Common sense would be to fit the oil filter as soon as possible in the system, that way if there is a failure the filter will at least try to remove most of the contamination & prevent contamination of the oil cooler etc. Also even if there isn't a failure it helps reduce build up of crap (best technical word in the world) in the inside of the cooler. Pretty sure the factory system filters the oil before it goes to the stock oil cooler.
Nah stock system lets oil through the cooler before filtering. Filtering first is ideal but makes the system a bit more complicated as you need to use a filter relocation and stand alone thermostat rather than just the sandwich plate.
Want to conclude this. Going off of Nials post, TT's have another relief valve in the tree as well as the one in the pump that both have. So what do you guys reckon? Fit NA tree for higher pressure or refit TT tree and plumb that oem bypass directly to the sump? Assuming sandwich plate plumbed thermostatic oil cooler.
For mine I would remove the TT tree and fit NA setup, sandwich plate, remote cooler and thermostat. E
Honestly, flip a coin. Me, Rob and Rob run NA trees, I went that way simply for a little extra space and one less leak point. Z1 sell kits that keep the TT cooler valve open and I don't think they've been roasted on TT.net for it so probably works fine. The amount of oil that can flow through the restricted cooler line is pretty low anyway. You're getting your engine built aren't you? Maybe swing the question by the builder if you aren't leaning one way or the other.
Just an update on this re: pressures, did my oil change from the 15W-40 Penrite running in oil to 5W-40 Penrite semi-synthetic and oil pressure. With the oil change I hooked the oil cooler system back up (had been running no-cooler at all) and pressure is up 5psi+ at idle once warmed and steady. Everything else is the same and oil pressure is taken from the stock port on the passenger side turbo line so I think it's fair to say the extra pressure is from the lower temperature. Not really going anywhere with that, just figured I'd put some numbers up.
Now see I always get confused with posts like this lol. I thought the 15W or 5W only refers to the 'weight' of the oil when cold. So should have no bearing on anything once the engine has heated up?
Bollocks, I forgot a sentence, was supposed to say that I hooked the oil cooler back up and hadn't been running it on the last oil so I wasn't comparing the oils, was trying to compare temperatures/pressures. You're absolutely right and I was trying to rely on that point to support the idea that I was comparing temperature not the oil weights. Sorry for the confusion. Should read something like: Just an update on this re: pressures, did my oil change from the 15W-40 Penrite running in oil to 5W-40 Penrite semi-synthetic and oil pressure. With the oil change I hooked the oil cooler system back up (had been running no-cooler at all) and pressure is up 5psi+ at idle once warmed and steady. Everything else is the same and oil pressure is taken from the stock port on the passenger side turbo line so I think it's fair to say the extra pressure is from the lower temperature. Not really going anywhere with that, just figured I'd put some numbers up. If a mod passes through could they copy that into my previous post or just put strike out tags around the old one or something? Pretty please.
This is pretty cool. It seems that RB motors use a water-to-oil sandwich plate that operates as both an oil warmer on cold starts and an oil cooler when the car's up and going. It's pretty small, and a lot of people switch to a traditional oil to air set up when they add power to the car. I like the faster rising oil temps for cold starts, though. This is the stock unit off of an S2000, on the right. Goes on like a sandwich plate and has coolant (which warms up faster than oil) plumbed in/out. I'm not certain, but I think Mercedes use a combined oil to water and oil to air set up on at least one of their models (haven't looked into it). Water to oil for cold starts, then air to oil once the car is warmed up. That would be awesome. I had a really good Mercedes diagram but can't find the thing for the life of me. I'd be really keen on a thermostated oil warmer sandwich plate. When I say thermostated, I mean once the oil no longer "makes contact" with the coolant once it warms up. The it simply bypasses the heat exchanger (and would then go on to an oil to air set up if necessary).
Indeed they do, R33 RB25s do at least, 30s don't, not sure on the rest of the range. 32 GTRs may have had proper coolers or something similar to the Z, not sure. I'm having trouble coming up with a way to plumb one in without at least half a dozen extra fittings/components, most likely with an extra filter relo. block. You could easily run one between the sandwich plate and filter though, you'd just bring the oil back up to 80 or whatever water temp is and remove a little strain from the radiator.
Not sure where you're getting the extra fitting numbers from - as far as I see it it'd be four additional connections (two pipes with two ends) going to the sandwich plate - might be able to use the near by driver's side turbo lines near by. Once the car's up to temp though you're king of stuck with the unit still in operation passing more load to the radiator. Want one with a thermostat... maybe I can look into the Merc unit. If an oil warmer plate was installed with a thermostated oil-to-air plumbed sandwich plate above it, once the oil was up to temp would that limit the amount of additional heat being passed from the oil to the coolant? I.e, if the regular thermostated sandwich plate sent the oil to be cooled externally and the oil that reached the oil warmer afterwards (and then the filter) was already cooled, I'd imagine there wouldn't be too much additional load on the rad?
I'm not sure your benefits are going to outweigh the effort. If you were in a super cold climate, maybe has some benefit, but if you just drive with some sympathy until the oil is warmed up, then the regular method is fine.
The voice of reason. You're just making hard work for yourself. Keep it simple, I thought you were building a track car.
What sort of sandwich plate? I doubt there's a termostated version that does the opposite of the usual ones (bypassing when hot rather than when cold) and all of the aftermarket thermostats/sandwich plates return through the same port regardless of temperature. You'd have to cap one of the lines off the thermostat and have the cooler return to a tee downstream of the water block, maybe there's a more efficient way to put it together than I was thinking. Tree>sandwich>filter relo>thermo plate/>water block>cap plate*>return to filter relo>/tee>sandwich on tree>filter>engine /cooler>tee/ Might work, if you can read that as a schematic. I'm assuming you'd be using one of the OEM blocks, might work differently with aftermarket options. *or just an extra filter, probably cheaper. IIRC, my cold side oil temps were similar to, if not lower than the hot side water temps so not much extra load if any, if you fit the water block after the stat then should be no worries. Even easier system would be to use the factory cooler port to run to the heat exchanger in an auto rad, high cold pressure should keep the valve open when cold but wont add load to the rad at hot idle, will still flow oil to the rad at high load though. Not sure what the easiest way to switch/thermostat that better would be.
