Oil and PS cooler questions

[carbuff]

I have a few questions regarding my cooling solutions. I searched and read some older threads, but I didn't find the exact answers which I'm looking for.

First, the oil cooler. I have the Mocal thermostat with the -10AN fittings, and a PRC oil cooler which I'll mount in front of the radiator. After reading some older threads, I might have considered an oil cooler built into the radiator itself, but I have what I have now. :)

I also have the Champ oil filter adapter to mount the filter in the stock location. So I will only be running lines from the thermostat to the cooler.

Now to the questions. First, I've seen people talking about using a ball-valve to disable the flow to the cooler on non-track days. Has anyone actually done this? If so, where do you tap into your lines? I was thinking I would do is in the line RETURNING from the cooler, if for no other good reason than to keep the cooler full of oil rather than having the system drain fluid from the cooler when the valve is closed (thus taking longer to refill it).

Next, and related... How do you 'prime' these systems, with an LS engine? Without the ability to remove a distributor and do the 'drill prime' method, am I stuck with just spinning the motor to pump oil around? I don't really like that idea... :(

And when you change the oil, do you also remove the fittings from the cooler to drain the lines and the cooler, to get all of the oil out?

Does anyone see a concern with using the stock filter? I bought one the other day, and it's pretty small...

Finally, where is everyone picking up the oil temperature from? Do you use a sensor in the pan, or in a line somewhere? If in a line, I presume that would be after the cooler?

Now to the PS cooler. I purchased one from Derale the other day.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Derale/259/13309/10002/-1

It's a little smaller than I expected (5" x 8"), but will pretty easy to fit in front of the radiator. Given that my goal is more track days and less auto-x, I'm not quite as worried about the hardcore cooling. But at the same time, I am in central Texas, and it gets pretty warm here.

Does this seem inline with what others are using? I plan to run the cooler in the return line going back to the pump.

Appreciate any insights!

[FETorino]

I would run a plate style cooler for the PS similar to this.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Earls/361/21000/10002/-1?parentProductId=1675460#moreDetails

For the ball valve I'd run one of the C&R oil filter adapters with a built in valve. In fact I plan to run one. $70 to $90 on fleabag. They also have a port for an oil temp sender.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll306/superjinca/filter.jpg

[71RS/SS396]

Since you have the Mocal, I don't see any point in shutting off the cooler with a valve. I'm going to the Mocal and had it machined to accept my temp and pressue senders since that is where it's located on the Lingenfelter cooler block I currently have. Unless you have a seperate pump you can connect to the oil port at the lower left front of the block, spinning it over on the starter is the only way to prime it, don't pre fill your oil filter I've had the oiling system air lock on a new engine doing this.

[carbuff]

Eric and I discovered today that the combination of the Mocal thermostat, Champ oil pan adapter, and JRS Tri-Y headers is not going to work. :( It seems that the tri-y headers are tucked closely to the block, which is good for clearance, but bad for my thermostat.

So I'm back to trying to find a good solution here. I may have to go with something like JCG's remove filter adapter (if I can) to mount a remote filter, but that also means I'll need a remote thermostat.

Very disappointing, that Mocal is a nice setup! If I can't find a good alternative, we may consider cutting and rebuilding the tube of the header which is in the way. Of course, the headers are already coated, so that's not a great option either...

[Vegas69]

I researched oil thermostats and found the Earl's stat to bypass the least amount of oil. The mocal bypasses constantly and every t stat should because a cooler full of cold oil that is suddenly shocked by hot oil could lead to catastrophic consequences. The problem is creates is over cooling. That's where OEM engineering kills it. How big does the cooler need to be, how much air flow, in what conditons? You get the point. It's a guessing game until you throw money and experience at it.

I can tell you now, you will likely need to devise an air shroud for your oil cooler. If I kept Payback, I was going to develop a shroud for daily driving and cool weather driving even with the low flow stat. I found the in radiator oil cooler to be insufficient on the road course only. But, the cooler needed was to big for loping around. Again, engineering...

I'm not sure I would advise a ball valve due to thermal shock. Plumb it and see where the cards fall. If it over cools, build a shroud. If it isn't sufficient, increase the air flow or cooler size.

Good luck....