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Old 10-27-2010, 08:59 PM
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Default Plate Oil Coolers

I am considering upgrading my oil cooling system on my 598ci N/A 750hp engine from a 3"x18" tube style cooler to either a 13 or 15 plate cooler. I realize that this may sound like overkill for something that is relatively mild as far as HP goes.

The tube cooler just isnt up to the task of controlling temps. I have all -12AN Aeroquip fittings and lines, counter flowing to the water, and a Canton 215º oil thermostat. Open crossover with no restrictor or thermostat. Great oil pressure, 80psi anywhere from 3500rpm to 6000rpm running 20w-50 Valvoline VV851. Great water pressure, 20psi at WOT. The thermostat works wonderfully, keeping my temps at 220-240ºF anywhere from 3000rpm to 5000rpm.

The problem is that when i am really hammering on it, like over 5000rpm, the temps climb to 270+ºF and dont show any signs of slowing down, I just chicken out and back off. The temps do come back down quickly once at cruise rpm again. I dont know if they would continue to climb, but I think they would. It is a Merlin III block, so it does not have a bypass to plug.

I want to be able to hammer in it WOT and not have the temps get much over 225-230º. In other words, I want WAAYYY too much cooler and rely on the thermostat to control the temps.

I dont see many people running plate coolers, as it seems the tube style are much more popular, and wonder why that is. I know they are more efficient, and somewhat pricey, but they dont really take up that much more room. Thoughts??
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Old 10-27-2010, 10:45 PM
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I am surprised that your 3 x 18 is not enough. I generally use a 6 x 20, but I have used it on quite a bit larger than 750 hp. Where are you reading your oil temp?
I really wonder if the thermostat is not opening all the way. It may continuously send some oil around the cooler and just to the filter. Like I said, that cooler should be enough. I am not familiar with the Canton thermostat. I use the Hardin thermo-filter and it works great. It's pricey, but worth it.
They also have a remote mount plate cooler. The 13 plate will be more than enough for what you have. They have one that is made to go on the top of the bell housing. It is a really slick setup.
Eddie
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Old 10-27-2010, 10:52 PM
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What size pan do you have? I'd try to run without the oil stat and see what happens before ditching the tube cooler.
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Old 10-27-2010, 11:01 PM
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I'm having the same exact problem. Right now I'm figuring that like Youmg asked it's where the temp is being read at, which at the moment is at the dual filter mount after the oil leaves the engine. Since I'm changing the pans this winter anyway for more capacity I'm going to relocate the sender to the pan figuring that this is where the oil going into the engine is and where the temp matters most. Am I correct in this? I don't believe that if the oil was so hot it would cool down so quickly. Mine have hit 300* and I too have clucked and backed out to be on the safe side.
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Old 10-27-2010, 11:03 PM
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This is the thermostat I am using. Like I said, from what I can tell it is working great, I can actually see it opening and closing by small fluctuations in the temp gauge while cruising.
http://www.cantonracingproducts.com/...ion&key=22-480

I just installed it when I had the engine rebuilt last winter, prior to that I had no way to control oil or water temps and they were always too low. I had to cruise at 4500rpm just to get 220º oil temps. But even with no thermostat, the temps would still climb to over 270º in a short time while at WOT. I dislike oil getting that hot. It is difficult with the Livorsi gauge to read exact temps, as they have a very large gradient.

I am reading oil temps from the remote filter mount, although I am not sure if it is pre-cooler or after the cooler, I will have to check out the direction of flow.

It is a 10qt pan.
Thanks Eddie
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Old 10-27-2010, 11:20 PM
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I've heard that it should be read from the pans but few pans have provisions for a sender. I would like to hear back from a few of the builders on that. I'm switching to 14qt pans since on several occasions I have noticed that during a few extended high rpm runs that the oil pressure had a few fluctuations while the boat was riding up and down wakes and such. Thinking oil isn't draining back to the pans fast enough and need some more capicity?
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Old 10-28-2010, 06:00 AM
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Philm, you should verify you do not have a lean condition at WOT. That will build oil temp fast. Also a 215f stat is too hot in my book. 180-190f would be better and gives you more room to run if you do build heat over extended wot (which you will).

My.02 on where to measure is you want the hotest temps the oil is seeing. What you are guarding against is over temping the oil which causes it to loose its intended properties and then causes excess wear on bearings.

BT
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Old 10-28-2010, 06:53 AM
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X2 Go a bit richer at wot. A lot of heat is transfered through the pistons to the oil.
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Old 10-28-2010, 09:26 AM
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Originally Posted by PatriYacht
X2 Go a bit richer at wot. A lot of heat is transfered through the pistons to the oil.
I agree....
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Old 10-28-2010, 09:48 AM
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20 psi of water at WOT isnt enough,,,,close to 30psi is where you need to be with the tube style coolers....you need the added psi to fill the inside cavity of the cooler... lower water psi just flows mainly in the center of the cooler and since you are running a thermostat once the temp goes up past 260-270 you it wont recover fast enough with the lower water psi....
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