oil cooler

[snookwheel]

My Solo Vee does not have an oil cooler. It does have a remote oil filter, so tapping into a line to add a cooler would be easy. Is an oil cooler recommended? Thanks, Scott

[vreihen]

My Solo Vee does not have an oil cooler. It does have a remote oil filter, so tapping into a line to add a cooler would be easy. Is an oil cooler recommended?

Maybe I'm going nuts, but I could swear that someone once told me that putting both an external oil filter and an external oil cooler onto a Vee engine at the same time was a recipe for disaster!

Mine came from it's previous owner with an external oil filter installed, and an external oil cooler full of shrapnel with the plumbing formerly used to install it in-line tossed into one of the spare parts boxes. Unless someone with more experience with Vee engines here says otherwise, I'd recommend one or the other -- but not both at the same time.....

[Lynn]

Both my cars have external oil filters and oil coolers. No problems at all. I can't remember how they are plumbed, but the filter and cooler are not in series.

[SR Racing]

Maybe I'm going nuts, but I could swear that someone once told me that putting both an external oil filter and an external oil cooler onto a Vee engine at the same time was a recipe for disaster!

I can't make an accurate judgement on your sanity.. ... but there is nothing wrong with an external cooler and external filter. Probably half of the FV's and FST's run this way, with no problems. And I can't imagine why someone would claim that. (Actually just about all FV/FST's run with an "external" cooler and filter. Since they are typically mounted to a aftermarket oil manifold and are separate from the original engine design.)

[FM4SOLO]

I run my solo vee with a VW dog house cooler, no oil temp problems. Head temps control run time, it never runs long enough to over heat the oil.

[Lt. Dan]

Hmm... I have an external oil filter on the Vee, and I also have an oil cooler in a parts box.... suggestions on plumbing it in?

[snookwheel]

If there is not a danger, I would be interested in the suggested plumbing too. Before or after the filter? If not in series, then how?? Thanks.

[SR Racing]

If there is not a danger, I would be interested in the suggested plumbing too. Before or after the filter? If not in series, then how?? Thanks.

In series. There are very minor pros and cons on which is first, but I would run through the filter first. But whatever is easiest is fine.

[Lynn]

If there is not a danger, I would be interested in the suggested plumbing too. Before or after the filter? If not in series, then how?? Thanks.

In series. There are very minor pros and cons on which is first, but I would run through the filter first. But whatever is easiest is fine.

That is interesting. There is no direct connection between the filter and the cooler on my cars. Well, I'm sure about the Beach, less sure about the Lynx. It has a stock cooler and I've spent a lot less time with the Lynx. I wasn't there when the engine was removed.

[snookwheel]

The engine has an oil cooler bypass plate on it. I wonder if I could remove it and use those connections as an alternative to tapping into the oil filter lines. Is one method preferred over the other? According to the engine build list that came with the car, it has a 26 mm oil pump and a oil pressure boost kit.... if that makes any difference in adding a cooler.

[Rickydel]

Even if the oil circuit plumbing comes out of your engine, through a filter, into your engine, back out of your engine, through a cooler, and then into your engine again, it is still a series circuit.

A parallel filter, cooler circuit is a recipe for disaster. That would mean some percentage of oil will get filtered and the remaining percentage will get cooled. Head losses through the filter circuit and cooler circuit would determine what those percentages are. Bottom line is, you really want the oil to be filtered and cooled.

[Lynn]

Even if the oil circuit plumbing comes out of your engine, through a filter, into your engine, back out of your engine, through a cooler, and then into your engine again, it is still a series circuit.

A parallel filter, cooler circuit is a recipe for disaster. That would mean some percentage of oil will get filtered and the remaining percentage will get cooled. Head losses through the filter circuit and cooler circuit would determine what those percentages are. Bottom line is, you really want the oil to be filtered and cooled.

I see. Thanks for the info.

[FV80]

My $.02 is that an external oil cooler is a general waste of effort and complexity for a strictly Solo 2 car. You will NEVER get the oil hot enough to benefit from the cooler - you'll actually probably be better off WITHOUT it as the engine will be somewhat 'freer' with hot oil than with cold oil. It's pretty easy to get the heads HOT - quite another thing to get the oil hot in under 2 minutes
I would recommend a good synthetic oil rather than mineral, but can't see you "needing" an oil cooler.
IMHO...
Steve

[MBillings]

I think the need for an external oil cooler depends on the size of your run groups, whether you have a co-driver, and if you plan to run Pro Solos. Small run groups, co-drivers, and Pros require back to back runs. I have found my car, which has an external oil cooler, gets pretty hot with each of the above situations. I wouldn't run the car without an oil cooler.

Mike

[FV80]

I guess there's also the cooling effect of the oil on the head temps to consider ... so .. maybe I DON'T know what I'm talking about - but it SEEMED like a good thought at the time
Steve

[snookwheel]

I think the need for an external oil cooler depends on the size of your run groups,
Mike

A recent 'test and tune' made me think about it. It was such a small group, that I barely had time to get out and back in (OK, I admit these @#*& 5 point harnesses have been a learning experience for me ). I never saw the needle leave the peg on my first AutoX. At the test and tune, where there were many runs without a lot of time in between, The oil temp. was showing around approx. 220+ degrees. Is that high?

Maybe it is a non issue, I really do not know. I do know that wrenching on a toy keeps me sane after a day of pushing paper .

[SR Racing]

The oil temp. was showing around approx. 220+ degrees. Is that high?

200 to 220 is perfect, 230-240 is a bit warm and might be indicative of another issue. (lean, poor cooling, etc) 250+ is too hot. (although synthetics will still work past 275)

Unless you mean celsius. In which case, stop immediately.

[FM4SOLO]

Are you checking the Cylinder Head temps? I made that mistake, relying on oil temp - overheated a head, dropped a valve seat - trashed the head and nicked the piston crown. I've been using a hand held pyrometer since then, putting in a Cylinder Head Temp gage this season.

[snookwheel]

Are you checking the Cylinder Head temps? I made that mistake, relying on oil temp - overheated a head, dropped a valve seat - trashed the head and nicked the piston crown. I've been using a hand held pyrometer since then, putting in a Cylinder Head Temp gage this season.

I don't have a Cylinder head temp. gauge. That is on my to do list. What are you typically seeing for head temps?
Scott.

[FM4SOLO]

With the hand held pyro I am seeing mid to high 300's. I try to get the heads back down to the low to mid 200's before starting another run. Our courses are long (60 - 80 secs) with a long return to grid, another 60 - 90 seconds; usually run on a road course. When I am sharing with another driver, we mist the heads with a 50/50 mix of water and windshield washer fluid (it has alchohol in it, speeds the cooling some). I figure you can drive a beetle in the rain, a little mist shouldn't hurt, and after 2 years of doing this, no ill effects. YMMV.

[DanRemmers]

I've been using a spray mister on my heads since I melted them and had to get new ones two years ago. Still runs great.
And since I had the water, this past summer I started spraying my tires on hot days when they seemed to get greasy. That really helps.

[Lynn]

And since I had the water, this past summer I started spraying my tires on hot days when they seemed to get greasy. That really helps.

Hoosiers?

[snookwheel]

I've been using a spray mister on my heads since I melted them and had to get new ones two years ago. Still runs great.
And since I had the water, this past summer I started spraying my tires on hot days when they seemed to get greasy. That really helps.

Hmmmm... I do have a small windshield washer reservoir with pump sitting in the garage...add a couple of misting tips, some hose, a few zip ties, switch & a few minutes of labor and instant on board cylinder head cooling spa! Would that type of set up (built into the car) be illegal for the class?

[DanRemmers]

Yes, R25As. Here in the DC region, the temperature is usually in the 90s in the summer. With the sun beating down, the tires seem to get hotter on the grid than right after a run. I don't have a pyrometer, but my calibrated hand confirms it.
Plus, we do about 1000 runs in a day, so there's lots of rubber laid down on the course, mostly DOT R compound.
My tires are a couple years old, so I used to think that they were too hard to overheat. Then one hot day the car seemed to lose traction, so I just tried the water spray, and it drove better. I don't know if it made me faster, but it was easier to drive.

[DanRemmers]

Would that type of set up (built into the car) be illegal for the class?

Hmm, that's a good question. Built in fans are allowed, so I would assume that built in head misting is too. The big issue would be safety. Having unexpected water spilling right in front of the rear tires would be bad. Look in the solo rule book in the general Modified section.

Though it's not really needed during the run. There should be enough wind while at speed to keep things cool.