Cool Collar: Effect on Engine Oil Temperature

[aldive]

I have been very satisfied with the cool collar and its effect on my automatic transmission fluid temperature (http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125508&highlight=cool+collar post #6 ).

Since I have the Amsoil Bypass Oil filter system (https://www.amsoil.com/bypassfilters/instructions/bmk13.aspx and http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126111&highlight=amsoil+bypass ) on my truck, I have 2 oil filters to use with cool collars to reduce engine oil temperature.

Now that I have a digital oil temperature gauge ( http://www.dakotadigital.com/index....tegory_id=241/home_id=59/mode=prod/prd326.htm and http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141191&highlight=oil+temperature ) up and running, it was time to assess the effect of the cool collar on my engine oil temperature.

A baseline engine oil temperature while highway driving ( I 75 ) at an ambient temperature of 92 F was determined to be 204 F.

Next, two cool collars wee added to the oil filters ( the bypass filter had to use an extra large cool collar [ http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/...-2000859/N-10101+111+4294950776+10201/c-10101 ] due to its 4.25: diameter size ). Prior to installing the collars, heat sink grease ( http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&product_id=276-1372 ) was applied to the inside of the collars.

A 50 mile highway run ( distance limited due to cost of gas ) was used to determine the engine oil temperature with the cool collars installed. Ambient temperature was 91 F, GPS determined average speed was 71.2 MPH. The engine oil temperature was 200 F.

The cool collar use resulted in a decline in engine oil temperature of 4 F.

Is the cost of the cool collars worth a 4 F decrease in engine operating temperature? That’s a call each individual must make; it’s well worth it for me.

 

[Afboy143]

Very nice Al, always inspiring me to do new things! Looks like I will buy one for my transmission filter kit. Thanks!

 

[gijoecam]

Thanks again, Al!

Just another confirmed waste of money in my book.

4 degrees in oil temp.... I highly doubt that 4 degrees is enough to extend the life of any component to any significant degree.

-Joe

 

[ExplorerDMB]

4 degrees cooler from overheating in my opinion. good work.

-Drew

 

[Bronco638]

Al,

Just out of curiosity, what's your engine's coolant temperature? I'm seeing significantly higher oil temps than you are (220º to 230º) and am trying to determine if I need to replace my t-stat (with a cooler one), add an oil cooler or if the gauge sensor bulb is influenced by its proximity to the manifold/downpipe (the bulb is in the filter base - I may need some header wrap).

Thanks, Dave.

 

[aldive]

Al,

Just out of curiosity, what's your engine's coolant temperature? I'm seeing significantly higher oil temps than you are (220º to 230º) and am trying to determine if I need to replace my t-stat (with a cooler one), add an oil cooler or if the gauge sensor bulb is influenced by its proximity to the manifold/downpipe (the bulb is in the filter base - I may need some header wrap).

Thanks, Dave.

My coolant temperature is 190-195 F.

What type oil are you running?

 

[IAmTodd]

What does 4* do?

 

[410Fortune]

dang I might even get more benefits from this since I mounted my oil filter in the path of the engines fan, air. hmmm....

Not sure what my oil temp is currently, the coolant sits at 200-205 and the trans rarely sees over 160 these days. Couldnt hurt though!

 

[Hartman]

I would get one of these, but since my aux filter is under the hood, i'm not sure how much it would help.

 

[Bronco638]

My coolant temperature is 190-195 F.

What type oil are you running?

Synth - 10W40 from Meijer but based on the containers, it's made by Mobil1

Not sure what my oil temp is currently, the coolant sits at 200-205 and the trans rarely sees over 160 these days. Couldnt hurt though!

According to my ScanGauge my coolant is at 198º, oil temp at 220º to 230º and tranny temp at 150º. Dollars to doughnuts, it's the heat from the downpipe increasing the temp of the filter base which houses the oil temp sensor bulb.........

 

[Rhett]

Synth - 10W40 from Meijer but based on the containers, it's made by Mobil1

According to my ScanGauge my coolant is at 198º, oil temp at 220º to 230º and tranny temp at 150º. Dollars to doughnuts, it's the heat from the downpipe increasing the temp of the filter base which houses the oil temp sensor bulb.........

Is your 96 OHV's oil filter next to the exhaust downpipe like it is on my 94?
I have thought about welding a heat shield there, but then I figure it's not worth the trouble...Ford engineers must have determined that the heat from the pipe wasn't a problem.

 

[Rhett]

I have been very satisfied with the cool collar and its effect on my automatic transmission fluid temperature (http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125508&highlight=cool+collar post #6 ).

Your re-mentioning the Cool Collar has convinced me that if and when I do a transmission fluid by-pass filter setup, I will be installing a Cool Collar with thermal grease as well.

I will mount it up front in the air flow, near the trans cooler.

My only gripe is that I cannot at present accurately measure ATF temp to tell if I too see 5 degF drop in temp. I would need to install a gauge for that.

 

[BrooklynBay]

What about just installing an oil cooler inline with the bypass system to decrease the temperature? That is already done on the transmission. Maybe it could be done for the engine's oil.

 

[aldive]

What about just installing an oil cooler inline with the bypass system to decrease the temperature? That is already done on the transmission. Maybe it could be done for the engine's oil.

Sure it would work, however, for the cost of an oil cooler and the hose, I simply do not see the need.

 

[briwayjones]

Synth - 10W40 from Meijer but based on the containers, it's made by Mobil1

10W40 is a bit heavy. Switch to 5W30 and that would cool the oil and engine off some right there.

 

[Kamel]

My first important question to ask would be... are there any drawbacks to having cooler oil temperatures, and what would be the most ideal temperature to run your oil at? I have been dealing with cooling for quite some time now and have learned lots about it, perhaps I could use some of this seemingly useless knowledge to help improve this system .

Here's my advice should you feel you'd like to push the cooling properties of the cool collar. Remove the collar and filter (you may want to practice on a used oil filter first to determine the thickness of the metal). Take a low-grit sand paper, such as 150-200 grit and sand off every imperfection along with removing all traces of paint where the collar and the filter will be in contact. Next, sand with higher (finer) grits until you hit 600. if you like you can go straight to 600, but if you're very interested in the best thermal performance you can get, go in steps of 50-100. Once you have a nice, very smooth surface (also, be sure to use gloves as ANY foreign object can increase thermal resistance, such as finger oil or motor oil for that matter) add a thermal conductive paste to it to fill in the microscopic valleys that are left behind from sanding (nearly impossible to get it sanded well enough not to need thermal compound). I would suggest http://www.svc.com/c22ghidethco.html. It is high viscosity, so it's good for this application (160F is about 30F above standard operating temperature for most thermal compounds), and the paste has a very high flash point along with a large tube and probably the most trusted thermal paste company name to seal the deal. Once you've applied a nice, even coat to the entire contact area (roughly the thickness of 3 sheets of paper, normally it's 1 sheet of paper but we are dealing with a round contact area here) reapply the cool collar. Tightening the collar around the filter should suffice for any uneven application of the thermal paste you had. Remember that a little bit of thermal paste can go a long way, it's easier to over-apply than to under-apply.

This may seem like a lot of work, but especially at operating temperatures in the range of 160-200F, you could see a drop in temperature up to 20-30 degrees depending on the circumstances due to the substancial difference in temperatures between the outside air and the oil. I would expect standard temperature drops from this process to be roughly 10 degrees F though. Hard to know 100% for-sure unless you try. The frequency that the air is replaced with new air around the filter willl have a lot to do with it as well. I would say that being a car this shouldn't be a problem in any external part of the car just so long as it doesn't see excessive idle times. Even during idle times it should improve the temperatures, but the real benefit wont be seen unless the air around it is being displaced at an acceptable rate.

Hope you guys found this helpful and informative. If anyone decides to try it out please do post results. Feel free to ask any further questions, I'd be more than glad to try and help out . If you decide you want to do this, please post first and maybe we can kinda go through the process together to make sure I haven't forgotten any important steps.

EDIT: Important note about temperature ratings I've posted!!! These numbers are referring to the actual temperature of the oil directly under the surface of the filters, NOT the overall operating temperature for your oil. When mixing very small portions of 15 degree cooler oil with large portions of much warmer oil, it will even out in the majorities favor. Therefore, doing this process may end up getting you an OVERALL decrease of somewhere more like 2 degrees. Maybe less, maybe more. Anyone up for giving it a shot and finding out? If I end up doing it (unlikely, I'm immensely strapped for cash until I get out on my own) I'll most definitely post a guide and my results.

 

[Kamel]

After re-reading the replies I think it is a large concern of people that 4 degrees isn't enough to justify the cost/effort of this. I truly believe I could help modify the system to see a very substancial decrease in temperature if that is what is desired. The techniques I mentioned earlier were less 'hard core' since I was under the impression that you don't want to cool your engine oil *too* much to affect standard operating temperature in an undesirable way.

If you are looking to cool your engine oil substancially (30 degrees or more), I would highly recommend using 0w30 or 5w30, as opposed to possibly 10w30 that many people use. The reason being, in multi-viscosity oils, when you change the temperature you may also be changing the viscosity. I don't know for sure, but at sub-standard oil temperatures you may have slightly more viscous oil than usual (which would be more-so substanciated by the first number [before the w] than the second). Perhaps since the oil is designed to be a proper viscosity at a cold start this wouldn't pose a problem.