My Speedster Takes a Hit

A hit of horsepower from a Bitch'n new 76 X 94 Stroked engine. Talking to Corey Yesterday got me psyched so I pulled an all nighter to finish.

I had that pit in my gut for about 20 minutes drving, until I mistakenly poped the clutch and layed a nice scratch. I smiled and said, yeah your a naughty little girl aren't you.

I ran an external oil cooler underneath the rear driver wheel well. She is running at a cool 180 - 200 (Have not run her hard yet. I Plan to run her on teh freeway in the morning we will see).

A Question:
With an external cooler, do you add more oil? It seems to me that when you add more hose and a large cooler, it can hold more oil. If so, how much oil on an 8 pass cooler?

On to the transmission. Having a hardtime with 3rd gear.

Todd -

Stay the course and ye shall soon enjoy the fruits of your labor -AARRGHH! A fine Speedster eating up the asphalt and motoring down the road!

add enough oil so the dipstick measures correctly. ;)

I went through the same thought process on my 16v vw

edit: make sure it isnt higher than your block - or you will need check valves to keep it from flowing back into the your block

Paul wrote: "edit: make sure it isnt higher than your block - or you will need check valves to keep it from flowing back into the your block"

Not true. Mine is mounted well above the block in the driver's wheel well, has absolutely no check valves and NEVER drains back into the block. It is mounted such that the hoses enter/exit horizontally on the front of the cooler, go through 90 degree fittings, down to the bottom of the cooler assy. and back to the flilter or block.

Had it in there for three years, now, and, once the system is filled, all you change for the oil is that in the block (as that in the cooler won't drain, because it's vacuum-bound, remember?). I have a 16-pass DeRale, along with about 7 feet of hoses connecting everything together. All of that takes just under 1 Qt. to fill it, and with a slightly larger sump, the case takes another 4.75 Qts.

Remember, all I put in when I change oil is that 4.75 Qts. for the case, and that brings it right up to the "Full" line on a stock VW dipstick. BTW: when I drain the oil from the case, it slows to a drip in less than 5 minutes and then stops, indicating that the cooler isn't draining.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen any oil flow check valves in any of the Speedsters I've recently looked at. Maybe a temperature-activated flow valve once in a while, and not even many of those, either....

gn

once it is running it is a vacuum system, but when it's sitting, there is nothing stopping the oil from flowing (it is a liquid) back to the lowest point in the system.

I took her down the freeway today. I had it crusing at 75 and had plenty of power to speed up if necessary. I'm really happpy with the final result. It really completes the car and gives me a good piece of mind.

Not worried about the position of the cooler. The external cooler is level with the block (maybe a bit below). My Mistake, Mine is a 16 Pass DeRale with 6 feet of hose. Did you mount it under the left rear tire? It may have been your article I read that showed me how ti install it. Either way, it runs really really cool. I honestly don't think it went over 180 all day.


Todd

Paul:

I disagree. it's like a straw full of liquid with your finger over the end. Nothng flows until your finger is removed. Same thing with the oil gallery in the case. It just holds it there.

If it were to flow out (which it doesn't) I would ALWAYS have an extremely high dipstick reading whenever I turn off the engine (so would everyone else with one mounted above the tranny level). I simply don't. Not in a few minutes, not even a few minutes ago when I checked it after it's been sitting, unstarted, for over three weeks.

Whenever it's been turned off for more than five minutes, it always shows just to the "Full" line, or less (if it's been a while since I filled it, it might be down 1/4 qt. or so over time).

Who told you it would drain down? Mine is mounted high up in the wheel well, is well over the mid-line of the engine and never drains unless I pull the hoses off their farther connections.

I agree....it's not going to drain down.