auto radiator

lanos2001 · Post by **lanos2001** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:21 pm

ok i got the radiator from an auto and mine is a standard. i plan on using brass plugs for where the tranny lines feed into it since i don't need it. but my question is can i just hook up the radiator without plugging up the holes first. i just need to get to the dealership so i can put it on a frame machine. someone told me that nothing would come out of those holes since no tranny. so can i do that or not?

nick

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:41 pm

there is no need for plugging the holes. the trans cooler is a seperate part of the radiator. you could leave the brass plugs out for ever and it wouldnt hurt a thing

Pir0 · Post by **Pir0** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:55 pm

What pumps the fluid around the tranny then?

Is there a seperate pump run off the engine's cambelt?

lanos2001 · Post by **lanos2001** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:36 pm

sweet!!!! thanks skinner

nick

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:03 am

its a pump on the tranny. most (if not all) auto trannys come stock with trans coolers, the fluid in the tranny is constantsly moveing. no prob nick

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:51 am

OK... now an intresting question:

can this extra cooler be used as engine oil cooler instead of a tranny fluid cooler?

i am thinking of throwing in a sandwitch adaptor on the oil filter and run feed and return lines from/to the cooler and BANG!... you got an oil cooler.

will this cooler survive the pressure of the engine oil system?
is oil to coolant radiation better than oil to air?

sorry to hijack but it is very tempting to do so

MMamdouh

gb2615 · Post by **gb2615** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:13 am

Hi MMamdouh

Your question on whether the oil cooler could be used for engine oil is certainly thought provoking.

You might need to consider that the oil is a lot thicker than auto transmission oil and is nowhere near as clean or as long living. Also could the cooling process work against the oil and engine warming up in colder weather?

Certainly when the engine works hard it will help but at best you might only be able to drop the temperature a few degrees. Then you might also consider that if one of your lines break, you could pump all the oil out of your engine very quickly. Are there other car engines that come standard with an engine oil cooler? If not, then it might seem that disadvantages might out weigh the benefits.

Now that I have put all the negative arguments, you could also think that keeping the oiler cooler would have to extend its life and therefore reduce the wear on the engine. Let us know if you go ahead. It would be interesting to see what your results turn out to be.

gb2615

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:03 pm

AFAIK porsches comes with OEM oil coolers, old VW beetls come with coolers and some BMW versions does... the point is they are all using oil to air cooling rather than oil to coolant

breaking a line is a threat in both cases so it is kinda irrelevent in discussing the radiator coolant... it is a threat in any case and i have seen it many times during the turbo nubira project and the only good way to monitor this is to install an oil pressure gauge

i am not sure about the cold start issue... during startup all fluids will be at same temp, oil will get hot rather quickly and will start to cool in radiator but the radiator is not getting cooled as the car is at a halt and fans are off so i don't think this will be a very big issue... remeber that the same case happens to tranny fluid.

my real concern is the pressure handling of the cooler... anyone know the peak pressure that our engine oil pumps can produce? and what is the peak pressure that an auto trany is producing??

MMamdouh

Pir0 · Post by **Pir0** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:45 pm

Oil cooler's also came as an optional extra in Vauxhall Astra GTEs [maybe other models too]. Maybe the Lemans did too?

Would be easy to mount in a nexia or a lanos seeing as they've a similar chassis to the astra. Just anothe idea.

Post by **Efratech** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:23 pm

oil coolers where only fitted to C20XE's and LET's

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:21 pm

id be worried about pressure drop due to haveing to gun the oil through a small line,