Looking for info on installing oil cooler

"I want to use the welded/balanced fan, but if I do eliminate the doghouse cooler, I don

There used to be VW oil heater kits advertised in the VW rags a while back. The coolers/heaters mounted back in the parcel shelf area of the bug and could be moved outside in the summer for cooling and inside in the winter for heat. Sounded like a good idea at the time..

Brian

Ron,

"If I do away with the doghouse cooler, the oil should heat quickly in the winter, and give me decent heat"- previous post.

I want to eliminate the doghouse cooler. Various systems (your 911 shroud included) don't have them and get by on a remote cooler. I want to do that only with a 36hp-style shroud- and here's why: When its cold out, there is a LOT of cold air dumping over the doghouse oil cooler all the time. Even with a thermostat set-up, the air is still going over the cooler (unless I'm mistaken- I've never actually seen a thermostat set-up, only looked at pictures). Below 30 deg F (or so) the oil never heats up enough to provide any substantial heat to be scavanged by a "heater coil" in the cabin. If I remove the doghouse cooler, I don't need a doghouse shroud. But I already have the wider welded/balanced fan, etc...

Now I get it.
Ron

Stan
On mine there is an air inlet for the doghouse cooler where the air inlet is to the fan. It's sort of a wide slit and a channel follows around the air inlet over to the d-house cooler. I'd think you could weld (or plug) this inlet and block air to the stock cooler area. I believe the second oil pressure relief valve, sort of under the cooler, bypasses most of the oil intended for cooler when the oil is cold. Would think this would facilitate oil warm up....but I've been wrong before. How 'bout it more knowledgable people?
Bill

Here's acouple more pictures of the cooler in the front of my car. The RX7 unit fits like it was meant to.

Brian

When installing a thermostatic oil cooler fan switch, do you want to mount it before or after the cooler? If you mount it before the cooler, it will try to keep the engine oil coming out of the engine to 180. If you mount it after the cooler, it will try to keep the engine oil going into the engine to 180, and it will come out of the engine much hotter. What is better?
Ron

Ron L: Think of it this way: Do you want the oil thermostat to keep an even temperature in the engine.......or in the cooler? I would vote for the engine and make the cooler work to keep the engine temp where I want it, rather than have a set temp out of the cooler and let the engine temp run free.

Since we're on this thread, I have a Derale cooler that I can just squeeze up in the area above the transmission (similar location to Ron O's (sadly departed) IM). I also have a BIG Melling oil pump that is too tall to allow a top-mounted oil fitting, so I know I'll be changing out the pump to install a cooler/filter.

Now the questions:

1. What should I get for an oil pump that would replace my Melling, block off the normal pump outlet AND allow for an oil discharge fitting off the top of the pump?

2. Anybody using the Gene Berg full flow filter/cooler kit? I know it is probably expensive, but I've always had good luck with Berg stuff and it looks well thought out so it's probably worth the money - besides, I would get the entire kit: pump, filter and lines included, along with instructions for drilling/tapping the oil gallery. All I would have to add are the lines to/from the cooler. If anyone is running the Berg kit, does it conveniently fit a Speedster layout?

3. Anybody drilled/tap'd for the return line to the oil gallery with the engine still in the car? How did you keep the chips out?

Thanks, gordon

Hey Gordon, while you're spending money at Bergs why not get their 3 quart sump? I put one on my 'now departed' 84IM. They're VERY well made and super-strong. The total oil capacity of the motor and externals ended up being just over 6 quarts. I've never regretted buying from Berg.
Ron

My oil flows from the engine to the oil bypass thermostat to the fan thermo switch and on to the cooler. When it reaches 180, the bypass sends it to the fan thermo, turning on the fan, and on to the cooler. From then on the temp gauge stays put.(at about 200). I have no cooler in the shroud. It gets me that it takes as long as 20 minutes to actually get up to running temp. and the fan pilot light comes on.

BD

RonO: How do the add on sumps affect ground clearance? No chance of hitting it on a speed bump or something?

BD

Yeah, just how DO you get over speed bumps, anyway???? I suppose they're not a threat if you take them straight on - it's the angle of attack that gets you........

Actually, I thought about the 3 quart "BIG GUSHER" Berg sump for my car way back when, but thought it would hang a bit too low for my liking, especially with what's inside it potentially leaking out after a hit, so I went for the Berg "little gusher" 1.5 quart sump instead. I also sized and then brazed the pick-up extension on to the existing pickup - just habit from the old days, I guess.

Been happy with the 1.5 quart, and getting too old to rev high enough (afraid of having to rebuild the engine after it blows) or corner hard enough - after a couple of earlier car accidents I might black out over 2 G's of cornering force ;) - to need anything bigger.

Bill D: Not surprised that it takes that long to get up to temp. Even with all the stock cooling stuff on my engine, if I leave the house and quickly get on a highway and run 65mph plus, at 70 degrees ambient it takes over 15 minutes to get up to 200 degrees oil temp. Made a Home Depot run yesterday (about 15 minutes one-way) and it was just hovering at 195 when I got back to the house (at Sea level, so I tend to run a bit cooler than other places).

Guys, I don't know if anyone is interested but I just posted some pics in my file of the remote oil filter, the Mocal thermostat, and the remote oil cooler with fan. Sorry this took so long, but I just got a new digi. with my Dell and am testing it out. Hope you enjoy. Eddie

Does the cooler on the oil filter actually do anything??? I have wondered it those were a scam or if they help at all. Where did you put your fan??? Its hard to tell from the picture.

Hey, I put one in the fridge and then put it around my can of cold beer. It kept my beer cold. Now, if I put the cooling collar in the fridge and put it around a hot beer would it cool it and, more importantly, keep it cool? I'll just have to practice...more beer please.
Ron

Steve, the add claims 12% reduction in oil temp, but I have not tested it back to back. I figure I'll take the 12% if it works and combine it with the piece of mind it gives me knowing that a rock from the spinning tire just in front of that filter is not going to perferate that puppy and drop all my oil before I can shut her down. Worth it for me. 35$
The fan is mounted the same place all Vintage coolers are mounted above the transaxle, on the back of the rear seat back. Eddie

Just an interesting side note on installing an oil cooler. If you get your power for the fan from the coil, the engine continues to run for a few seconds after you shut the car off. This is because an electric motor becomes a generator once it is free spinning. When you turn off the key the fan motor becomes a generator and powers the coil for a few seconds until it slows down a bit. The benefit is when you shut the car off you can tell if the car was hot enough to run the fan or not.
Ron

It was only 45-50 degress today I ran the car at 90 for about 20 minutes and got it up to 215, but as soon as I got off on the exit ramp it cooled back down to 200. I don't think I'll do any more cooling projects, because I feel I have it perfect right now.


Thanks to everyone for all the help!!!! It is running great and I drive it everyday unless it is going to rain all day which hasn't happened yet. Everything is going so good its starting to scare me.

I have my cooler setup behind the wheel well with the Derale 16 pass cooler. Warning to anyone who reads this later the part number refrenced above was the 8 pass and it will work, but not as perfect as the 16 pass. I ran electricity off the coil and it doesn't continue running after I shut off the key?? But I do turn the key back on afterwords and I can hear it running then.

Steve:

Congratulations! Always nice to hear of a project that yields successful results!

gn

Oh, Yeah........

How about some pictures?

Steven, where the hell can you drive at 90 mph for 20 minutes? I want to move there.
Ron

Ron,

Welcome to the midwest. There's a reason we live out here on the great plains. It's not because we love winter.

And it is so flat, you can watch yer dog runaway for three days!

Stan,

When I spent most of my life in the midwest I always thought it was the to die for sweet corn, you burst my bubble of sweet corn dreams, shame on you.

Bruce

Now this looks like a nice kit to mount a front cooler onto a VW. Stainless braided, cooler, adapter plate...

cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2482836808&category=9889

I am in the middle of installing an external cooler and I will post some pics as soon as I am done.