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C6 Corvette ZR1 & Z06General info about GM’s Corvette Supercar, LS9 Corvette Technical Info, Performance Upgrades, Suspension Setup for Street or Track
Hi all, I have an '07Z which is my daily driver and the engine oil takes too long to warm up and rarely gets above 150-180F, which isn't optimal for cool temps and short trips.
Looks like the options are:
Unbalanced engineering cover - easy, reversible, but blocks the radiator as well
Block off plate- cheap but permanent
Zr1 cooler/lines/radiator - best option but costs almost $1k and I don't think it will even work on an '07 that doesn't have the mounting points for the cooler
So what did you all go with and what are your thoughts?
+1 for the Unbalanced cover. Too easy. I have had no coolant temperature concerns, even in 90* temps. I will likely take one of the covers (it's actually two pieces, so you have 12" or so of variability in what you choose to block) off the oil cooler between the months of June-August.
Since I had already installed a Dewitts radiator with oil and tranny coooler hook ups, I ended up just buying Z51 oil lines, hooking up to the Dewitts, and removed the factory cooler. Oil heats up quick and stays close to coolant temp under normal driving conditions (180-195).
If you Google "LS1 engine oil thermostat" you will see models that bolt directly to LS7 engine. But you will have to make your own oil lines.
I did the same thing as Must_Have_Z. The DeWitts radiator has a large oil cooling in the left tank of the radiator and the transmission cooler in the right tank. The reason you use the 2005 - 2007 Z51 oil lines is that they are about 2 inch sorter than the Z06 lines. I prefer this approach as it also keeps engine room congestion and the number of pluming connections to a minimum compared to the ZR1 coolant/oil cooler assembly.
I went the ZR1 oil cooler and radiator route on my 09 that had the mounting bosses for the oil cooler. If your car doesn't have them, I've heard you can buy the retrofit mounting bracket from Edelbrock, since the eforce kit includes the ZR1 oil cooler in their C6Z FI kit. No more cold oil...
Improved Racing makes a bolt-on oil line and thermostat kit that solves this issue.
There are two thermostat versions available. You can choose the option that will give you the best header clearance for your specific headers. Here are the links:
So what did you all go with and what are your thoughts?
Since you said coming up to temperature, the best option, IMO, is to go with a radiator heated/cooled option. That means either the ZR1 method that MTPZ06 went with (he wanted to keep it all OEM) or do what I and others, like grcor, have done - DeWitts and the Z51 cooling lines.
When it's colder out, your oil temperature gets heated up by the hot radiator water, so it's up to a nice operating temperature faster than if it was blocked off. If it gets really hot out, it's still cooled by the radiator. The DeWitts option is going to be about $700.
I wrapped my cooler in aluminum duct tape. Cost is about $7.00, this makes the oil temp pretty much mirror the water temp, 180-200 degrees. The only drawback to this is it really won't make the oil heat up any faster.
I went the ZR1 oil cooler and radiator route on my 09 that had the mounting bosses for the oil cooler. If your car doesn't have them, I've heard you can buy the retrofit mounting bracket from Edelbrock, since the eforce kit includes the ZR1 oil cooler in their C6Z FI kit. No more cold oil...
Any advantage in doing this over the Dewitts? It seems much more expensive, even if you already have the mounting bosses.
Originally Posted by nuke61
Since you said coming up to temperature, the best option, IMO, is to go with a radiator heated/cooled option. That means either the ZR1 method that MTPZ06 went with (he wanted to keep it all OEM) or do what I and others, like grcor, have done - DeWitts and the Z51 cooling lines.
When it's colder out, your oil temperature gets heated up by the hot radiator water, so it's up to a nice operating temperature faster than if it was blocked off. If it gets really hot out, it's still cooled by the radiator. The DeWitts option is going to be about $700.
Do you happen to have the Dewitts and z51 lines part numbers?
Any advantage in doing this over the Dewitts? It seems much more expensive, even if you already have the mounting bosses.
For me, it was merely a preference to use OE parts. Is one better than the other? Hard to say. I scored a very low mileage OE ZR1 rad (~1500 miles) for pennies on the dollar, but a purchased a new ZR1 oil cooler. I think it was still less than the Dewitt's route for me. Both options give you a much better all aluminum radiator, so that's a big plus in my mind. The OE ZR1 rad uses a Griffin core, but I think the Dewitt's core is still just a tad thicker. Both will get the oil up to optimal temps much, much quicker than before...and that was my primary objective.
AZDave on here uses his car for track events and 1 mile, 2 mile type events, but says the Dewitt's rad has trouble keeping the oil from getting too hot, where the OE air cooled unit shines in the track. Does the ZR1 setup I have work better for this scenario? I honestly can't say.
For me, it was merely a preference to use OE parts. Is one better than the other? Hard to say. I scored a very low mileage OE ZR1 rad (~1500 miles) for pennies on the dollar, but a purchased a new ZR1 oil cooler. I think it was still less than the Dewitt's route for me. Both options give you a much better all aluminum radiator, so that's a big plus in my mind. The OE ZR1 rad uses a Griffin core, but I think the Dewitt's core is still just a tad thicker. Both will get the oil up to optimal temps much, much quicker than before...and that was my primary objective.
AZDave on here uses his car for track events and 1 mile, 2 mile type events, but says the Dewitt's rad has trouble keeping the oil from getting too hot, where the OE air cooled unit shines in the track. Does the ZR1 setup I have work better for this scenario? I honestly can't say.
So you simply swapped the z06 radiator and oil cooler for a zr1 radiator and oil cooler? What exactly was required to do this?
AZDave on here uses his car for track events and 1 mile, 2 mile type events, but says the Dewitt's rad has trouble keeping the oil from getting too hot, where the OE air cooled unit shines in the track. Does the ZR1 setup I have work better for this scenario? I honestly can't say.
09 Z with OEM air oil cooler I saw 285* oil temp and 240* water temp on road courses with my engine stock. I had the problem with cold oil on the street.
HCI work included the DeWitts radiator wit IOC. On my first road course event in 100* temps I saw 290* oil and 245* water. I installed an LG vented hood the middle of last year and it seemed to improve the cooling but I had a couple unrelated problems that may have reduced track oil temps so no real good data with 100* OATs until this coming summer. The DeWitts is definitely an oil warmer on the street with oil getting to 180*+ in less than 15 minutes of easy driving
So you simply swapped the z06 radiator and oil cooler for a zr1 radiator and oil cooler? What exactly was required to do this?
Yes. Other than those 2 items, I needed to buy a ZR1 upper radiator hose as the end that attaches to the end tank is unique to the ZR1 with a plastic 90 degree elbow and a span ring that connects to the rad neck. The Z07 radiator that came in later years is identical to the ZR1 radiator, but doesn't require this unique upper hose.
Improved Racing makes a bolt-on oil line and thermostat kit that solves this issue.
There are two thermostat versions available. You can choose the option that will give you the best header clearance for your specific headers. Here are the links:
01-20-2018, 03:26 PM
Raising oil temp options
