Lookin at a Perma-Cool engine oil cooler. Installs in addition to your factory oil cooler, with a remote dual filter mount. Anyone ever mess with one of these? Anything good/bad or pointless about em?

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Anybody?
Engine Oil Cooler Coils

 

they are a great addition i saw a nice decrease in oil temp

 

I used a perma cool remote filter mount and had no issues with it. I would buy another one.

 

Thanks. I already bought one but I was questioning installing it... Glad to know I bought something worth while.

 

Ok, I have a couple of years experience with oil coolers.

a) Those oil coolers using a clamp instead of a thread are dangerous!
Clamping force of worm gear clamp is not enough!
During cold start conditions oil pressure can raise up to 230psi peak. A worm gear can loosen itself.

b) a serpentine oil coolers causes a huge pressure drop!
bar and plate coolers offer an increased surface area and reduce oil flow speed due to parallel oil flow for better heat dissipation while maintaining oil pressure. Turbolators take care that inside oil is cooled evenly.

c) serious oil coolers have threaded connectors.



a small assortment of available connectors: black and blue are made of alloy, the silver ones are made of stainless steel, the ring connectors are also available as to be crimp pressed or reusable as a threaded one.



The solution I use: Teflon hoses, which are chemical and thermal able to handle the heat!Rubber hose ist not able to handle the heat and oil together! stainless braided hoses are easy to check and will last forever.
The Areoquip connectors are maybe overkill but better safe than sorry...



Why going to such extremes?
I lost one engine due to a loosened oil cooler clamp. Within 10 seconds the complete oil pan was drained on the Autobahn. No oil- no lubrication. The engine was good enough for the junkyard. That won't happen to me- again!
I don't care what others say. Reliable or not. My engine is worth more than cheap hose clamps and rubber hose.
Don't play with your investment! I hope that will give you some thoughts about your plans.

 

My cooler is a serpintine with cheap clamps and rubber hose...

 

What kind of vehicle did you have that hit 230psi of oil pressure? My friend has a high pressure oil pump in his pontiac 400 and still only get 60psi cold. From what I have heard, stock IDI's dont get much higher than 40psi.

 

It's a safety margin- better safe than sorry , right?

You will notbe able to recognize peaks, because all common instruments and senders have a responding lag.
Most trucks and cars have that, but you will never track it.
It also has to have that high burst pressure in case of a blocked overpressure valve
(which also can have sporadic failures you won't get)
My Jeep(IDI) plays around 75psi when cold (5W40 oil used).
Most Euro cars have higher oil pressures than that when cold.
Oil pressure isn't combustion principle based.
The last burst, as mentioned above was around 4K to replace the engine.

 

I have a hydraulic hose bench at work... Think the cooler would be fine if I used steel braided hoses with screw-type fittings? Or is it that bad to have a serpentine style cooler?

 

No it is not bad- it is suboptimal.

To be honest- I have seen those serpentine coolers in the past been used only as a tranny cooler.

Just have a look at the construction of a serpentine cooler.
It has a lot of bends. Every bend creates a pressure drop.Expect a drop of 2-3psi for every bend as a rule of a thumb.
Serpentines are cheap- I guess this is the main reason why they are still used.

Just inform yourself:
Earl's Performance Plumbing, Hoses, Hose Ends, and Brake Systems