That first part is what I had in mind - an OEM style sandwich that is reached after the oil will go to an air to oil cooler. Could work well if I decide to put the system together. That's curious about running the OEM cooler port, didn't think of that.
The benefits are there, but really only if you can't wait the extra 5-10 minutes before giving it some stick in the mornings.
I don't mind the wait - do you ever think it would produce a noticeable difference in engine life, or would the difference be so small that surely something else would go kapow and end it before wear from cold starts anyway?
Look, if its a track car, then the cons of running colder than desireable oil temps are simply not there. When you actually add up the number of cold starts and overall K's the engine is going to do over a couple of seasons between freshenups, its SFA compared to a road car where the addition of a water/oil cooler is very beneficial. If eekeing out a few extra k's life out of a race engine, OR its oil, by implementing half a dozen funky assed oil heating/cooling systems is of any consequence to you, then perhaps building a track car is the wrong thing for you. There an old saying that may resonate. "if you have to ask how much for a new Rolls Royce, then you probably cant afford it" kind of thing mebbe? IMHO, a simple sandwich plate coming off an NA tree with a Mocal external oil temp thermostat and a decent sized oil cooler along with regular oil changes. Id never run a boosted engine longer than a couple of club seasons at the extreme without pulling it and inspecting for detonation damage anyway. Simple as that. E
99% of the wear from cold starts is the actual start itself as there's minimal oil in the upper parts of the engine, it's all in the pan. This won't help that at all and the benefits to wear from heating your oil up 5 minutes faster would be measured in theoretics, vs actual km's.
Oh, my bad Anti. i thought that this was a track car. Andymac, actually thats not chiefly the issue at altho there is some evidence to keep it in mind. There is plenty of residual oil left on the parts which will lubricate them just fine on startup. The issue mainly from cold is the buildup of destructive acids that collect in the oil as a byproduct of the combining on exhaust gasses, oil fumes and water that condenses regualarly inside engines. Over time, IF the oil is not sufficiently heated enough to thoroughly evaporate the moisture away, the acids build up and are deposited on the engine components and afterf time, actually corrode the metal surfaces away. It at a microscopic level but it happens nonetheless and the damage is cumulative. Is why mums taxi that runs cold all the time will be rooted after 250,000 K's yet a taxi will run for 3 times that without a touch. Its also why diesel trucks are specced to travel so many more K's between services as the bulk of the running is hot which evaporates the moisture and acids out of the oil. ANYTHING in a road car which assists in faster warming of the oil is a good thing. E
I made the assumption that when this particular car is used, it's used long enough to get to temp, so the lack of evaporation was a non-issue, and the focus was really on wear from cold starts.
The specifics of your application will make a fair difference, I live in Canberra and the Z is my daily so my car is rarely running for more than 20 minutes at a time, that means winter driving cycles the oil is probably not burning off condensation etc. with the full flow cooler fitted. If you only take the car out for cruises then it will spend plenty of time up at temp, probably the same for the average commute in the big cities. Still having the PCVs hooked to vacuum should help a lot with cleaning out the crank case too.
