easily elsewhere!!

[mylesdw]

Originally Posted by madjohnny

Wilf, price is the main concern, if there's no real advantage can't see the point in paying an extra £100 or so.

I'm sure I can "WASTE" that easily elsewhere!!

Do you really need the expensive Aeroquip style hose ends? The normal plated steel ones from you local hydraulics shop are a fraction of the cost.

[madjohnny]

The trouble is the blue & red aeroquip ones look the mutz nutz which sways me every time.

Budgets well & truly blown anyway!!

[route66]

Purely from a practical point of view, I agree with Myles, go with proper hydraulic fittings.

My first oil cooler pipework arrangement had shiny blue fittings with Aeroquip style ends. They lasted about 3 years before being binned. Driving back from Stoneleigh in convoy about 2 years ago, one of the cars behind me passed by, frantically flagging me down. His car had oil all over the front end - sprayed out from my car as one of the oil cooler pipework fittings had started to leak at the pipe where it pushed over the fitting.

The spraying oil mist exited under the car and past the offside front wheel arch - I had no idea it was happening. The oil contaminated the brake pads, rendering them useless - the car pulled heavily to one side under braking when I slowed down.

I did a hasty repair, drove home and ripped the hoses out, replacing them with 200 bar hydraulic hose and proper machine swaged plated steel ends - a proper job.

As I see it, my fuel pressure is about 7 psi, however, the oil pressure is about 70 psi. If the hoses start to leak, the first I'll know about it is my oil light comes on and the sump has been pumped down the road - shortly followed by big end failure.

Steve

[mylesdw]

Steve: I'm surprised that the hose failed like that. The Aeroquip stuff is expensive but I never had any doubts about the quality. Was it a 'real' hose end or one of those decorative ones that hides a jubilee clip?

I went for steel fitting because they are cheaper and because on the Cobra I prefer a 'retro' look. Sometimes adapters are only available in blue or red but I discovered the other day that you can get rid of the colour by heating them up.

[wilf]

Originally Posted by madjohnny

Wilf, price is the main concern, if there's no real advantage can't see the point in paying an extra £100 or so.

I'm sure I can "WASTE" that easily elsewhere!!

Johnny - I must be missing something.

You need a sandwich plate anyway if you are going to use an oil cooler.

If you are going to use an oil cooler, an oil thermostat is a must. The additional cost of the sandwich plate with integral oil 'stat is far less than the additional cost of an separate oil thermostat and the additional hose end couplings that entails.

Tell me what I missed?

[porkypanther]

Oil lines should really be of the braided stainless variety rather than the push on with jubilee clip rubber type. I think all rubber degrades in oil over time. The braided ones are lined with PTFE rather than rubber.
cheers

[richc]

Just a quick question to those of you running oil coolers... Has anyone run an SBC (@350-375hp) without a cooler prior to fitting the cooler?

I'm not intending to install a cooler if it's not really needed. I've got an oil temp guage lined up and was intending to see how it reads before going to the expense of a cooler, especially if all it's going to do is "look cool" and run with the thermostat closed all the time

Rich