oil cooler is it a must have?

[1979280zx]

i have a 79 280zx na to turbo should i be running a oil cooler with it

[crazyoctopus]

why shouldn't you? are you having over heating issues? where are you planning on mounting it?

 

if you have an oil-cooler (i.e. from a semi or an Rx7) why not just buy the plate and do it.

[sorealsosurreal]

What kind of power are you planning on? If you plan on just stock boost for now it is not necissary but it is cheap insurance on your motor.

[1979280zx]

why shouldn't you? are you having over heating issues? where are you planning on mounting it?

 

if you have an oil-cooler (i.e. from a semi or an Rx7) why not just buy the plate and do it.

i have every thing to do it. no over heating problems an im going to mount it in front of my radiator

[1979280zx]

What kind of power are you planning on? If you plan on just stock boost for now it is not necissary but it is cheap insurance on your motor.

goin to run about 12 pounds of boost later down the road but just stock for now

[Snailed]

Make sure it's on a thermostat. Over-cooling is not good.

[zgeezer]

i have a 79 280zx na to turbo should i be running a oil cooler with it

 

I believe Datsun/Nissan thought you should. Every factory turbo'ed 280ZX I've seen had a small oil cooler mounted on the passenger's side, in front of the front wheel, but behind the bumper.

 

g.

[Mayolives]

There are several responses/comments to your question about weather or not to use an oil cooler, that are based on controlling engine coolant temperature. IMHO, a bigger issue you should think about is the best way to insure that oil in your engine, reaches and maintains a more constant high temperature and is able to better protect and lubricate your engine components. You can accomplish the desired oil temperature by installing an oil cooler and an oil thermostat. The oil thermostat will prevent the oil from circulating through the oil cooler until the desired oil temperature is reached. Keep in mind, the more you demand of your engine in terms of making hp, torque and higher revs, the more you will need to control the oil temperature in your engine. If you are running a more or less stock set up and not constantly beating on it, you can live without the cooler but when you feel the need for speed and are constantly in the hammer down mode, your needs will grow and your pocket book will suffer.

Edited May 15, 2010 by Mayolives

[Nigel]

I believe Datsun/Nissan thought you should. Every factory turbo'ed 280ZX I've seen had a small oil cooler mounted on the passenger's side, in front of the front wheel, but behind the bumper.

 

g.

 

FYI, if I recall correctly, only 280ZX Turbo's with an automatic transmission came from the factory with an oil cooler.

 

Nigel

'73 240ZT

[TheMission]

FYI, if I recall correctly, only 280ZX Turbo's with an automatic transmission came from the factory with an oil cooler.

 

Nigel

'73 240ZT

 

Can't go wrong with not letting the turbo just go hog wild on your oil temps and doing something more, even for just peace of mind.

 

Take a look at the Mocal Unit... It's such a great idea, although a bit pricey... I'm planning on running it line with an electric water pump on dccontrol unit, so it doesn't really cool the oil until the car really heats up and the water pump starts really flying, I guess you could always add a thermostat to it for good measure. (I like the simplicity of it and not having another "Radiator" up front.... Intercooler + Oil Cooler + Radiator)

 

Here's the spec sheet for it.

http://97.74.103.94/files/laminova.pdf

[johnc]

Can't go wrong with not letting the turbo just go hog wild on your oil temps and doing something more, even for just peace of mind.

 

Take a look at the Mocal Unit... It's such a great idea, although a bit pricey... I'm planning on running it line with an electric water pump on dccontrol unit, so it doesn't really cool the oil until the car really heats up and the water pump starts really flying, I guess you could always add a thermostat to it for good measure. (I like the simplicity of it and not having another "Radiator" up front.... Intercooler + Oil Cooler + Radiator)

 

Here's the spec sheet for it.

http://97.74.103.94/files/laminova.pdf

 

With an oil to water heat exchanger you don't need a thermostat for the oil side. The thermostat on the coolant side will help warm the oil up quickly. I ran a Niagra oil to water heat exchanger (built into the radiator) in the racing 240Z and it worked very well.

[bjhines]

damn those are expensive. Before you jump off you might want to figure out how much cooling capacity you need.

 

Here is the MOCAL oil thermostat from RPW http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/product/1536/Mocal_Remote_Oil_Thermostat

Here is the Mocal unit for LS engines http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/product/6165/Mocal_Remote_Oil_Thermostat

You can get a sandwich thermostat for L6 Datsun http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/product/1597/Mocal_Sandwich_Plate

[Brad-ManQ45]

Nigel is right - only the automatic ZXT's had oil coolers - that's because the load the tranny put on the water cooling system was too much along with the turbo to keep oil cool.

[Tony D]

Nigel is right - only the automatic ZXT's had oil coolers - that's because the load the tranny put on the water cooling system was too much along with the turbo to keep oil cool.

 

Actually, that is partially incorrect.

 

ALL 280ZXT's in Europe had oil coolers, slushbox and standard. They also had radiators of larger capacity than in the USA. The USA cars were partially decontented and as a result they used the Oil Cooler only on the Autobox cars here---while true the Autobox caused more work in the radiator, it was the smaller radiator that coupled with lower horsepower that made the decision to get the aux oil cooler implemented. In Europe where serious speeds were encountered (and the engine was rated 20bhp higher due to fuel mapping and a .82 A/R housing) they ALL had them.

 

Which tells me, if you are running a 200BHP 280ZXT with a Manual, you should consider an oil cooler as Nissan started making them standard on the chassis at that power level.

 

This is seen on most Nissan components, take the R200 for example---see which Torque-HP was available to the axle, and you will quickly see the breakpoint at which Nissan used the R200 as opposed to the R180. Then look over to Subaru and the R160/R180/R200 and see the exact same kind of Breakpoints with their utilization of Fuji Heavy Industry Componentry!

 

Engineering is engineering...

[Zmanco]

Let me throw out an alternate point of view: if you're only driving on the street, then you'll find that it's rare that you can stay in the boost for even 10 seconds before you're at go to jail speeds. So if the existing setup doesn't have any cooling issues then you can probably go without it.

 

That said, on my mildly built NA L28 in a 73 I added a 10 row Earls oil cooler because on the track my temps would climb throughout the 20 minute session.

http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/68330-thoughts-on-this-aluminum-radiator/page__p__643292__hl__oil%20cooler__fromsearch__1&&do=findComment&comment=643292

 

Now that I've added the turbo I upgraded to a 25 row. If you think that some track time is in your future, then definitely add the cooler.

[frank280zx]

Actually, that is partially incorrect.

 

ALL 280ZXT's in Europe had oil coolers, slushbox and standard. They also had radiators of larger capacity than in the USA. The USA cars were partially decontented and as a result they used the Oil Cooler only on the Autobox cars here---while true the Autobox caused more work in the radiator, it was the smaller radiator that coupled with lower horsepower that made the decision to get the aux oil cooler implemented. In Europe where serious speeds were encountered (and the engine was rated 20bhp higher due to fuel mapping and a .82 A/R housing) they ALL had them.

 

Which tells me, if you are running a 200BHP 280ZXT with a Manual, you should consider an oil cooler as Nissan started making them standard on the chassis at that power level.

 

This is seen on most Nissan components, take the R200 for example---see which Torque-HP was available to the axle, and you will quickly see the breakpoint at which Nissan used the R200 as opposed to the R180. Then look over to Subaru and the R160/R180/R200 and see the exact same kind of Breakpoints with their utilization of Fuji Heavy Industry Componentry!

 

Engineering is engineering...

 

Actually ALL euro ZX's had oil coolers. And the ZXT's had diff coolers aswel 84's had trans and diff coolers!