Oil Cooler

Another thing that's been bugging me is the stock oil cooler and lack of free space behind it to allow air to flow through.



The area between the tape is where the cooler sits. Yeah, a lot of frame behind it.


Adding some spacers between it and the frame, and longer through bolts, should allow more air to flow through.

Not looking for this to cure the oil temperature problem, but every little thing helps, right?

Dear Diary,

On the cool evening ride home, I got temperaturte readings of 270 Degrees F after all I've done. What the Duece???
Either there's something wrong with the gauge, which I'll be testing in boiling water to see if it reads correctly this weekend, or there's some major oil flow restriction going on in my engine.

even with the wrap, could you still be getting oil hot...? how much does the wrap drop temp?
its pretty tight in there...i would definitely validate the accuracy of a used pc of electronics..

After Friday Night's ordeal with oil temps being so high, I had a few chioces:

1. Either take the stock 13,000 mile engine out of the track bike, and use it in the streetbike for now or . . .

2. Install the long-awaited 12,000 mile used short block, with the freshly self-honed and new-ringed cylinders, and a rebuilt APE Head(2006 Rebuild, thanks)
aperaceparts.com/
Also, a friend in Canada, so graciously hand-ported for me after the rebuild. or . . .

3. Ride the bike with the current engine till it esplodes. Yes, the "s" was meant to be there.



I chose door number 2.

Took most of the day, because my brother visited from Sacramento, and I was helping/watching him rebuild the carbs on his '84 Honda Nighthawk 700SC for the first time. He did OK. One engine out, and the other in, borrowing a few parts, and covers. A little nervous, as this engine was my first top end job, and installed a new cam chain with a master link from www.z1enterprises.com thanks gents) so I didn't have to split the cases to replace it. You know the weakest link saying...

Rode home yesterday evening and had temps of 260 Degrees F on another cool cloudy evening, doing about 75-80 mph which is far better than the 270-290 Degrees F I was getting on an even colder night before. I will be changing the oil and testing the probe in boiling water for accuracy next weekend, as I didn't have anything where I did the engine swap to boil water. For now, the probe is sitting there in the same oil galley, plugging the hole, and there for temp readings.

"THIS IS NOT AN OIL THREAD"
but, I'm forever running full synthetic 20w-50 oil in my GPz's from now on. With temps in the 240-260 range(if that's where they run), I want the best protection for my oil-cooled engines. Something to really think about.

I wanted to use a mechanical temp gauge, but having a hard time finding one small enough, and a good quality enough one at that, for my application.

wow, this whole thing makes me nervous. i have a gpz factory oil cooler on my ltd for cooling purposes since i have wiseco 810 pistons in it and gpz cams. but now, im all shook up about oil temps causing premature wear or moisture inside the engine. my only hope is to move out of my midwestern climate to someplace warmer so running too cool isnt a problem. i wish you luck with lowering your temps.

eaglecrash2 (User) Posts: 70
Engine seized up 1 Day, 3 Hours ago
"My son while riding the 650 at night lost all engine oil via a busted oil line linked to an added oil cooler. He pulled over when the engine made weird noise but I think it's too late. How much of an engine tear down am I looking at? Cost? Thanks for input/advice."

Something else to keep in mind.

keith1 wrote:

Jeff.Saunders wrote:

My answer to your question about is it good to run a cooler differs based on how you ride the bike and where you live...

In northern states, you don't need, nor do you want an oil cooler on a stock bike. Way too many negatives.

Your engine is designed to run without a cooler. Oil coolers can overcool the engine. In situations like this, the condensation in the engine does NOT get burned off, and the oil ends up going milky white. Rust will occur inside the engine.

Depending on how the cooler is fitted, many have the oil feeds at the bottom of the cooler - this allows all the oil to drain out of the cooler when the bike sits. When the bike is fired up, the pump has to push oil up to the cooler, then back down to the engine. Not ideal for sure.

jeff,
with all the respect that is due someone with your experience and knowledge, i beg to differ ...
i live in a northern state and i ride when the ambient temp is 65 or above....i have in the past ridden at around 50, but my butt gets colder quicker now!!
the old kzs , as cold blooded as they are,will get up to temps as high as 175- 200 after 40 mins or so of riding in the summertime in a mix of cruising and stop and go....i have a temp guage that says so(accurate?).... a cooler is that extra bit of insurance.....yes , if you go for 20 minute jaunts in 50 degree weather, you are not doing your motor good , cooler or not...
but if you want to ride all day in 95 degree
heat...(i rode from lincoln, nh to quebeck (sp?) canada)...you might want a cooler for insurance..
there is a temp sweet spot for all motors, but once you get above it, excess wear and tear kick
in....i dont know if this is a decent analogy but, i think i read somewhere if you can put a tranny cooler on a car and drop the temp 30 degrees, you will double the life of the tranny...
like i said before, you undoubtedly know more than
i do, but i thought would add my .02....keith

Please listen to Jeff he is correct. If you install a quality thermostat then an oil cooler is OK. If you don't have an inline thermostat the oil may never reach the best operating temp.

hoghaterkaw wrote:

keith1 wrote:

Jeff.Saunders wrote:

My answer to your question about is it good to run a cooler differs based on how you ride the bike and where you live...

In northern states, you don't need, nor do you want an oil cooler on a stock bike. Way too many negatives.

Your engine is designed to run without a cooler. Oil coolers can overcool the engine. In situations like this, the condensation in the engine does NOT get burned off, and the oil ends up going milky white. Rust will occur inside the engine.

Depending on how the cooler is fitted, many have the oil feeds at the bottom of the cooler - this allows all the oil to drain out of the cooler when the bike sits. When the bike is fired up, the pump has to push oil up to the cooler, then back down to the engine. Not ideal for sure.

jeff,
with all the respect that is due someone with your experience and knowledge, i beg to differ ...
i live in a northern state and i ride when the ambient temp is 65 or above....i have in the past ridden at around 50, but my butt gets colder quicker now!!
the old kzs , as cold blooded as they are,will get up to temps as high as 175- 200 after 40 mins or so of riding in the summertime in a mix of cruising and stop and go....i have a temp guage that says so(accurate?).... a cooler is that extra bit of insurance.....yes , if you go for 20 minute jaunts in 50 degree weather, you are not doing your motor good , cooler or not...
but if you want to ride all day in 95 degree
heat...(i rode from lincoln, nh to quebeck (sp?) canada)...you might want a cooler for insurance..
there is a temp sweet spot for all motors, but once you get above it, excess wear and tear kick
in....i dont know if this is a decent analogy but, i think i read somewhere if you can put a tranny cooler on a car and drop the temp 30 degrees, you will double the life of the tranny...
like i said before, you undoubtedly know more than
i do, but i thought would add my .02....keith

Please listen to Jeff he is correct. If you install a quality thermostat then an oil cooler is OK. If you don't have an inline thermostat the oil may never reach the best operating temp.

thanks, i ll try to remember that when i m in stop and go traffic in 89 degree heat 2 hrs into the ride......

My guess is what hoghaterkaw is saying is like running a car without a thermostat. The fluid need time in the cooler to get air to flow through it. If there's nothing to slow it down, then it's not in there long enough to do any good. If you remove the thermaostat on your car/truck, the engine temps will rise. The thermostat, when working properly will be slowly opening and closing depending on the fluid's temperature. Most thermostats will fail sticking shut from my past experience.

The use of an oil temperature gauge will let you know if an oil cooler(properly installed) is necessary. If your temps are too low, then an added oil thermostat would be a great addition. Running too hot with all above, and maybe an added electric fan as well.

Older oil-cooled VW/Porsche Engines have a mechanical blower fan that works and aided in cooling.

You gotta know how hot your engine oil is, because it's the only lubrication and cooling, other than outside air, it gets.

CoreyClough wrote:

My guess is what hoghaterkaw is saying is like running a car without a thermostat. The fluid need time in the cooler to get air to flow through it. If there's nothing to slow it down, then it's not in there long enough to do any good. If you remove the thermaostat on your car/truck, the engine temps will rise. The thermostat, when working properly will be slowly opening and closing depending on the fluid's temperature. Most thermostats will fail sticking shut from my past experience.

The use of an oil temperature gauge will let you know if an oil cooler(properly installed) is necessary. If your temps are too low, then an added oil thermostat would be a great addition. Running too hot with all above, and maybe an added electric fan as well.

Older oil-cooled VW/Porsche Engines have a mechanical blower fan that works and aided in cooling.

You gotta know how hot your engine oil is, because it's the only lubrication and cooling, other than outside air, it gets.

i run a guage and bike runs around 200-225...my guage has a red mark at 250, so i m guessing anything above that is not condusive to a long engine life......keith

What does the gauge look like/ what type, and where are you getting the oil readings from?

CoreyClough wrote:

What does the gauge look like/ what type, and where are you getting the oil readings from?

i got it from american classics....i cant say for sure how accurate it is....