Does anyone with an E-Force (and dry-sump) also have a 160 thermostat? Could anyone tell me the pros and cons of switching the thermostat on this configuration?

I was wondering if it would be worth switching the thermostat since the oil cooler with this setup is more like an oil warmer according to what I read on the ZR1 forum. I am doing my own tuning and I know with cooler temps you can generally run more timing but I have doubts with this configuration so to speak.

 

I have a dry-sump car with a similar setup. I have a Magnuson Heartbeat blower that I'm installing, but went with a DeWitt's radiator with integral oil cooler instead of using the ZR1 setup like the E-Force. Same concept, though. The oil is cooled by the cooling system. I felt that a larger radiator would be a good idea, and I had great luck with DeWitt's on my old A&A car.

Anyway... I haven't put the blower on yet, but the rest of the components are installed (radiator, supercharger heat exchanger, 160 T-stat, etc.) and if anything, my engine runs too cool. One of the nice things about the ZR1 or other water to oil coolers is that they also help warm the oil up quicker. But when you have ~11 quarts of oil circulating -- and most of that is stored in a tank that's not mounted on the engine -- it runs very cool most of the time. It usually wants to stay below 170 during regular driving, and takes a while to get there.

It probably has to do with my bigger radiator and 160 stat, but the coolant temps want to settle right around 172 during steady freeway cruising. I've actually been thinking about switching out my 160 T-stat for a Lingenfelter 174 unit. I'm thinking that will keep temps somewhere in the 180's during steady cruising, and reduce the big swings I've been seeing. That's probably the only downside to the 160 T-stat I've found on this car. Not that it's hurting anything, but I'd rather my temps stayed in a little narrower range.

Just keep in mind that by adding an oil cooler that transmits heat to the cooling system (like a ZR1 cooler), you're putting more load on the radiator. The ZR1s come with a bigger radiator for that reason. A cooler T-stat is good and all, but it doesn't do much of anything if you don't have the radiator capacity to remove the heat.

Just my experience, take it for what it's worth.

 

Could you show pictures of your setup when it's complete?

My oil temps are staying around 210 - 220 on warmer days (70s and 80s) and around 200 on cooler days. Not sure about 90*+ yet. Do you know at what temp I should start worrying?

 

Sure, if you want. The cooling system stuff is all done, just no blower mounted yet.

What temperature does your coolant run at? Maybe that's making your oil temps higher. When it was stock, the coolant would run near 200 most of the times, but the oil was always cool. Unless I took a really long drive, it didn't want to get past the 160's. I don't think my oil has ever gotten above 185 on this car. Even when my coolant temps were around 200 with the stock radiator and T-stat, my oil stayed cool thanks to the big Z06 oil cooler than comes on the GS dry-sump cars.

You really don't need to worry until your oil gets to 250+ (probably more even), but I'm a little surprised at your temps based on what I've seen on my car. Before I bought the GS I had a wet-sump Z51 LS3 car. It had an A&A kit and the same DeWitt's radiator. The oil on that car would always run warmer than the coolant. Right around 200 on long freeway drives in most weather. On the GS, the oil is always cooler than the coolant. I'm thinking that's because of the higher oil capacity and the fact that the tank isn't mounted to the engine. Both cars had the same radiator/oil cooler setups and 160 T-stat.