Rob Burgoon

Hey guys, I tried the general forum, but you guys know your oil cooler plumbing better I think.

My rad popped and I'd like to replace it with the cheaper one without an oil cooler.

Anyone know an easy way to delete the oil cooler from the system? Can the lines be looped or an external oil cooler installed cheaply? I'd like to do something fairly reliable and not lose an engine.

avizandum

Your oil cooler is totally independent of the radiator. No issues.

davidfarmer

a c5 temp-sender mounted where your current lines attache to the block would bypass the cooler, but as he said the cooler is not part of the radiator

Rob Burgoon

I believe you're mistaken. Z51s gained external oil coolers in 08 or so.

Charley Hoyt

The '06 cooler was integral to the radiator. I would think you could pick up a used radiator on the forum for a reasonable price that would be a direct replacement...I wouldn't mess around with removing it.

Rob Burgoon

Not a terrible idea, but these plastic tanks only last for 5 years or so. Any used one that has both the internal coolers will likely be near death as well.

I can get one with just tranny cooler for $130 new (requires external cooler or looped hose or blockoff plate), $390 or so with both coolers, or $800 for aluminum tanked Dewitts with both coolers.

Cutting the old oil cooler OUT of the old radiator might be interesting... Probably not worth the effort though.

doveboat

You can just cap off the line block by the oil filter and remove the oil lines. That is the way the Base & F55 cars came equipped.

I would think the line block is a GM part complete with O' Rings

Ed

BEZ06

So what???

You say you have a 2006!!!

I have a 2006 Z06, and I have a 2006 Service Manual.

In the SM it has 2 engine oil cooler arrangements:

1. With KPS - which is an engine oil cooler integrated into the radiator
   
   
2. Without KPS - which is an "auxiliary" engine oil cooler that is mounted under the shroud separate from the radiator

So....look on the sticker in your glove compartment and see if there is an RPO code of KPS.

If you have a KPS then you have the engine oil cooler integrated into the radiator, and if there is no KPS in the list then you have one separate from the radiator.

You can also easily see the separate engine oil cooler by looking in the front fascia opening.

My Z06 does not have a KPS in the RPO list and it has the separate "auxiliary" engine oil cooler.

My 2009 ZR1 does have a KPS, and the oil cooler lines go to connections directly on the side of the radiator.

Bob

Dirk Miller

Ok guys, since you are on radiators, can I get your oppinion on this?
I have been tracking my ’08 C6 manual for 4 years now. 3 yrs ago, I installed an C6 Z06 oil cooler in front of my radiator and saw my oil temps drop from 315 F to 270 F. I then hooked up an Accusump, locating the solenoid and pressure switch in the left rear wheel well. I now want to cool both my tranny and differential but do not have room to do both in the back. Plus air flow is limited in the rear. I am now thinking about buying a Dewitts or Ron Davis radiator with both engine oil cooling and tranny oil cooling capabilities. Couldn’t I pump both the manual tranny fluid and differential fluid forward into this radiator? The viscosity of the differential may be pretty thick, so I may have to either install a temp. controlled valve or install a valve that I could toggle open once this fluid is warm enough to flow.
Has anyone used a good race radiator with both EOC and TOC for the transmission and differential?

Rob Burgoon

I have an '06, not a Z06. I assure you there are a pair of oil cooler lines on both sides of my radiator.

Rob Burgoon

Sounds like a lot of plumbing, and you'll still need a pump I think for the diff, but I don't see why that wouldn't work, if 200*F is a good target temp for diff and tranny. You could ask your fluid manufacturer about that.

Stay off race tires until you get a real dry sump, I don't believe the accu will do the job.

Oh, and avast you thread jacker!

BEZ06

Very Good - then you have the oil cooler integrated into the radiator.

AND....if you have lines on both sides of the radiator then if you install a standard radiator you'll have to block off both sides.

The lines on the left side are for the engine oil cooler, and the ones on the right are probably for the transmission cooler.

Here is a picture I lifted from another thread where BPP is selling a Z06 oil cooler radiator:




You can see the lines that come from the engine and go forward to where the oil cooler is mounted under/in front of the radiator. The block connects to the engine just above the oil filter, and the two ends of the line connect to the left side of the oil cooler.

In your case your oil cooler is integrated into the radiator, but the lines still only connect to the left side of the radiator.

If you want to install a radiator without the oil cooler, whichever type oil cooler you have you should be able to either loop those lines, or just simply cap them off where that block attaches to the engine above the oil filter.

Here's a graphic of the integrated type oil cooler:




And here's the separate oil cooler:




Here's a graphic out of the 2010 SM that shows a later model year Z51 auxiliary oil cooler - you can see that it also only has connections on the left side for the lines that come forward from that block that attaches above the oil filter, and you can see it looks the same as the Z06 cooler in the very top picture above except it's not as long:




So....in any case the lines go forward to the left side of the radiator area.

The lines on the right side of your radiator are probably the trasmission oil cooler, and you'll have to cap them off in a similar manner when you install a radiator without the integrated coolers in it.

Good luck!!

Bob

Rob Burgoon

Yep, thanks, I'm clear on the "what and why", it's the "how" I needed. Also, the radiators with tranny coolers are still cheap, like $130, so I'm good to go if I do something about the EOC side.

Some members offered to ship me the base corvette block off plate, so I think that's a solution that will work, thanks.

Deuce Man

So I installed my Z06 oil cooler yesterday in place of my stock Z51 cooler, which wasn't cutting it on the track. When I actually tried to pull the fittings out of the radiator, I noticed that coolant started coming out. This surprised me, but when I happened to have a spare fitting and noticed the inside had an o-ring in it, making me wonder how the stock Z51 cooler is routed inside the radiator. I still wanted to plug the cooler to keep oil from leaking out forever. I ended up installed a rubber cork in the fitting and putting the retaining clip back on it to ensure it held in there. I got the rubber cork from Lowe's, I ended up buying a couple different sizes and found one that worked perfect. I only plugged the bottom, not the top, and I didn't want to seal it off and allow pressure to build up inside the cooler since the engine coolant would be at 220*. I figured the bottom plug would keep anything residual from leaking out, especially since I let it sit all night and leak. I am not sure if the cork will melt at 220* or not, but I guess I'll find out.

I also build an aluminum cover to cover the new Z06 radiator when not at the track. Ignore all the holes on the sides, but after trying several different options, I ended up using some Hillman clamps and bent the ends and using them to hook to the top incoming line on the driver side and the top bolt on the passenger side. Then I zip tied the bottom through the holes I drilled. The zip ties run around the bottom inlet pipe (driver side) and bottom bolt (passenger side). I painted the side not shown in the pic a flat black so you wouldn't see it through the grill. It looks good installed and keep the oil temps higher for daily driving, but makes it easy to remove for the track.