95Z28M6

Hey everyone, I have an 02 Z and would like to start prepping it to do a HPDE here or there as well as some autocross. Nothing crazy, I just want it reliable and fun on my everyday tires. I am comin from a full bolt on suspension and cammed LT1 f-body where I auto crossed it regularly, however it had a factory oil cooler.

My question is, is there any reasonable way to do an oil cooler with a shut off valve in line? My reasoning is during street driving and cruising, I like to get the oil temp up over 200 degrees or so to burn off condensation and such. I think with an external cooler it would be tough to get it that high just cruising around. However, even on the street when I start to get froggy in the summer, I get the oil up in the 240's, so I'm sure on a track after a few laps it will be pretty high.

I was trying to find some sort of AN crossover that I could put a valve after to bypass the cooler for everyday driving, then open it when it's needed.

Has anyone done this before? Opinions are welcomed. Thanks

Uhhtaken

avizandum

Faced with a similar situation, I put in an oil thermostat. Install, don't worry...

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/p...Oil_Thermostat

95Z28M6

That's a perfect answer. Actually on their page, Mocal makes one specifically for the LS series and works as the block take off, T-Stat and temp housing all in one. Looks like the easiest route. Thank you.

Vettechris996

I was faced with the same concerns in my 02 Z06 and finally chose to go with a Dewitts radiator with integrated cooler. I like the idea of having fewer moving parts in the oil system, less to possibly fail. On the street it takes a bit longer for the oil to warm up but it gets up to temp no problem. For autocross oil temps are reduced can still climb if you hot lap a lot, there simply isnt much airflow over any cooler. I usually leave the hood open with the engine and fans running between runs and the oil temps drop quickly. On the track it works very well. I've done a 20min session right after finishing a 15min session and the oil just heats up to about 250F and stays there. Airflow makes all the difference!

Dirk Miller

As everyone knows here in California our summer air temps get pretty high. Having seen oil temps in my C6 as high as 315 at an HPDE event, I chose to install a Z06 oil cooler and then a DeWitts radiator and oil temps drastically dropped. Now when I drive on the streets during our cooler months I sometimes velcro a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator.

waddisme

They way mine is plumbed, I just unhook the in and out lines from the cooler and connect with a coupler. I remove cooler for the winter and then reinstall for track season (2 bolts). Simple enough.

95Z28M6

Thanks for all the replies guys. I thint I'll either use the take off with the built in T-Stat or just connect the two like last mentioned.

One last question is, when you guys change your oil, how to you get a complete change? Do you have to unhook the cooler and drain the lines or does it drain back into the pan. Also how would I assume the oil capacity for first start up.

Bill Dearborn

I ran a Ron Davis Racing radiator in both my 97 and 03Z. It kept the oil super cool because the oil cooler was located in the passenger side tank and the radiator was so efficient that in 40 degree weather with a stock thermostat the passenger side tank felt cold after running 15 miles or so thus the oil was cold as well. On extremely hot days where I was running 40 minute sessions the oil temp would run about 230 and coolant temp would run about 200. As I said the radiator was extremely good at cooling. To get oil temps up I installed a B&M Thermostatic bypass valve in the lines going to the cooler. It was set at 180 degrees. If oil temp was less than 180 85% of the oil bypassed the cooler while 15% ran through it. When temp was over 180 85% of the oil went through the cooler and 15% bypassed the cooler. This prevented air bubbles from forming in the oil stream. I got the valve from Summit Racing.

Other people I knew just used a cheap piece of cardboard to block off most of the radiator when the weather got cold.

Bill

troyguitar

I have an "improved racing" oil thermostat, it seems to work really well. Oil temps get up to normal in a reasonably normal amount of time in street driving.

JeremyGSU

I have a stand alone DRM oil cooler and when I'm not tracking I simply tape it up with painters tape. Stays on and I just remove it at the next track day.

Gets my oil temps back into the 180's for the most part and 200's if I'm just idling at lights.

95Z28M6

Thanks everyone, all great thoughts. I'll prob either tape it up or use the take off that has the thermostat in it set at 200 degrees.

blkbrd69

The Improved Racing thermostat works well and is a much nicer piece than the Mocal.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...iscussion.html

Joshboody

When I put together my cooler improved racing only had the 1/4 pipe thread option for the oil temp sensor... they discontinued the stock threads. So I went with LPE.

VetteDrmr

Didn't see this discussed in the thread, but wanted to caution you that the oil ports are run in series, so you can't run a shutoff valve. That would starve the engine for oil.

What I did was mount an external oil cooler in front of the AC condenser and fabbed up an aluminum cover I snapped over the front of the cooler when I wasn't on the track, winter or summer. Still cooled quite a bit just by conduction through the cover, but stayed a lot warmer than when left open.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

95Z28M6

Thanks everyone, my initial thought or theory of a valve was to have an H pipe style crossover right before it. So if the valve was closed, the oil would just loop back to the motor. I'm pretty convinced the thermostat is the way to go though.

VetteDrmr

I ran a t'stat in my first install, and it worked just fine. One point: they do restrict the flow of oil, so there is a small drop in oil pressure, and you don't get quite as much flow through the cooler as you would running straight hoses.

Also, there are now four more fittings you have to make room for, with four more points of failure. I never had a problem, and as I said, it worked fine for me.

You can't really go wrong with an EOC, and the t'stat makes it a piece of cake for a street/DE car; no covers to install/remove.

Have a good one,
Mike

Bill Dearborn

Good point on the plumbing. I had an external oil filter mounted with my DRM Ron Davis Racing Radiator and the addition of the B & M thermostatic bypass valve turned a simple plumbing job into a rats nest in front of the front stabilizer bar.

As mentioned the flow through the cooler is a little less since there is always some oil flowing through all parts of the bypass to prevent air bubbles from forming. That reduced flow through the cooler will increase the oil temperature. On mine the oil temp went up from ~ 230 to ~ 260.

Bill

waddisme

You can remove the center deflector as a quick and dirty way to decrease air flow - 2 #35 torx bolts. Did that last nite as I haven't had time to remove cooler for winter. But I wanted to drive Z today even though it is 21*. Oil temps made it to 160* and coolant stayed at normal 178*(DeWitts). Definitely not warm enough for oil but close enough.