Oil Cooler worth it?

[CarlosA]

I have yet to drive my 1.6NA rabbit in the summer, but I saw a oil cooler setup and picked it up last fall. I haven`t installed it yet.

Is it worth the install and potential problems that could arise by having it? I know my car will see 100 degree temps. The car does have AC and will sometimes pull 12% grades on the freeway. I just don`t know if cooling the oil will make the car run that much cooler. Obviously this depends on the size of the cooler, etc.

Cooler is about 7inches by 16 inches and maybe 1.5" thick. It came with the thermostatic thing to start/stop the flow at whatever temperature.

[82vdub]

Cooler oil will always have more heat transferred to it from hot metals etc, and part of the purpose of oil is to remove heat from areas where it's not wanted. I'd say it's always good to have an oil cooler if you can, but it's unlikely that you would see cooler engine coolant temps from doing this. You likely would see cooler oil temps though. The one you describe sounds like an aftermarket cooler. If it's thermostatically controlled and isn't a full flow cooler like the factory pieces, where are you going to take the oil from, and where are you going to return it to the engine? If you try to take the oil before it goes into the engine (by the oil filter), if you have a full flow cooler, you may run so much oil through the cooler (path of least resistance) and leave very little to go through the engine to do it's job.

[TylerDurden]

I rekon it will help keep the oil temps down. As for oil capacity, it may require some extra oil, but that too means more media to carry heat away.

[CarlosA]

Yeah makes sense. This is the factory style that sandwiches between the oil filter and flange. I guess it would make sense for it to have a check valve somewhere to keep the flow going.

[Dakotakid]

Post a photo or two of it if handy.
If you are still planning the long trip, I would carry any pieces necessary to return to stock on the side of the road.

[Fatmobile]

Please put your car in your sig.

If it's a TD you really should have one.
I'd like to see an NA diesel oil temp when going up a long grade.
Might be more than on a turbo because more air would cool it off.

Get an oil temp gauge and see how far it drops.
I was surprised when I went from the stock water cooled oil warmer to a thermo-controlled, air-cooled one.

I needed to come off the sandwich plate with a 45 degree fitting, to clear the alternator.

[surfcam]

If it's a TD you really should have one.
I'd like to see an NA diesel oil temp when going up a long grade.
Might be more than on a turbo because more air would cool it off.

I think the TD's run hotter with more air because the air heats up when the turbo compresses the air. A inter-cool would help this as seen on the TDI's.

[CarlosA]

My car is NA. I`ll get pics of the setup tomorrow.

Turbo would definitely benefit, in my experience the oil gets quite a bit of heat from the turbo in general because of the exhaust.