aux coolers. which ones to use?

[INSIDIOUS '86]

so I have a trans cooler that looks like this, just an avg cooler for my th350 im going to put that in

then I was thinking of running an oil cooler for my 377, it runs royal purple but i rev it and run it pretty hard i have a 160* thermo and an underdrive pulley with a flexalite fan, havent really had a prob with temp but it has yet to get past mid 80s* here in wash were im at

so the prob is I have a kc4 filter cooler from a gta that had less than 30k so its pretty much new still. then I have a trans oil cooler that I was thinking of hardlining so which will work better you think?

[lilpoindexter]

I work on tow tractors at work. Those are those little tractors you see pulling luggage carts and small airplanes around at the airport. We recently did some experimentation with this...The engine oil coolers aren't really necessary in those applications. It seems the engine coolant, and radiator are sufficient. The cooler you have on the right, the black one, works better than the old school one on the left. We also found that a transmission cooler was a must, critical, for keeping the tranny alive. i think we used the exact same brand as your black one, except about 10x12..yours looks like maybe 8"...but I would use the black one for the trans, mounted in front of the radiator.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

well i took my truck out in some 85 degree weather today on the highway the trans gets hot and the temp on my 400 creeps from 165 to about 190 which is more than i want to keep my detonation at bay, im thinking adding an oil cooler for the engine just to help longevity/cooling of the engine im just not sure which oil cooler to use

[my4by2]

We ended up using two aluminum heat-sync style coolers from Derale on my truck - one for the engine oil (LS motor) & the other for the power steering system (hydra-boost).

They fab'd up a custom dimpled mounting plate underneath the radiator which came out pretty killer I think!!! Both should get good airflow mounted there & are up out of the way pretty well.

Summit sells these coolers in a variety of applications & with a bunch of inlet/outlet set-ups too! Worth a look anyhow - hope it helps.

[Hevy]

Definitely the "sandwich" style cooler on the right has the best heat transfer rate.

[jimbonice]

The one on the right is a stacked plate cooler. Way more efficient than the tube and fin type.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

well know im stuck between what to use for cooling my oil or trans fluid. i want my trans cool and would like to use the tube and fin type for it and the stacked plate cooler is just the best overall and im not sure if i should use it for engine oil or trans, wwjd?

[sumran]

I would not run an oil cooler on a water cooled engine. I have one on my BMW airhead motorcycle, because it is air cooled and I live in Florida. At highway sppeds in the summer with a passenger and gear the additional cooling is helpful. It was factory installed for that reason.

If there was a problem keeping the engine cool I would look at the radiator and fan. As long as the radiator is properly sized and the system is clean, you should stay in the ideal operating range.

I think the transmission cooler is helpful with a truck like yours. You have increased the performance of the vehicle beyond its original design. The transmission cooling was just enough on the stock setup.

My 2 cents worth, since you asked for thoughts.

[my4by2]

The oil cooler I am using is because the type of LS truck that I am using came factory with came stock with an external oil cooler because it is designed for HD trucks that tow a lot. I won't be doing that, but cooling the oil is never a bad thing & adding the extra oil capacity the lines & cooler will is also an added benefit of them.

[tucsonjwt]

I will say one thing about the trans cooler - do not mount it by hanging it off the fins of the radiator - I had that setup and the tie wraps holding it to the radiator eventually wore out the fins of the radiator at the attachment points. The radiator repair guy recommended mounting it under the radiator horizontally, but I don't like that either for debris/damage reasons. I would rig up some kind of brackets to mount it in front of the radiator.
I have the factory oil cooler shown in your first pic in my 83 454 and it has not given me any problems, and I live in HotZona. I have a 7 quart oil pan which helps also.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Originally Posted by sumran

I would not run an oil cooler on a water cooled engine. I have one on my BMW airhead motorcycle, because it is air cooled and I live in Florida. At highway sppeds in the summer with a passenger and gear the additional cooling is helpful. It was factory installed for that reason.

If there was a problem keeping the engine cool I would look at the radiator and fan. As long as the radiator is properly sized and the system is clean, you should stay in the ideal operating range.

I think the transmission cooler is helpful with a truck like yours. You have increased the performance of the vehicle beyond its original design. The transmission cooling was just enough on the stock setup.

My 2 cents worth, since you asked for thoughts.

alot of road race cars run them, but i have a 7qt hamburgers pan with royal purple a big block oil pump from melling, but the system is clean its a sb 400 with a stock water pump underdrive pulley and flex fan and in high temps the gauge still creeps up to about 190, with a 165* stat i know for a fact that the cooling system is up to snuff and the fan is sized right, but i do looong bursts of high rpm with this engine and figure an oil cooler is good assurance to keeping all systems at thier optimum

[406 Q-ship]

If it only gets to 190°......don't even worry about it. I would pitch the flexfan in the trash (have one loose a blade you'll never run one again either), put a good quality factory steel fan a thermostat clutch back in the truck. If a clutch fan is good enough for a LT-1 Corvette and an LS-6 Chevelle that could turn 6500 RPM then it will be fine on your truck, besides how often do spin the 400 that hard.....and why are you spinning a 400 beyond 5700 anyway? That oil cooler in the middle is neat and uses engine coolant to cool along with being very compact nor needing clean airflow for heat exchange. If you do use that cooler, if the engine coolant starts to get real hot then the oil is going to get hotter too. You can actually put too big of an oil cooler on an engine, making oil temp too cool....275 to 300 ° is what I was told by an Traco racing engine in the late 1980's.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Originally Posted by 406 Q-ship

If it only gets to 190°......don't even worry about it. I would pitch the flexfan in the trash (have one loose a blade you'll never run one again either), put a good quality factory steel fan a thermostat clutch back in the truck. If a clutch fan is good enough for a LT-1 Corvette and an LS-6 Chevelle that could turn 6500 RPM then it will be fine on your truck, besides how often do spin the 400 that hard.....and why are you spinning a 400 beyond 5700 anyway? That oil cooler in the middle is neat and uses engine coolant to cool along with being very compact nor needing clean airflow for heat exchange. If you do use that cooler, if the engine coolant starts to get real hot then the oil is going to get hotter too. You can actually put too big of an oil cooler on an engine, making oil temp too cool....275 to 300 ° is what I was told by an Traco racing engine in the late 1980's.

engine is a 377 built to spin but i adamantly hate clutch fans, im going electric sometime but for now the flex shouldnt be a prob when its spinning half the speed most poeple spin them, i just want my temp to stay 165. thats the reason i put a stat that low is to keep it there

[sumran]

Originally Posted by INSIDIOUS '86

alot of road race cars run them, but i have a 7qt hamburgers pan with royal purple a big block oil pump from melling, but the system is clean its a sb 400 with a stock water pump underdrive pulley and flex fan and in high temps the gauge still creeps up to about 190, with a 165* stat i know for a fact that the cooling system is up to snuff and the fan is sized right, but i do looong bursts of high rpm with this engine and figure an oil cooler is good assurance to keeping all systems at thier optimum

My thoughts were more in line with normal street use. There is much I don't know and there are special applications where a cooler would be called for. I would be interested to know the optimal operating temperature for your motor. From what I have read, 180 to 200 is ideal for a motor with a carb and the upper limit is a bit higher for fuel injected. 190 is obviously the sweet spot in that range. That seems to be consistent with the way the motors were set up by the factory (not saying original is always best).

[406 Q-ship]

Originally Posted by INSIDIOUS '86

engine is a 377 built to spin but i adamantly hate clutch fans, im going electric sometime but for now the flex shouldnt be a prob when its spinning half the speed most poeple spin them, i just want my temp to stay 165. thats the reason i put a stat that low is to keep it there

165° is too cold. I have had multiple experience with electrics too, the factory clutch fans work better on the older vehicles. If you must go electric then use a good OEM system fan on a aluminum radiator. If you notice all the new vehicles with electric fans have aluminum rads, also if you notice that trucks still use the tried and true engine driven clutch fans. If your trying to get more power with that cold of a coolant temp, then build a good cold air intake system over trying to run 165° coolant temp.

My 1968 Chevelle has a 375 hp 350 SBC in it. I use a no name 3 core brass radiator (came with the car), a clutch fan from a 1978 G-body, a fan shroud (very important!!!), and a good quality fan thermostatically controlled clutch. I have run this car at the Streets of Willow (Willow Springs Raceway) in +100° air temp, it will get run HARD and the water temp only tops out at 190-195°. The OEM engineers got it right more than most want to admit.

[78 Chevyrado]

Here's the one I put on mine. 2nd or 3rd post down

tranny cooler