DOHC Oil Cooler?

16VGTIDave

16VGTIDave

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Just wondering if anyone has installed an external oil cooler on a DOHC engine? Any information? I took a look at the oil flow diagrams in the manual and can't find a good spot to have the oil leave or return to the engine, other than the filter. And that doesn't seem like a good choice as it would hang too low...

Thanks,
Dave
 
why would you install one exactly?

unless you're squeezing out lots of performance and power gain somewhere, I don't really see what would be the benefit (besides from looking cool I guess). Especially since you're not exactly in death valley over there :laugh:
 
16VGTIDave said:
Just wondering if anyone has installed an external oil cooler on a DOHC engine? ... Thanks, Dave
Click to expand...
I ran into a guy with an air-cooled Yamaha Road Star who bought a kit from Yamaha but it wasn't cheap. I don't recall if it simply bolted on.

On our bikes I would imagine one would have to drill and tap the housing and then install some sort of hydraulic fittings onto which hoses to a cooler could be attached.
 
Why? Can't a guy ask a question? WTF is wrong? Is it uncomfortable to read or answer a question that hasn't been asked 10 times this month? Maybe I'm planning a fuel injected and turbo charged engine for this summer. That a good enough reason why? :)

Actually, I was working on the wiring for my oil temp gauge, and was thinking "what if I see temps over 130C? How would I install an oil cooler?".

Scorpio, if I wanted a POS bike, if I wanted to buy parts from a catalog and call them custom, if I wanted to strut around the parking lot of the local coffee shop like a middle aged peacock, I'd already have a Harley. Stay on topic! :)

Lou, that is what I was pondering. Only thing is, I can't see any good places to connect into the oil passages. Maybe the plate on the bottom of the engine, it appears to connect to the sump and have a pressurized passage. But it is on the bottom of the engine. Not good...
 
Pg. 7-40 and 7-41 in the manual right? Looking at those lube diagrams, it really doesnt look like you have many options at all except real low, which would be a clearance problem as you stated...maybe down by the cover if you rigged up some sleek couple or something. Or just up from there you could gain access perhaps but again it would require some slick fab work to keep stuff from jutting too low :shrug:
 

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Yes, those are the diagrams I'm looking at. I agree, that is the area where I was thinking as well. At about the 5 o'clock position from where you marked. It is a strange design that the engineers at Yamaha came up with. The center section under that cover is pressurized oil feeding from the main oil galley to the crankshaft and the transmission main axle. The outer area is the oil sump as best as I can tell. I've installed my oil temp sender in the outer area of the cover. It is thin enough profile that I'm not worried about it being installed there. Hose fittings would be a different story. Without a skid plate or similar protection, it would be too great a risk of damage.

Another possible spot would be either the right or left engine covers, as the main oil galley connects to them. That would put the fittings and hoses on the side of the engine, where they would still be exposed, but less likely to be damaged. The screws for the covers would also make for handy mounting points for rubber insulated hose mounting clamps.
 
Yea, mounting would be easier if you mounted on the side, thats for sure. I'd be a little scared to do it that way without some pretty solid shielding of some sort. The skid plate wouldn't be a bad idea in either case though,a damaged oil line could lead to pretty awful stuff pretty quickly. Theres even an unused mount on the front of the block(there for highway bar option perhaps?) if i recall correctly that would probably be pretty convenient for skid plate mounting and make for sufficient protection for lines attached low...
 
I have finally sourced an engine crash guard (uses the mounts you are referring to) from another member, so the engine should be somewhat protected. I am considering making it more robust, but that will probably wait for a while. The crash guard would also make for a convenient place to mount the oil cooler.
 
didn't mean to shoot down your plans there Dave, my bad. I was just kind of surprised since I'd never heard anyone ask this and therefore interested in the reasoning behind it.

The crash guard seems like a good move, and especially if you're going to add a skid plate of some sort you'd probably be able to protect any oil cooler components that have to be located at the base of the engine :thumbsup:

I hope it pans out, definitely keep us posted ;)
 
First I will need to determine if an oil cooler is required. It will be a couple more weeks before I'm back riding and able to see what the oil temps are like. I'm not expecting much more than 100C (212F). Actually, I'm hoping I see around 100C on a regular basis, but no massive temperature spikes when riding hard. Time will tell.
 
16VGTIDave said:
First I will need to determine if an oil cooler is required...
Click to expand...
If it were determined that cooler oil would be beneficial, and that there is no practical way to add an oil cooler, could one consider other ways to add cooling (= increase heat dissipation)?

e.g., could one either add to the "fins" on the lower casing to increase the total surface area exposed to moving air (perhaps with aluminum welding) or, increase the flow of moving air (perhaps with deflectors or an air scoop arrangement)?
 
What I have seen in the past for other bikes is custom oil pans with larger capacities. With aluminum welding anything is possible. The basic design of this particular engine limits options of course.
 
Increased oil capacity would certainly delay the need for additional cooling. Though an extended high speed run would still be a problem. Additional surface area for cooling is a viable option.

One thought that occurred to me was using the engine crash guard as an oil cooler/oil reservoir. It is nothing more than thick walled steel tube that is mounted out in free flowing air. Add a couple fittings and plumb it in. It looks like it would hold more than a litre of oil, plus what is in the lines.

:shrug: Time and testing will tell if this is just a mental exercise or a requirement. I suspect it is just an exercise...
 
It depends on the environment. When it's 85 degrees F outside or hotter and I am in stop and go city traffic I could definitely use it. My liquid-cooled gsx-r 750 tended to overheat on warm days in the city too because of the fairings.

If nothing else you can also switch to or start blending in 20w50 when it gets really warm. I have been running it during the hot months in my xs400 for a while now. This time of year the stuff is like honey coming out of the bottle so I am running 10w40.

There is no reason you can't fill the crash bars with oil. I've seen drag bikes with oil running through the entire frame itself.
 
I run synthetic oil, so I'm not concerned about the oil. My concern is the engine running too hot, warping the head, the hot oil cooking engine gaskets or clutch plates, etc.
 
Dave I don't need you to chew my ass about staying on topic:wtf: I did mention oil cooler in my post so there that's been cleared up.I simply brought that up because by looking at a Harley engine which has an external oil cooler it could be used as an example for a mock up.
 

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