hobbsy
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| posted on 18/7/06 at 07:52 PM |
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'bird oil cooler mounted upside down bad idea???
I decided to move my oil cooler from being mounted below my radiator (and therefore very vunerable to being damaged / ripped off by speed bumps /
anything else) to being in front of my radiator at the same level as the base.
However the way the bracketry worked out I ended up pretty much having to turn the oil cooler upside down, so it went from this:
to this:
(not my cooler just some pic I nabbed).
I could mount it the right way around but it would require a quite elaborate bracket and it would have more chance of fouling the bonnet or flapping
around into the rad.
I sealed the gap between the two with some foam (just around the edges about 10mm wide!) so all the air that passes through the oil cooler should pass
through the radiator.
However... when I start it oil pressure is 90psi or thereabouts. After I go for a run and the oil heats up (I haven't got an oil temp gauge
but I know its getting hotter in the weather) I started to see the oil pressure dropping, to ROUGHLY 30psi when going along at 4/5krpm. I then
decided to dip clutch to see what the pressure was at tickover - it then bombed down to almost nothing and the warning light came on, luckily I was a
couple of hundred yards from home so I brought the clutch back in, parked up and switched it off.
Sooo what is causing this problem?
I know its the hottest day of the year and I've just sandwiched my two rads together but I'm not convinced its totally due to heat.
I've just checked the oil level and its fine.
I'm thinking its either because its a really bad idea to run the oil cooler upside down - i.e. it could be restrictive or full of air that
cannot escape.
Or the oil level is low and its the oil cooler emptying itself back into the sump thats making me think the level is fine (it was fine before I
started but I lost a little oil when moving the cooler - but I did top it up a bit).
I don't think I've done any damage as the low pressure was only at low revs and for about 2 seconds.
However I have a track day at Mallory on Friday and I'm running out of time!
I'm thinking of putting it back to where it was tomorrow and hoping that the problem goes away.
Anyone have a definitive answer of whether its a bad idea of mount them upside down? Or a complete explanation as to my problem?
Any ideas / help appreciated!
[Edited on 18/7/06 by hobbsy]
[Edited on 18/7/06 by hobbsy]
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trikerneil
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| posted on 18/7/06 at 08:33 PM |
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Is the oil cooler actually full of oil?
Is there a chance of an airlock now it's mounted upside down?
Just a thought.
ACE Cafe - Just say No.
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DIY Si
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| posted on 18/7/06 at 08:33 PM |
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Not sure about the general problem, but I do know that on the bird the oil cooler goes back to the sump, rather than through the engine, so
shouldn't effect the engine overall. It may have an effect on oil temps and therefore pressure though.
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Bluemoon
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| posted on 19/7/06 at 08:53 AM |
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I think it's an air lock, you would need to bleed the air form the top of the cooler, in it's orginal possition it would do this
automaticaly...
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