Is everyone still using these? How about on a built motor? Does it actually help cool the oil any? The coolant gets pretty hot, so I wasn't sure if it would be benificial to remove it. That and the extra weight off couldn't hurt either.

 

Trash it. It does more harm than good.

 

Really? I always wondered the same thing. Living in NY I figured it would be better off on there since it doesnt get that hot there and I had a 160 stat and the car ran about 170-180 most of the time. Now that Im in Fla. I was thinking it might actually keep the oil hotter since some days I run close to 200*. Anyone have any solid fact on this? If so I would love to get rid of all those stupid extra hoses.

 

It is a restriction in the oil flow.

 

So those of that get rid of it, do you just unhook the coolant hoses? Or are you getting rid of the entire oil cooler? Will the filter just mount right up with out it?

 

I have one on my 1994 Trans AM GT, i am droping in a 383 stroker and will be removing the oil cooler, just need the adapter pice that the oil filter screws on and some bolts. Use search to find out how to do it, it has the 2 bolt sizes and pn for the adapter. And i also agree, it restricts oil flow after awhile, espeically 11 years lol.

 

Use the existing adaptor and get the right length 1/4" allen head screws.

 

There's a small screen in the factory oil cooler that can get plugged with debris and oil strave the engine...get rid of it. I removed the oil cooler housing and lines, your oil filter will now thread right onto the block. You can buy rubber caps to block off the fittings on your waterpump and radiator.

 

I am totally not following...What are the 1/4" allen screw for?

 

To attach the existing oil filter adaptor to the block.

 

is that screen you guys are talking about replaceable? Id like to keep my oil temps low, but I dont I dont want the damn thing clogging oil flow either.

 

To give a different perspective, and the clarify, there were 2 different oil coolers used on f-bodies throughout the years...

1) used on 93-94 F-bodies, black in color, made out of steel, is a sandwich design, has the cooler lines horizontally mounted to the cooler. Internally it is a high-flow design, suitable for any weight oil. This design is much harder to plug up and has a greater surface area for the oil to make it through the cooler. Manufactured under OEM by Moroso for GM.

2) used on 95-97 F-bodies, bright raw aluminum, made out of cast aluminum with a 'radiator like' finned core, cooler lines mount vertically to the cooler. Internally it is a much more restrictive design and should only be used with 0-5 weight oil. This design is HIGHLY susceptable to clogging and there is no possible way to clean it once it does clog. I believe these may be OEM'd by SLP for GM, but don't quote me on that.

Now out of the 2 designs, IMHO, 1 is a keeper and 2 should be removed the minute you notice it on the car... Cooler #2 is much, much more likely to clog, is ever more likely to cause spun bearings and is a complete throw-away design with less than 1/4 the 'cooling area' the other design offers.

Cooler #1 is more like a oil temp 'stabilizer' than a honest to goodness cooler, as it warms the oil up quicker in winter and cools the oil under higher temps as much as is possible with a 'cooler' of it's size. Thus your oil will stay closer to coolent temps than is possible if you didn't have one. This design can also be cleaned succesfully with larger and more oil passages inside of it and has a much greater radiant surface area, even though it is made completely out of steel, with no aluminum, thus when they redesigned it for '95 they must have felt a smaller aluminum core was just as efficient.

I personally just got done retrofitting a '94 unit to my '95 T/A that has a Melling 10552 +10% volume high-pressure oil pump, and with 15w50 oil in 30 degree weather I noticed only a 4-6 psi drop of oil pressure at startup (pressure sits at 69-71psi instead of 75psi without the cooler), but with a 13-15 minute drop in 'heat-up' time to allow the oil to reach the temp at which it is heated enough to be 'normal' with an idle pressure of 25-27 psi. I have noticed no idle or cruise pressure difference once the oil has fully warmed up, and no WOT oil pressure difference with 75psi being observed. During this 'heat-up' time, which was done just idling, I did notice it look about 4-5 minutes longer for the coolent to heat up to normal temps than it did before the cooler was installed. I also use Fram HP4 filters in my setup and the oil filter with this cooler sits at exactly the same depth as the bottom of the oil pan. I do not expect any more 'risk' to the oiling system due to road debris because of the very thick casing of the HP4 compared to 'normal' oil filters, as it is at least 5/8-3/4 as thick as the steel used in the oil pan itself.

So, as far as my own tests in the 'warmup' aspect, it is quite obvious that it works. I would fully expect a similar reduction and stabilization in oil temps in hot weather.

My main motivation to install it was due to the fact that I run a Vortech supercharger and bringing oil 'up to temp' is a key concern in reducing internal blower wear... And I figure keeping the oil temps more stabilized can only help things long-term... I would figure anyone would care for these very same aspects for even a non-supercharged setup...

Dennis

 

So they replace the studs that are in there now?

Thanks everyone for the info.

 

Put a 12"x12" Long air to oil cooler with a thermocoupling and -8 lines on it and take the FLOW restriction out of the system.

The factory coolers from GM and Ford are nothing but a cause of trouble and I remove them on all my builds either personal or customer with NO ill effects on the engine and it don't get any hotter in Florida than here.
Now talking Nevada I would put a large air to oil external cooler on it.

 

My 94 has been running the cooler for 11 years now, including the 5 years since I built the 800HP nitroused stroker. Does its job, and has never caused any problems.