The word from the FFordUnderground list is that even modern FFords really
do need an oil cooler. That said, I would be surprised to see that many
guys do not run one, and get away with it just fine. I think that there's
some confusion about where to measure oil temps. In the case of the BMW M3
quoted, I'll bet that the sensor is in the sump, measuring the temp of the
oil that the pump then picks up and sends to the bearings. That's where I
think the temp sensor should be on dry-sump cars, too - either in the sump
or in the pressure feed into the engine, so that you're measuring the temp
of the oil before it gets to the bearings. I've been told by Valvoline
that synthetic oil should be run at at least 200 - 220 F, and that up to
275 F is ok - but not much higher. I think that many guys run the oil too
cold - but I don't even have an oil temp gauge, so you can see how worried
I am about the issue (running Mobil one, lately). When I lent a 1275 race
engine to Bob Mason last year, I installed it with no oil cooler and it was
just fine.
Keep in mind that guys running modern fords have a different view of
maintenance that we tend to. I asked David Clubine about this sort of
thing (he was exclaiming over how his engines showed a lot less wear on
Mobil One that on the oil he had used previously) and he said that he never
changed the oil in his cars - he would normally change engines before the
oil needed changing.
I run the original rad in my Merlyn, with the built in
oil-cooler. Marginal on cooling, probably heats up the oil rather than
cooling it, but it's original, dammit!
Brian
At 09:21 AM 02/28/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>Certainly sounds like a good understanding of
>engine oil, but no answer as to why some of the
>front running FF are not using an oil cooler.
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