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Old May 27, 2017 | 08:29 PM
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Default Oil Cooler question

Does the base c7 have an oil cooler? or was it an option. What I am referring to is the cooler mounted next to oil filter. Thank you
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Old May 27, 2017 | 08:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Rhettvette
Does the base c7 have an oil cooler? or was it an option. What I am referring to is the cooler mounted next to oil filter. Thank you
This oil to engine coolant heat exchanger is a standard part of the engine including the base model.

Last edited by NSC5; May 27, 2017 at 08:43 PM.
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Old May 27, 2017 | 10:37 PM
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Default Oil cooler lines

On the oil cooler I noticed one line goes to the radiator but where does the other one go?
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Old May 28, 2017 | 09:20 AM
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There are no external oil lines for the cooler. With the stock setup there is a single liquid coolant line from the cooler that goes to the radiator. The secondary radiator (used with the Z06/GS/Z51 with manual transmission) is plumbed with the existing oil cooler line leading to the secondary radiator and the other line from the secondary radiator now attaches to the original oil cooler line port on the primary radiator.
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Old May 28, 2017 | 10:16 AM
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Originally Posted by NSC5
There are no external oil lines for the cooler. With the stock setup there is a single liquid coolant line from the cooler that goes to the radiator. The secondary radiator (used with the Z06/GS/Z51 with manual transmission) is plumbed with the existing oil cooler line leading to the secondary radiator and the other line from the secondary radiator now attaches to the original oil cooler line port on the primary radiator.
NSC5 Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions.

I see the line going to the primary radiator
on my Automatic trans 15. My next question is how does it
recirculate being only one line into the radiator? That's why I thought
there most be a second line to return.
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Old May 28, 2017 | 10:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Rhettvette
NSC5 Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions.

I see the line going to the primary radiator
on my Automatic trans 15. My next question is how does it
recirculate being only one line into the radiator? That's why I thought
there most be a second line to return.
You are welcome and it is a little unusual setup. The "cooled coolant" from the radiator is split in this setup with a small part of the flow going to the engine oil cooler through the hose you saw and once it flows through the cooler it rejoins the rest of the coolant flowing through the block.

The good things about this setup are that there are no external oil lines that can be damaged or leak AND the engine coolant flow helps to also warm the oil after a cold start.

The potential downside is the oil heat gets dumped into the engine cooling system and although the engine cooling system is sufficient for any street and and most track use it doesn't have the capacity for high performance track use in hot ambient temperatures. This is especially true for the Z06.

All of the C7 have the same radiator, regardless of engine or transmission; none of the radiators have a heat exchanger for the transmission. Most of the M7 equipped Corvettes (Z51 and up as I recall) also get a secondary radiator which lies flat in front of the main radiator. Most A8 cars (again I believe it excludes the non Z-51 C7) get a horizontal cooler for the transmission in addition to the rear mounted cooler and this also lies flat in front of the main radiator which is why the A8 cars cannot have the secondary radiator. The additional cooler for the A8 was introduced with the Z06 so the earlier Z51 only had a rear cooler for the transmission.
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Old May 28, 2017 | 08:58 PM
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Originally Posted by NSC5
You are welcome and it is a little unusual setup. The "cooled coolant" from the radiator is split in this setup with a small part of the flow going to the engine oil cooler through the hose you saw and once it flows through the cooler it rejoins the rest of the coolant flowing through the block.

The good things about this setup are that there are no external oil lines that can be damaged or leak AND the engine coolant flow helps to also warm the oil after a cold start.

The potential downside is the oil heat gets dumped into the engine cooling system and although the engine cooling system is sufficient for any street and and most track use it doesn't have the capacity for high performance track use in hot ambient temperatures. This is especially true for the Z06.

All of the C7 have the same radiator, regardless of engine or transmission; none of the radiators have a heat exchanger for the transmission. Most of the M7 equipped Corvettes (Z51 and up as I recall) also get a secondary radiator which lies flat in front of the main radiator. Most A8 cars (again I believe it excludes the non Z-51 C7) get a horizontal cooler for the transmission in addition to the rear mounted cooler and this also lies flat in front of the main radiator which is why the A8 cars cannot have the secondary radiator. The additional cooler for the A8 was introduced with the Z06 so the earlier Z51 only had a rear cooler for the transmission.
O.K So it's coolant not oil that flows from the radiator not like a trans
cooler. I notice when I look at a picture of a oil cooler there are
two holes where it mounts to the block. One is for coolant and is the
other for oil? Kind of a split of the two fluids? So unless it is
a manual trans type set up there is only the one line from the cooler
to Radiator not two. Thank you
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Old May 29, 2017 | 05:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Rhettvette
O.K So it's coolant not oil that flows from the radiator not like a trans
cooler. I notice when I look at a picture of a oil cooler there are
two holes where it mounts to the block. One is for coolant and is the
other for oil? Kind of a split of the two fluids? So unless it is
a manual trans type set up there is only the one line from the cooler
to Radiator not two. Thank you
Maybe this will help:



The two hoses you see are connected to the coolant. It flows from the hose connected to the radiator (19) out through the hose connected to the block (6). Meanwhile part number (10) has two holes that connect to the oil galley above the oil filter and circulate oil through the head exchanger (13).
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Old May 29, 2017 | 10:56 PM
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Default Thank you, Thank you

Originally Posted by ImprovedRacing
Maybe this will help:



The two hoses you see are connected to the coolant. It flows from the hose connected to the radiator (19) out through the hose connected to the block (6). Meanwhile part number (10) has two holes that connect to the oil galley above the oil filter and circulate oil through the head exchanger (13).
Thank you, Thank you, now I see where the second line goes.

Another question where does the fitting #1 go to the block?
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Old May 30, 2017 | 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Rhettvette
Thank you, Thank you, now I see where the second line goes.

Another question where does the fitting #1 go to the block?
There is an oil galley port in the block that it connects to. You can see where it is by following the line in the diagram. It just needs to be plugged if you remove the factory heat exchanger.
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Old May 30, 2017 | 03:39 PM
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Default A big thank you!!

Originally Posted by ImprovedRacing
There is an oil galley port in the block that it connects to. You can see where it is by following the line in the diagram. It just needs to be plugged if you remove the factory heat exchanger.
Thanks again, I ordered the plug from Summit. We are adding an
after market bigger oil cooler. Your info helped see what the cats
blocked from visual. Save the wave
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Old May 30, 2017 | 03:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Rhettvette
Thanks again, I ordered the plug from Summit. We are adding an
after market bigger oil cooler. Your info helped see what the cats
blocked from visual. Save the wave
No problem. You will need a cap and clamp to block off the radiator port as well. Something like this: http://www.improvedracing.com/coolin...kit-p-777.html
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