Thermostat oil cooler ?

[SeanG]

Hello, I removed the old oil cooler from my GT6 project, it was leaking and cover in gunk, just thought it wasnt worth rebuild, so bought a 13row from rimmer.

Now, is the oil thermostat a must ? there was no thermostat in the car, I own a MGB 1976 too, and no thermostat either.

The thing is when i warm up the car, I drive very slow RPM, so the cooler is not gonna get the oil too cold right ?

Any of you run without ? what is max time you think for engine to get to working temp?

 

thx a lot for precious help !

 

 

ps : rimmer's thermostat is £54 

 

Sean

[JohnD]

Sean,

Except possibly in a very hot climate, a road car needs an oil cooler like a fish needs a bicycle.

The water radiator does a perfectly good job.

 

Worse, oil 'works' as a lubricant at a little over water boiling point.  Without an oil cooler, the increased pressure in the water jacket and an effective water radiator will deliver just that.   If you insist on fitting an oil cooler for ordinary driving, then even if the water jacket gets hot enough to open the water thermostat, the oil never will - it will stay at less than the effective temperature.   Your engine will wear faster, because it only ever sees cold oil.

If you must have an oil cooler on a road car, you must use a thermostat.    However, it's quite likely that it will never open and cycle oil through the cooler!

 

How can I be so emphatic about this?

I do have an oil cooler on my SofS Vitesse racer.     It has no thermostat, but I do have an oil temperature gauge.

The oil takes a long time to warm up, and then on the road it stays where it should be, just over water boiling point.

If I did a lot of short trips in it, it would be wearing out quicker.

 

John

[Clive]

Buy a thermostat off ebay, plenty of good sellers and the same part.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOCAL-OT-1-1-2-REMOTE-OIL-COOLER-THERMOSTAT-CIVIC-VTEC-TYPE-R-S2000-CRX-SQ-/400742021200?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5d4e15f850

 

As John says, unless car is driven hard it won't be needed (exception is the 1500 engine when used on motorways or hard driving) but no thermostat is detrimental.