Oil cooler on RV8 3.5

[martin_t]

Hi
I am in the middle of a GD Cobra build and have built a Rover 3.5 up from scratch to put it it. I intend to fit the engine very soon and wondered If I should put an oil cooler on? Is there any for's or against's? If I fit one what size should it be? What benefits or not would it have for my Rover engine?

Thanks Guys

Martin

[sidecar]

Hi
I am in the middle of a GD Cobra build and have built a Rover 3.5 up from scratch to put it it. I intend to fit the engine very soon and wondered If I should put an oil cooler on? Is there any for's or against's? If I fit one what size should it be? What benefits or not would it have for my Rover engine?

Thanks Guys

Martin

I've got one on my Sumo, its more for looks than anything else!

However I suppose it could be needed on a hot day if you are giving it some stick!

Also I don't think that the mineral oil that I use (Valvoine Vr 20/50) can take being cooked as well as the modern synth stuff.

You could fit a thermostatic sandwich plate and that way you don't need to worry about over cooling the oil. The problem with most stat plates is that they are very poor in terms of flow paths. Once you suss out how they work the state of the holes that the oil is supposed to flow though is quite shocking! I spent a good hour "gas flowing" mine.


Regards,

Pete

[chodjinn]

there is a school of thought that says you don't really need one for the RV8, however for the cost (i.e. relatively little) you may as well. However, better safe than sorry I reckon, especially if you will give it some with the loud pedal occassionally hehe!

I ran a 13-row Mocal in my MGB, sold it for a heat exchanger, sold that and I'm now going back to a 13-row cooler; that should be enough for general road use with some abuse!

thanks

[ramon alban]

Martin,
I cant say the following will provide your answer but it may well help you decide.

The oil coolers were factory fitted to the Rover SD1 V8 EFi VDP and Vitesse Cars with Automatic transmission where the ATF cooling was routed to the side radiator tanks so this presumably detracted from the amount of cooling the radiator could provide to the engine.

Therefor the engine oil cooler which was mounted on the front cross member would have made up the difference.

Interestingly on both the Efi VDP's that came my way the oil cooler rads were completely blocked with crud (oil and dirt) and might as well have not been there.

On the Efi that I kept for 8 years I retained the oil cooler in good working order, but as I only ran the car mostly in winter months I doubt if it were ever needed.

On the other hand I also used that car in the summer for hauling a caravan and if there was any tendency to overheat I never suffered from it.

So in summary all UK Manual Rover SD1's left the factory without oil coolers and as far as I know, only the Efi Autos had them.

I believe there was a particular reason why the Efi cars were so fitted. Unlike carb cars, the EFi fueling efficiency is very dependant upon coolant temperature and if an Auto car without the extra cooling capacity were to suffer temporary overheating then this would cause leaner mixtures which would add to the heating issue. Similarly if the temperature fluctations were also affected by Aircon then influential owners of these (then) prestigeous new cars might get pretty fed up with fluctuating engine efficiency, idle speed, cooling woes, the whole nine yards.

Its all my crap theory of course, but there is some logic in there somewhere.

[ChrisJC]

I don't use one in my LDV V8 (3.5 Range Rover engine), which gets loaded pretty hard when one is flogging down the motorway at high speed (more so than in a car), and it doesn't need an oil cooler.

In fact, I don't think any of the 3.5l Range Rovers did, it was only on the 3.9's that they started fitting them.

Of course if your water cooling system is inadequate, then an oil cooler will help....

Chris.

[JP.]

There's only one way to find out for shure, fit an oil temp gauge.

I am running a 16 row with a stat on my 3.5 powered Capri. The 16 row & stat was recomended bij Real Steel.
Oil temp is steady at 88'c now whatever the weather is and whatever I do.
I found myself in troubles on hot days and long trips with temps fluctuating between 90 and 130'c.

[Pocket rocket]

With the Cobra kits you have to take into account that the engine bay may be much more restricted in terms of air flow especially if it is clad in stainless or whatever.
It might be worth you having a word with Andy Burrows (although i understand he may not talk to you once he learns you have fitted a RV8 )

[ppyvabw]

Some say don't fit one because it doesn't need it. I have one fitted through a thermostat though, and the cooler gets hot, so obviously the thermostat thinks it needs an oil cooler. Depends I suppose on the application, the cooling system and the amount of stick it will get.

[martin_t]

With the Cobra kits you have to take into account that the engine bay may be much more restricted in terms of air flow especially if it is clad in stainless or whatever.
It might be worth you having a word with Andy Burrows (although i understand he may not talk to you once he learns you have fitted a RV8 )

He always talks to me (especially cos I'm still spending money with him at the moment!!). No offence Andy, always really helpful.

Martin