Oil Cooler and radiator

[Hansh]

I am replacing the radiator, and oil cooler, along with a new engine. I can get a new radiator with the oil cooler line fittings. Can I run the oil lines to the oil cooler in the radiator and then to the external cooler? Which line on the block is out and which is in? Any problem with doing this? I searched but did not find anything specific on this subject. If there is another thread on the subject please guide me there. I would feel that more cooling is better.

[JohnC]

The Cooler in the radiator is for the trans, not the engine oil. The tubing isn't big enough for the engine oil.

[Hubert]

Hmmmmm.....

Just being devils advicate. Our Engine oil cooler is mfg by long mfg. Then its sold as Tru cool and B&M sell it too. B&M sell it as a tranny cooler and its the exact same thing except the connection threads!

What size are the fittings for the radiator? The oil cooler lines on the earlier trucks were 3/8 I believe. Maybe if the radiator is at least this size it may work ok. But I think they are smaller and that will add restriction from piping losses.

And you are adding heat to radiator not sure if thats good. Its not big enough to cool the coolant as it is.

[Hansh]

The radiator has 4 fitting, 2 on the passenger side and 2 on the driver side. The manufacturer spec book calls two of them "engine oil cooler", I have not tried a fitting in there yet but they look about the same as the external cooler. This is a new Al. core radiator, with plastic tanks.

FYI. Found this at the SEMA website while doing research on engine oil coolers.

"Q: Lowell from Napa, CA writes: I'm purchasing an AC Cobra Replica that comes with an "original type/style" oil cooler. I plan on running an Automatic AOD Ford transmission. I know that most cars with automatic transmissions have a cooler built into the radiator. Can I use the supplied oil cooler to cool the transmission, and if not, what is the difference between a transmission cooler and a oil cooler?Can they ever be interchanged? Or should I be looking for a custom radiator with the tranny cooler built in?

A: Technical support person Vickie from Hayden Automotive (1241 Old Temescal Rd., #101, Corona CA, 91719, 909-736-2665, www.haydenauto.com) (http://www.haydenauto.com)) had some solid information to share about oil coolers. First, you do not want to use the engine oil cooler for transmission cooling as the line pressure from the transmission is quite a bit higher than engine oil pressure. This could lead to a big oily disaster as you might guess. That is the big difference between them, pressure tolerances. Engine oil pressure should never see more than 80 psi in a street car, while the transmission oil pressure will exceeded 150 psi pretty regularly.

Our advice is to use the engine oil cooler for engine oil, and add an auxiliary transmission cooler to take car of the transmissions needs. Vickie advised that a small fan for the oil coolers (engine and transmission) is a good dose of extra protection you should consider. The new high-efficiency transmission oil coolers are quite compact, easy to install, and can extend transmission life greatly, giving you no excuse not to use one.

[ 06-19-2005, 06:17 AM: Message edited by: HH ]