Oil Cooler Fitted

[edh]

I've fitted a second cooler in series with the OE one - my track oil temps were getting up to 130C!

It's a small Setrab - 19 row, 115mm width, fitted on the n/s. All fits nicely under the batwing.

Not sure if I will need something more robust than cable ties here - It works for now

 

[sawood12]

Looks like a nice job Ed. Did you plumb it in so the oil goes through this cooler first then the stock one?

 

[edh]

Good question - I don't think I have though. I thought it logical that the bottom hose was the feed, but when I tested it today, it appears to be the other way round, so the oil passes through the old coler first. I also scraped a load of gunk off the vanes of the old cooler.

 

[Diver944]

I'd be interested to hear how much cooler you run next time you use her in anger (now's not exactly the time of year for a meaningful test )

Ooooh, and how much and where from ?

 

[edh]

Give me a dry trackday & I'll tell you how well it works [] - I hit 130C at Donington in November . It was my first dry trackday with an oil temp gauge. The more you measure, the more things you have to worry about []

How much? - with the lines & connectors, around £200. The coolers themselves are fairly cheap, but those aeroquip connectors don't come cheap! I got all the stuff from Think Automotive, apart from the M26 to M22 converters I got from Pirtek (they are hydraulic fittings tested to 1000 bar or something like that!). I had read on Rennlist that the Oil cooler fittings were M22 - they weren't [].

If I was doing it again & didn't have a/c, I'd try a long slim cooler in front of the rad - there are 2 handy looking mounting tabs there. I think that's how the Kiss cooler is put together.

 

[Fen]

That sounds about right on the cost. I fitted a slightly longer one than that in place of the original and using a 90 degree C thermostat as i was worried about not getting warm enough, and it came in about that figure. I would have saved some by utilising the orginal connections to offset the cost of the 'stat.

I never had mine on track afterwards so I can't comment how well it works either. [&o]

 

[Big Dave]

Edh.
How + where did you get the feed for the oil temp gauge.???
IE where are you measuring the temp at.??
And where have you mounted your gauge.??

You say you have AC on your car.
If you had the option, would you keep it or ditch it , for weight saving.
Im contemlating removing the AC from my car.. BUT once ive removed it i dont want to regret it....+ Its a real pig to FULLY remove + replace everthing , ie the dashboard ...

 

[Fen]

Ironically Ed didn't have air-con and he had some of the stuff I removed from mine to use to refit it.

 

[edh]

Even more ironically, it still doesn't work []. Unfortunately the rubber in the lines was porous - I might buy some more lines from these people : http://www.griffiths.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=15_16_52 I think they are all flexis, so will go in much more easily than the hard lines.

Dave - to answer all your questions

1. Oil temps are measured in 2 places - sump and at oil filter. (oil flow diags on Clark's show that filter is after the oil cooler) I have a Greddy sandwich plate under the filter with a temp sender & second pressure sender. A mate tapped a sump plug for me (I tried a DT brass sump plug, but it leaked - the Porsche sump plug has a tapered piece after the thread, the DT one doesn't). I tried a cheap ebay Sandwich plate as the GReddy was on a long lead time - I found out why it was cheap - it leaked. The GReddy doesn't.

2. PH sportscars wired it up for me - while they were doing some other stuff. The 2 temp senders are connected to one gauge via a switch & a relay. Gauges are in a LR panel under the radio, with VDO vision gauges. I think it looks quite "factory"

3. If I ever go lightweight, the AC will go - Can't say I missed it last summer (did we have a summer?). For now, it will stay - I don't think I'd see much benefit from losing 20kilos, but 200 kilos would change the car dramatically. I have accumulated some f/g panels already, but in the current economic climate, it's not very wise for a self employed IT consultant to be lashing out lots of cash (I'd need to buy a third car & make the 944 more track-only). When I got the car. the a/c had been removed as far as the bulkhead - evaporator still in place. I don't think it weighs all that much, and a dash removal is a lot of work, so I'd probably leave it in. We did a 924S dash swap in a day, but it was a cold, long day for 2 of us. I guess next time would be a bit quicker.

I'm interested to see how Peter E's car is once it's finished - & see just how noisy it has got. My ultimate plan would be to retain lightweight carpets to make it slightly road friendly, but otherwise to get it as light as poss. Sunroof delete will make the car hotter, but will save weight.

 

[Peter Empson]

Really nice install Ed.

I'm wondering if my oil cooler is going to be large enough now, I can't remember the size without checking tonight but it just fits between the intercooler pipes under the badge panel and is a 16 row Mocal unit. It's replacing the standard oil cooler (a brake duct is now in it's place) and at a guess I think its surface area is probably 30-40% larger than the original. It's going to be a bit of a nightmare if it's not large enough as I'm running out of places to put it!

Dave, I can't believe you've got heavy old AC [] We've put the temp sender in the sump plug on mine and the gauge is going in a modified 968 clock cubby.

 

[edh]

Peter - I bet you'll be OK - you don't have the turbo cooling to contend with as well, so your oil should run cooler. The other thing to look at is ducting. You can increase efficiency by forcing the air to go through the cooler. I haven't done that on mine, but it might be an option if I still run too high.

 

[Peter Empson]

Thanks Ed, I'm sure you're right, I think the cooling problems other SC owners have had have probably been from water temps and I anticipate it's the intercoolers position blocking the radiator that is the main culprit (there's a big air gap between the two and I think the air effectively stalls there).

The trouble with my oil cooler position is that whilst there should be air flow into the front of the badge panel it's what I do on the other side that could make all the difference, if I need to I hope I can fit a fan to draw air through it, but other than that we might have to look into doing something with the bonnet (possibly a bit like the one on Bass GT3's car).

 

[edh]

would be a shame to cut up a cf bonnet - I'll swap you for mine []

 

[Peter Empson]

ORIGINAL: edh

would be a shame to cut up a cf bonnet - I'll swap you for mine []

Nice try []
It didn't have the holes for the washer jets to I had to attack it with a drill and file for them which was a bit scary. Alan has the worst job though, he's yet to mount the aerolatches []

 

[Big Dave]

edh,
So you have 2 oil temp gauges.?? Or am i reading it wrong...
What max temp does the gauge go to.?? Im never sure of which one to get...
Pete.
I believe the oil cooling does help a lot with the 944/968 engines. Ide suspect even more so if your SCing the car, as your putting more strain on it...
I was going to fit another cooler to my S2, ive even got it in the garage, but never did get round to fitting it...Im led to believe the S2 coolers are smaller than the 968 ones + it was beneficial to fit twin coolers on the S2,s, if they were for "endurance" racing...
Im just looking into this again, but with something slightly different, for the 968...

 

[edh]

Dave -There are 2 senders feeding 1 gauge. I think it maxes at 150C (not that you really want to go that high...)

The 2 temp senders are connected to one gauge via a switch & a relay

The other 2 dials are boost & oil pressure - I know they replicate the factory ones, but I don't think the ones in the dash are very accurate.

 

[Peter Empson]

ORIGINAL: Big Dave UK
Pete.
I believe the oil cooling does help a lot with the 944/968 engines. Ide suspect even more so if your SCing the car, as your putting more strain on it...
I was going to fit another cooler to my S2, ive even got it in the garage, but never did get round to fitting it...Im led to believe the S2 coolers are smaller than the 968 ones + it was beneficial to fit twin coolers on the S2,s, if they were for "endurance" racing...
Im just looking into this again, but with something slightly different, for the 968...

I was recommended to fit a 968 oil cooler for the reason you state, trouble is there just isn't much airflow around that area on the old front bumper my car had even after cutting a suitable hole. This was the reason I hoped one larger one placed ina better position would suffice. I'll be interested in seeing what you come up with for your 968. []

 

[sawood12]

Well my recollection of seeing a turbo with the front PU removed is that the stock oil cooler has a shroud around it which channels airflow coming in from the front slots of the PU into the cooler. It would be nice if another one of these could be sourced and a second cooler of the same size as stock to install on the other side. I've been told from a number of sources that the stock cooler is pretty good but the problem with our cars as they get older is that they clog up with sludge and become less efficient. I'd bet removing the stock oil cooler and giving it a good flush through would restore alot of efficiency. It would make for an interesting before and after project at least However for trackdays especially on warm summer days an additional cooler is always going to be a good idea.

 

[edh]

have a look at the ducting on some of these pics!

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/944-turbo-and-turbo-s-forum/470530-oil-cooler-size.html

the small cooler duct on mine was cracked - I removed it as it was in the way of the new oil lines.

 

[Big Dave]

Ok, Update time..
Ive looked into this.. And ive found, its possible in fact VERY easy to do..[][][]
Well for a S2 / 968 it is..
Basically get yourself a 968 tiptronic oil cooler.. Yes they have twin coolers. One for the engine + one for the "auto" gearbox..
[Not sure what the early 944 autos use...]
The Tip cooler fits as a direct / mirror image of the engine oil cooler...On the other side of the car...
Fit the Tip cooler in its usual place with ALL the Porsche brackets.. + ducting..
You will need the pipe conectors that Porsche supply with the tip cooler.. Then its just a matter of connecting it to the engine cooler via some oil hose along the front of the car....
I cant see this being "rocket" science.
I suppose itd be good to find which oil pipe is the feed + return...

Only snag i can see, is if you have a turbo, with the brake cooling ducts located in the front valance area, youd have to remove them...

Edh.
Any chance you know what thread your m8 drilled + tapped the sump plug with.?? And did your gauge come with a sensor that fits into the sump plug or did you get that separately.???