SinisterC6

I have a supercharged C6, Last year with my Z51 rad/ internal oil cooler and 160* thermostat I was seeing 210* coolant and 225* oil while cruising and 225* coolant and 244* oil after hard accelerations in stop and go traffic when ambient temps were in the 90* range

Now I have new dexcool (50:50 mix) dewitts radiator and an external 25 row oil cooler from EARLS. I am seeing 200* coolant cruising and 205 under hard accelerations with oil temps of 220 cruising and 244 with hard driving on 80* days

This is where I mounted my oil cooler, it was the only non invasive spot:





Im going to make new brackets and lower the cooler about 3 inches to increase airflow (but still have ample ground clearance)

Im going to check all lines for kinks

Would It be worth drilling holes in my thermostat to increase coolant flow?

Would you guys check out anything else? Im planning to road race this summer and want to have my oil temps under control

ptindall

No, you should not drill holes in your thermostat.

Why does your radiator look bent?

I guess those temps are a little high for the street, but I'd see what they actually do on the track before worrying about them.

Improper tune could cause excessive heat.

SinisterC6

My concern with the thermostat is that its not opening at 160* I was going to remove it and test.

That's the condenser, it took some tweaking to make all the extra piping fit.

Im sitting at 10lbs of boost. Im going in for a retune for more power and will ask for a more aggressive fan profile

Thank you

ptindall

That's the ticket. Test it or replace it. With the oil temps, I suspect the thermostat is fine but testing will never hurt. For road racing 160 or 195 really will make no difference. Your temps are going to be over 200 so either one is going to be wide open.

The 50/50 dexcool isn't optimal for cooling either. There are gains to be had by running 70/30 distilled and water wetter, but again, if it were me, I'd wait until I had it on the track to see if there is a problem before trying to fix it.

200 degrees water and 220 oil with an oil cooler just cruising does seem high to me. That's why I tend to wonder about the tune. Good luck.

SinisterC6

Thanks for the help!, I live in chicago and it is subject to cold (un heated garage) which is why i went with 50/50. Im pulling the stat tomorrow and when I refil the coolant Ill only add water

Addicted to track

Are all the radiator shrouds still in place? It tough to tell from the pictures but if they aren't there the air just goes around the heat exchangers. Is that a CAC in front of the condenser?

sothpaw2

220 oil due to cruising is maybe 15-20 F too hot. Yeah try getting more air flow to the external oil cooler. When you tune your engine again, go to a place like ECS that is familiar with the needs for road coursing the car. Tell them what you intend to do and to be conservative. You don't want extra power from a tune--you want reliability on course.

After you do all that, try to do your track day in the spring or fall. Summer ambients 30F hotter make a big difference.

SinisterC6

I mean its not a track car, my friends and I are going for fun. Its still a street car 99% of the time. Ill let you guys know how the thermostat and EOC tweaking go.

gmccreary

I need need an oil cooler too. 2001 C5Z, ambient temp 83 degrees, 20 minutes on the track and I saw 286 degrees. Can't wait to the 90+ degree summer days in the Southeast.

Greywolfe

Yes, get an oil cooler. I was seeing 290 oil temp in at road atlanta last summer half way though the session. Had to start short shifting and letting it cool down on the back straight for a couple laps.

Also I would run a higher viscocity oil like a 40 weight or a mobil 15w50.. but there are other threads on that subject

sothpaw2

I recommend the DRM stand alone external cooler. Fits great and very little pressure drop. I use my car on the street 9 months/yr and for those 9 months with ambients down to ?40F I always get at least 180F oil after warm up. This is with a nice styrofoam cover to block off air flow to the heat exchanger. This cooler is very effective on track; most cost effective oil cooling solution I think.

TS Motorsport

I would mount the oil cooler in front of the radiator/condenser. That's where I have mine and oil temps stay lowwww. Your radiator will not overheat because you have two large fans on the inside doing their thing, one for primary and the other secondary in addition for the first one.

My recommendation is to route the oil cooler in the front of the radiator/condenser & to change your temperature the fans turn on to 205 so your engine stays cool. The cooler thermostat doesn't do much, it only opens earlier which doesn't help you much. Get those fans to turn on earlier and watch those temps drop.

SinisterC6

I would totally do that but I have my intercooler already blocking my radiator and crippling my cooling system

TS Motorsport

Try using a fan on the oil cooler. If you're using a 15 row oil cooler a 7" puller fan will work wonders. They work with or without temperature sensors. Some guys have them working in conjunction with the thermostatic switches, as soon as the oil temp reaches a certain temp and the oil gets circulated to the cooler, the fan turns on.

Span does have various fans & temp switches which you should look into. It'll save your motor a lot of stress especially if it's boosted.

SinisterC6

Link and price for a fan for a 25 row cooler?

TS Motorsport

http://www.track-star.net/store/chev...-spal-fan-kit/

VGLNTE1

I mounted my oil cooler on the back of the rad shroud. My splitter ram air right up to it. I decreased my oil temp by 20-30 degrees just with that.

SinisterC6

Heres what I got, took a close look, one of the lines was definately kinked, I maneuvered it and got it to make a nice curve. The cooler was right up against the steering rack,no good. I made new brackets and it now sits 2 in lower and 2 inches flower, tons of space for air to flow.

If this doesnt help Ill be buying a fan.

TS Motorsport

Makes sense, more flow to the cooler means lower temps.

SinisterC6

I worked!

This weekend I drove with the gf to test out my new toyo r888s, we were pulling over 1 G on onramps and hooking in 1st! Most importantly while cruising with ambient temps at 65* on the highway I was 192 coolant and 216 oil. After romping on it a bunch the oil got up to 230 but went back to 220 within 5 min. Guess im set for track day folks!

Thanks everyone