High Temps with Alekshop Oil Cooler

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by Hujan

But more fluid also means more heat capacity, just like a bigger/heavier rotor.

True...but wouldn't that only delay the inevitable?

[Rennwerks]

Just wanted to report that I also experienced seemingly higher temps with the cooler. '09 DCT w/ ESS VT2. I do not have any CAN data showing temps, but during the One Lap of America this year we had a limp mode condition twice. The car had never done that before. The oil temps also stayed slightly above the middle mark on the gauge, whereas it used to sit central. Not thrilled.


Coolant temps seem to be causing the limp home before oil temps, so I just purchased a CSF radiator to install to see what changes we get there. I'm wondering if the larger oil cooler is blocking radiator flow to the point where it's raising the coolant temps? Will find out at the next track day.

[8600RPM]

Exactly what came to mind. Bigger oil cooler blocks radiator. As with many products, ultimately oem best

[bigjae1976]

I believe that the best solution will be a cooler in series with OEM. The problem is space especially with a DCT car. I was thinking about using the dummy hood vent to route air to a heat exchanger. Or if you wanna get serious, relocate the DCT cooler to the trunk and use OE DCT cooler location for oil.

For a 6MT, I'd just buy a DCT cooler and then route the engine oil to that.

[surlynkid]

My water temp hit 224. I also agree the limp mode is not an oil issue.

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

I believe that the best solution will be a cooler in series with OEM. The problem is space especially with a DCT car. I was thinking about using the dummy hood vent to route air to a heat exchanger. Or if you wanna get serious, relocate the DCT cooler to the trunk and use OE DCT cooler location for oil.

For a 6MT, I'd just buy a DCT cooler and then route the engine oil to that.

I like where your head is at. Unfortunately, the 6MT cars have the same trans cooler as the DCT cars. The only difference is that a portion of the cooler is intentionally blocked from the factory on 6MT cars.

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by Hujan

I like where your head is at. Unfortunately, the 6MT cars have the same trans cooler as the DCT cars. The only difference is that a portion of the cooler is intentionally blocked from the factory on 6MT cars.

Does a manual tranny REALLY need a cooler? I would think the diff would need one more.

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Does a manual tranny REALLY need a cooler? I would think the diff would need one more.

Good question. I assume so, but

[bdaddylo]

[QUOTE=Rennwerks;18164193]Just wanted to report that I also experienced seemingly higher temps with the cooler. '09 DCT w/ ESS VT2. I do not have any CAN data showing temps, but during the One Lap of America this year we had a limp mode condition twice. The car had never done that before. The oil temps also stayed slightly above the middle mark on the gauge, whereas it used to sit central. Not thrilled.


Coolant temps seem to be causing the limp home before oil temps, so I just purchased a CSF radiator to install to see what changes we get there. I'm wondering if the larger oil cooler is blocking radiator flow to the point where it's raising the coolant temps? Will find out at the next track day.

[QUOTE]

Thanks for sharing. So it is safe to conclude that Alekshop's oil cooler does not resolve our temperature issues as they have claimed.

Can't wait to hear how the CSF radiator works out. Are you going to switch back to the OEM oil cooler?

[warp10]

I have a had a good experience with my Aleksshop cooler. Have had definite cooler and consistent temps. It seems that the SC crowd is having a slight problem with water temps because of the larger oil cooler blocking air flow. I'm also not in a "hot" state, Georgia, and the car is track only so no sitting in traffic with out airflow. I believe the cooler does it job to keep temps stable and from over heating. If higher water temps are causig the limp modes then that's not really the oil coolers direct fault. These things might need to be upgraded in sets to get all heat issues solved. Just my .02.

[bdaddylo]

Originally Posted by warp10

I have a had a good experience with my Aleksshop cooler. Have had definite cooler and consistent temps. It seems that the SC crowd is having a slight problem with water temps because of the larger oil cooler blocking air flow. I'm also not in a "hot" state, Georgia, and the car is track only so no sitting in traffic with out airflow. I believe the cooler does it job to keep temps stable and from over heating. If higher water temps are causig the limp modes then that's not really the oil coolers direct fault. These things might need to be upgraded in sets to get all heat issues solved. Just my .02.

Actually, the higher water temps are due to the oil cooler blocking flow to the radiator thereby also causing higher water temps and then oil temps. We know of four NA cars that have heating issues with the the Alekshop oil cooler, so it's not just the SC crowd. Rennworks had trouble doing the One Lap of America events which are only a few hot laps.

[Malek@MRF]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

I believe that the best solution will be a cooler in series with OEM. The problem is space especially with a DCT car. I was thinking about using the dummy hood vent to route air to a heat exchanger. Or if you wanna get serious, relocate the DCT cooler to the trunk and use OE DCT cooler location for oil.

For a 6MT, I'd just buy a DCT cooler and then route the engine oil to that.

Both DCT's and 6MT's have the same oil cooler there for the transmission. The 6MT car has a small block off plate on the cooler though to restrict the cooling effect a bit to allow trans temps to increase quicker than without the plate.

[Rennwerks]

I may switch back if I notice the oil temps continuing to be an issue after the radiator install. I also switched to distilled water and water wetter instead of traditional coolant. Vented hood is next I think... and figuring out how venting hot air over the top of the car can aid aerodynamically.

Just finished welding in the mounting brackets for the Alekshop cage today and can say that product is top notch. Bracket fit was spot on and the fit is great. Now to put it all back together...

[aus]

Do we really need the driver side lower scoop for intake air for an NA car? Seems like between the hood scoop and kidney grill, there should be plenty of air.
That would open up a lot of air flow for a cooler.

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by Malek@MRF

Both DCT's and 6MT's have the same oil cooler there for the transmission. The 6MT car has a small block off plate on the cooler though to restrict the cooling effect a bit to allow trans temps to increase quicker than without the plate.

Have you checked tranny temps on track? Just curious to see why BMW designed in a tranny cooler on the 6MT and if it is even needed. Maybe it was just easier to put the cooler there despite what transmission was spec'd?

[Melchior]

The transmission is mostly covered in the tunnel, so it doesn't get tons of airflow.

[roastbeef]

i'm not supercharged, and i don't have any aftermarket coolers on my m3. i do track occasioinally and have never seen my oil temp gauge go above 3/4 of the gauge.

i did learn a bit about coolers when building my rock crawler though, and sometimes placement of a cooler can significantly effect the cooling efficiency of another heat exchanger. i ended up getting rid of the a/c condenser to lengthen the gaps between my heat exchangers. i have an oil cooler, transmission cooler, and power steering cooler in front of my main radiator. all four get air pulled through them by a 3,300 cfm flex-a-lite efan. there was a noticeable difference in temperatures when ditching the a/c condenser and spacing things out a bit.

i'm not partial to any cooler for the m3, but what i'm getting at, is there may be an issue with a taller oil cooler blocking air flow and taking away from the main heat exchanger performance. also, air coming out from behind a heat exchanger is going to be warmer. this effect combined with less airflow due to size may contribute to a less efficient main heat exchanger.

i live in socal, but we have been seeing some 90-93*F days recently. i consistently see my oil temperature gauge about a needle width below 210*F, and it is dead center if i'm running the air conditioning on a ~90* day.

i'm going to be doing some research on oil coolers because i'm planning on getting one for my m3, but does anyone know right off the bat if some oil coolers are deeper and some are taller? i remember reading text regarding adding a few rows, but i don't remember anything being written about depth. depth may be an option if the height is found to be an issue.
i highly doubt "more oil to cool" is the cause of warmer temperatures. i would speculate more capacity with a larger heat exchanger can only increase cooling ability.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Malek@MRF

Both DCT's and 6MT's have the same oil cooler there for the transmission. The 6MT car has a small block off plate on the cooler though to restrict the cooling effect a bit to allow trans temps to increase quicker than without the plate.

I just noticed this block off plate in my 6MT

WTF BMW!!