oil cooler

[taylorgaz]

81gs1000g
Hi there,
I recently installed a lockart oil cooler on my bike, Do i need to add more oil to compensate the flow to the cooler? If i do any idea how much.

Cheers,

[koolaid_kid]

Hi.

Never added one yet. But I have the parts. (Can you say "Too many rabbits"?)

The way I see it if your oill cooler has the in and out tubes up the oil stays there when the engine is off. So fill the case the first time and run the engine till warm. Shut down. The oil will drain back to the case except the trapped oil. Refill using the sight gauge as usual.

DP

Why in the world would you do that? When you change the oil, you leave that amount of contaminated oil in the system to mix with the new oil.
I have coolers on both my bikes. I just fill it all the way up to the top mark of the sight glass and everything is happy. And I keep an eye on the level; I try to check it regularly, even though neither bike burns/leaks oil.

[koolaid_kid]

Just a few comments:
Yes, the oil is contaminated. That is why it turns black if you wait too long between oil changes. Detergent oil is designed to suspend particulates. A filter, while it does trap some, does not get them all. If it did, all you would ever have to do is change the filter and leave the oil in the engine.
Yes, you do not drain all the fluid, but you certainly don't leave a full half quart (or whatever the capacity of the cooler you have) in the engine cases.
Yes, you should warm up the oil before draining it. Otherwise the contaminants that settle down in the sump remain in the engine to quickly contaminate the fresh oil.
And yes, the way a thermostat works with these is it bypasses the cooler so the oil warms up quicker.

[koolaid_kid]

First, for me it is not about winning or losing. It is about the exchange of ideas and (hopefully) learning something in the process.
So here is my take on it:
The sideways orientation is ideal for both of our requirements. Fluid in at the top, out at the bottom.
The top inlet/outlet would be fine for an automatic transmission, as it is impossible to remove the fluid in the torque converter when you drain the fluid anyway, so you always have contaminated fluid remaining in the system. In order to compensate for the trapped fluid, I flush the transmission. It takes a lot of fluid, but when it starts to come out new-looking I am satisfied.
A motorcycle is different in that the amount of fluid is much less, by at least 3-4 times (depending on the tranny). Let's say it holds 4 quarts of oil and the cooler holds half a quart. When you change the oil you are leaving one-eight of the fluid contaminated, plus whatever is left in the crankcase. I find that unacceptable, but that is just me.
I suggest that the pressurized oil going into the cooler will purge the air by itself. Both my bikes have the inlet/outlets on the bottom from the factory. If it did not work they would not do it that way, why bother? My GPz does not have a temp gauge so I have to trust those little Japanese engineers. I know my GS is not filled with air; after I installed it the temps dropped by 100-150 degrees during hard riding or stop and go riding, so I know it is working.
Probably the best thing for you is to install a drain plug on the cooler itself, but I don't know if you can do that, depending on the type of cooler you have (bar and plate vs. tube and fin).
Of course, the best of both worlds would have the inlet on the top left and the outlet on the bottom right, but I have yet to see that design implemented.

[koolaid_kid]

Funny you should mention water heaters. I bleed them by turning on some faucets and letting all the air out until only water is coming out, then I turn it back on. I remember hearing pipes knocking when I was young, pretty scary if you don't know what is going on.

[Nessism]

In my experience, with a cooler plumbed off the oil distribution cavity in the back of the engine, there will be some bleed down to the crankcase when the engine is turned off. The amount of bleed down is related to how the lines are positioned on the radiator. For example, if the cooler feed lines are on the bottom of the radiator itself, it will bleed down more than if the cooler lines are on the top of the radiator.

If the oil level is set to the normal level in the window, after the engine is running and the cooler fills up with oil, the oil level in the crankcase will be lower than an engine without a cooler. For this reason I recommend over filling the oil an amount equal to the amount that drains back.

[1948man]

Hi.

Never added one yet. But I have the parts. (Can you say "Too many rabbits"?)

The way I see it if your oill cooler has the in and out tubes up the oil stays there when the engine is off. So fill the case the first time and run the engine till warm. Shut down. The oil will drain back to the case except the trapped oil. Refill using the sight gauge as usual.

DP

I took this to mean. Drain and change your oil, warm up the engine and circulate the oil thru the cooler, check level and top off (not refill) to the proper level and the sight glass. I don't get the part about dirty oil but maybe I misinterpreted the post.

[Mysuzyq]

The amount of bleed down is related to how the lines are positioned on the radiator. For example, if the cooler feed lines are on the bottom of the radiator itself, it will bleed down more than if the cooler lines are on the top of the radiator.

If the oil level is set to the normal level in the window, after the engine is running and the cooler fills up with oil, the oil level in the crankcase will be lower than an engine without a cooler. For this reason I recommend over filling the oil an amount equal to the amount that drains back.

Some do it that way.....speaking for myself, I fill to the upper (full) mark, and leave it at that. Even when checking the level immediately after a ride, the amount it drops is really negligible. I once collected the oil that came out of the cooler (an 1150 cooler, with both tubes @ the bottom), and it was just over 1/2 a cup. I feel comfortable running with that amount of oil deficit, (if it can be called that) which is nowhere near the difference between the 'full' and 'low' marks, which is probably well over a quart. My bike doesn't burn or leak any oil & I have never had to top it up, between oil changes. Some members have had severe leakage issues that may have been aggravated with over filling, in conjunction with the use of high volume oil pump gears....I'm running these gears also, but have not had leaks (touch wood) with oil filled to the prescribed level.
I have to disconnect one cooler line at the banjo next to the oil filter, to allow removal/change of the filter, due to limited space around the header. Some oil drains out of the cooler when I do this & I leave it at that..... certainly not anal enough to remover the whole cooler & shake it whilst upside down to remove all the old oil!

[sedelen]

When I change my oil, I drain it and change the filter, what oil stays in the oil cooler I'm leaving in the oil cooler. When I refill, I fill up to full on the sight glass, run it a couple of minutes, turn it off and let it settle for awhile, then I top it off. I don't worry about whether I got all or any for that matter of the oil out of my cooler. I change the oil more often that I should anyway.

[1_v8_merc]

I filled my oil at the Full Line, and my oil cooler began leaking at the hose.
(obviously I took it for a ride first...and the leak was very minor)

I just fill the oil below between Half-Full, and leak went away...bike runs very cool!