• olaaf
  • Ripened Lemon
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  • From: New York, NY
  • Registered: 2010-11-05
  • Posts: 368

Topic: oil cooler install question

Hi All

I’m installing an oil cooler pulled from a mitsu starion into my crown vic with the 4.6 engine. The inlet and outlet ports are both on one side, I was wondering does it matter if the ports end up on top or the bottom? On the bottom would be more convenient for the installation in the engine bay, but then it would mean the oil would drain out of the cooler when the engine was shutdown.. does this matter? The lines will run to a sandwich adapter on the filter…

Also, I read in the book Modern Engine Tuning that one should never install a used oil cooler, but I’m guessing the author didn’t quite factor in Lemons realties.. or is this a big mistake?

Thanks,
olaaf

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  • JThw8
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  • From: Mullica Hill, NJ
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Re: oil cooler install question

Cant quite tell you on the mounting orientation but I dont see it being a terrible problem.  As far as going used, just flush it well with kerosene or some other solvent then dry well before installing and you should be fine.

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  • From: Angier
  • Registered: 2009-09-19
  • Posts: 705

Re: oil cooler install question

i would think you would want the oil to leave the cooler once the motor shuts down.  if i understand how a cooler actually works, when there is no air passing over the cooler there is no cooling.

heat soak on an oil cooler could be a bad thing for the cooler but i have no sound data to support my theory.

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  • From: Baltimore, MD
  • Registered: 2010-05-20
  • Posts: 1,745

Re: oil cooler install question

It'll work mounted any which way.

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  • From: Columbus, OH
  • Registered: 2009-05-26
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Re: oil cooler install question

If there's no way for air to get into the cooler, the oil won't drain back out of it.  It'll be fine.

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  • From: Choctaw, Oklahoma
  • Registered: 2009-11-12
  • Posts: 2,144

Re: oil cooler install question

If your oil cooler has a thermostat/bypass screwed into it (like RX-7 oil coolers), then it might matter which way you plumb it. I wouldn't worry about the oil draining back. If I were worried, I'd just change the oil more often. Reusing an oil cooler is okay as long as you flush it good. I would try to avoid using an oil cooler out of a car that had a lot of metal shavings in the oil pan.

  • BoB
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Re: oil cooler install question

Also avoid any that have a spray painted engine block, although most of the cash for clunker cars should be gone a few might be left in some yards, and you don't want the stuff they dumped in the oil to kill them anywhere near your car.

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  • From: Land Of Subarus, Colorado
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 9,416

Re: oil cooler install question

Doesn't the P71 Crown Vic already have a factory-installed oil cooler?

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  • olaaf
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  • From: New York, NY
  • Registered: 2010-11-05
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Re: oil cooler install question

Judge Phil wrote:

Doesn't the P71 Crown Vic already have a factory-installed oil cooler?

it sure does. however, are we smart enough to run a p71? nope. we've got the extended wheelbase p70. remember the pathetic NYC taxi that got you a bottle of raki at NOLA? that's us.

thanks for the info all,

olaaf

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  • From: Land Of Subarus, Colorado
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 9,416

Re: oil cooler install question

I would think that a P71 oil cooler would be the way to go, since I'll bet even the P70s have the mounting holes ready to go. But if you've already got a Starion cooler (why not choose a component from the least reliable car in Lemons history?), might as well go with it.

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  • olaaf
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  • From: New York, NY
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Re: oil cooler install question

i got this cooler and sandwich adapter for free, helping out a friend. As for getting the stock police cooler, do you know how COLD it is in the NY area? We went to a junkyard a couple of weeks ago and pretty much said, forget it, let's leave after an hour. That, and the fact that the cooler is an air/water type that heats up the engine coolant was all the reasoning we needed to get back in the car and drive home.

i didn't know the starion is the least reliable car though. i won't be mentioning it to my teammates.

thanks
olaaf

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  • From: Land Of Subarus, Colorado
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Re: oil cooler install question

Of the cars we've seen enough times to have their Lemons performance be at all meaningful, the Starion is indeed the worst. This is good news for Talon/Eclipse fans, because otherwise their cars would be the worst.

The Panther Crown Victoria is one of the more reliable Lemons cars, but that's probably the P71s only (due to all the cop-grade cooling and suspension stuff). The Modular 4.6 engine is the only Detroit V8 that's been very solid in Lemons racing, though the Chrysler LA engines have been pretty good as well.

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13 Reply by Hoonatic Racing (edited by Hoonatic Racing 2011-02-11 03:18 PM)

  • From: Houston (Spring) Texas
  • Registered: 2010-02-22
  • Posts: 1,624

Re: oil cooler install question

Judge Phil wrote:

This is good news for Talon/Eclipse fans, because otherwise their cars would be the worst.

Really? they beat out the XR4Ti?

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  • From: VA
  • Registered: 2010-05-05
  • Posts: 920

Re: oil cooler install question

Find out if the t-stat is in the sandwich plate or the oil cooler radiator.  If it's like the volvo ones, the t-stat is in the sandwich plate, so the orientation and in/out of the oil cooler itself doesn't matter.

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  • From: Land Of Subarus, Colorado
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 9,416

Re: oil cooler install question

Hoonatic Racing wrote:

Really? they beat out the XR4Ti?

Oh yes. The Starion and Eclipse are worse than the XR4Ti.

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