Another Oil Cooler Question

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but I hust spent an hour looking through over 400 threads and I'm not getting any closer to the answer to my question. :x
Can anyone tell me the internal differecne between a bike that has the oil cooler fittings and one that doesn't? Can you simply swap the oil filter cover and install an oil cooler or is the plumbing completely different? :?

[Hap Call]

It depends on if you have a low pressure or a high pressure oil system. Plain bearing motors have a high pressure system and roller bearing motors have a low pressure system. I have see kits that take the oil from the front oil filter cover (this was on a high pressure system, '81 GS750EX to be exact) and I have see systems that take oil from the location behind the cylinders where the oil pressure switch is normally located. Brandon (brs127s) modified a fitting that was intended for my GS1100EX and put it on his GS850GL, both of which are low pressure oil systems. His developed a very sweet system. He may be able to answer a lot of your questions.

As a point of interest, the high pressure oil system on the 4-valve GS750 has the oil pressure switch located on the oil filter cover on the front of the engine case while most of the low pressure oil systems have the oil pressure switch located behind the cylinders.

[Anonymous]

Question, why would you need an oil cooler? I have the plain bearings and high pressure system, but even in very hot weather, up to 95f, I have never had a heating problem. When stopped at road works, or for any extended period, in hot weather I turn the engine off. It works for me.

[Anonymous]

Well gents, I'd guess you'd call me over-protective. I put a lot of demand on my bike. I want it to perform the WAY I want it to, WHEN I want it to. I know this is a lot to ask of a 20 year old bike, so I try to help it along as much as I can. I don't want to scrap my bike because it will cost too much to fix a problem that I caused. BUT... I also want to enjoy my Suzi to the fullest.

[Anonymous]

NOW THAT THE FLORIDA SUMMER IS OVER, MY OIL TEMP IS RUNNING COOLER THAN I WOULD LIKE IT TO--I WILL HAVE TO RE INSTALL THE LEAKY SHUT OFF VALVE OR MAKE A COVER FOR THE COOLER--IT REALLY WASNT NECESSARY TO INSTALL THE COOLER EVEN THOUGH I HAVE AN 1166 KIT AND A SLIGHT INCREASE IN COMPRESSION

[Anonymous]

This morning it was 36F/2C outside as I passed the bank on my way to work. I don't think my oil temp got much over 180F/82C. Time to tape it up i'm thinking.


-=Whittey=-

[Hap Call]

Check out this thread...the adaptor is upside down in the picture @ Earl's British website. It should fit your bike.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/viewtopic.php?t=3750\

Hap

[Anonymous]

This morning it was 36F/2C outside as I passed the bank on my way to work. I don't think my oil temp got much over 180F/82C. Time to tape it up i'm thinking.


-=Whittey=-

Its still in the high 80s here and mine runs about the same temp--are you really going to use tape Whittey??

[brs127s]

Sorry this is going to be so long, but this is such a big topic.

There is quite a bit of difference between a bike with the oil galleries for an oil cooler setup and one without the galleries. Having the galleries would make adding a cooler a cinch. All you would have to do is find a cooler and lines with fittings which would screw into the input and output gallery holes, mount the cooler to the frame, remove the gallery plugs and screw in the lines. I think this would be a full flow(meaning all the oil would pass through the cooler), but I am not sure. Someone with this setup would have to answer this.

Now a bike which does not have the galleries for a cooler setup is quite a different story. Your 1100 should be just like my 850. It will be really hard to find an oil filter cover adapter. I tried at first, but was unsuccessful. I did alot of research to try and figure out how the filter cover adapters work, so I could make one. I still don't know exactly how they work. Scotty will have to describe his to us the next time he changes his oil.

After getting in touch with Hap, he had the adapter which replaced the pressure switch housing cover. It was made for a different model, but the switch housing cover was common to most models, and I was able to use it. It replaces the cover and switch. It has a shoulder which extends down where the original pressure switch extends to the top of the crankcase. Now keep in mind, this setup is only a partial flow system, so there is between an 1/8 and 1/4 inch gap between the crankcase and the adapter's shoulder. This allows some oil to go through its normal route through the engine, and some oil to go to the cooler. A new pressure switch replaces the old one. It is placed on an elbow teed of to the left side of the adapter's outlet to the oil cooler. The oil returns through the back of the adapter cover over the return hole in the crankcase.

Now, with the low pressure, high volume oiling system, I was worried about a pressure drop. With the adapter on and a new 1/2 to 2 pound pressure switch, my oil light would come on at an idle, especially once the bike warmed up and the oil became more viscious. I thought I was allowing too much oil to the cooler, so I made an "in-hose" restrictor. Bascially, I took a piece of aluminum rod about an inch long and the same diameter as the ID of my hose(3/8 in.). I drilled a channel through the middle of the aluminum rod to allow some oil to pass. I made several restrictors with different channel sizes to see which one worked the best. Before installing the lines on my adapter, I pushed the restrictor into the hose going out to the cooler, and placed a hose clamp around the hose/restrictor to hold it tight. My pressure light still came on, so I bought a second gallery check plug(located at the top of the crankcase, just below the backside of cylinder 4), had it drilled and tapped, and added a 90 degree elbow and VDO minipressure gauge to measure my oil pressure. This allowed me to see what my pressure was. With the new gauge setup, I swapped the original switch housing cover and adapter to check the pressure with each to determine the pressure drop. It was very minute.

From this, I learned that the pressure in the engine was still good. The pressure switch was now measuring the pressure in the cooler. Now I don't worry about the oil light, unless it would come on at anything above idle, and the pressure gauge would be at zero.

That's a summary of my cooler experience. I feel that I have gained alot of knowledge from this experience. I thought of trying to manufacture my own adapter, but haven't started on it yet. Chris Daily(user: Chris D), made his own adapter for the pressure switch housing, but it is a full flow. All of his oil goes out to the cooler before going to the engine. He also bought a pressure switch like mine, and his light stays off, because his is a full flow system. Plus, he doesn't need any kind of restrictions to his cooler.

If I were you, I would contact Earl's. I believe the adapter for a GS1000 will fit your 1100. At least find out what year it will fit, and compare the original part numbers on bike bandit with the part numbers from yours. That will tell you if it the parts are similar. Post any research you do. Many people will be following this thread, and will be able to help you.

[Chris D]

If anybody would like some pictures of the oil cooler adapter I made just send me a PM with your email address and I will send you some pictures. I will try to help best that I can. Brandon has really been helpful with this subject and like he's said in the past it was a lot of trial and errors. Hope this information will help others so just let me know.

Also I have in the past emailed earls about the oil cooler adapter for the GS and they don't make it anymore. This is the reason for having to make my own.


Chris Dailey