Has anyone used a an oil to water heat exchanger on their mini....?

They were fitted to the MG Metros apparently, and help oil to warm up initially and then help transfer the heat from the oil to the cooling system when needed......

Just curious if there any options from local vehicles for one of these..... sound like a great idea for the cooler areas...

I have been told they are a bad idea, as they add even more heat load to your cooling system. OK for UK maybe, but why would they even want an oil cooler in Blighty..

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I think it is more beneficial for the oil warming process than cooling....just thinking it may be something very handy for the colder months up here, so thought there may be something from a later model vehicle you could cut off when not needed or remove during hotter months...

If you are running a modern oil of the correct grade and changed regularly then I think that you won't need to worry about the oil while it's cold.
A lot of research and development has been done by manufacturers to make the oils work properly throughout the temperature range.

If you are really worried you could buy a different grade for summer and winter, ie. 10W40 for winter and a 20W50 in summer... a lot easier than fitting an oil to water cooler.

Funny, I was looking into this a short while ago (laminova oil coolers).

Main advantage is it will heat your oil quicker, which can be a problem especially in winter. It can take a long time of driving to warm up the oil... especially when running in a 50 second hillclimb event.

Modern oils are better true, but the thicker the oil the more the oil pump has to work to move it around. Minis run a thicker oil than most other cars, as the gearbox oil = engine oil.

Unfortunately, for $700+ for the S34 model and then AN fittings, it's just not worth it... oh and these coolers RELY on the water temperature being less than 80-90 degrees to cool the oil... as you imagine the hotter the coolant temperature, the less effect the oil cooler
has. As dr mini pointed out... why tax your cooling system more. Also, if your engine overheats a little [eg 90 - 95 degrees], it will throw up your oil temperature (you wouldn't even know!)... not good to build systems with these kinds of dependencies.

Have a look at their performance graphs and even at 80 litres/min they don't cool any amazing amount...


Just stick to the good ol' MOCAL 13 row at the grill Tried and tested with 30 years of motor racing. Most road cars don't need an oil cooler. How would you know? After running the car on the highway until your water temp peaks, stick a thermometer down into your dipstick hole.

I was at Warrick a few week ago racing and I have to say it was very, very cold - water was freezing type stuff / too cold to sleep in the van.

A fellow racer from another class came over (in pity) with a indoor type heater to warm the sump up / oil before I started to crank it over (worked OK, just had to sit it pointed at the sump for half an hour). Oil temp reached normal temp alot quicker than the previous day!

This might be a better idea than a dedicated oil heater.

I'll be buying one soon for this purpose.

Just a thought.

Havn't got a heat exchanger on the mini but the work vehicle has several !

_________________

You could just use a radiator from something like a Suzuki Swift automatic?
Instead of cooling the ATF it would warm/cool the engine oil.

_________________
Too many cars, and too little time.

Thanks for the responses all....I was not looking for the cooling, but more for the warming of the oil, during the sub zero months of the year here...

Ive pretty much got the cooling system all worked out, everyone seems to want to throw on an oil cooler, when all the info points to they are not needed, unless hard racing....but I have not read much on warming the oil, hence the research/question....

I think albino or kuzzy's ideas might be the easier way to go about protecting the lil beast during the colder months....though would definately get some laughs from neighbours if they see me going out with a small fan/bar heater for the mini

Jason, there's no need for an oil cooler or heater where you live, summer or winter.
Mine is staying on the shelf, but I can fit it in 10 minutes if a track day comes up.

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

My car drives me to work every day. In winter we regularly have temps as low as -7°
My car works fine! I don't thrash it, I just drive it very normally.

I have had a problem once with driving on a very hot day and hitting a sudden cold snap....
I was coming back from Bathurst to the Blue Mountains on a very hot day and I gave the car a good flog up Mt Vic Pass and when I got to Blackheath there was a hail storm and there was a blanket of hail all over the road. By the time I had wound up all the windows I noticed that the oil filter warning light was on.
It seem that hot oil does not like getting cooled suddenly and then being forced through a filter.

Living in Canberra can be a little on the chilly side during winter. Not unusual to get a good run of -3c. Olli is parked in a carport and gets a 3-5minute warm up before driving. This is mainly because I have noticed that they changes (he is Automatic) are better if he warms a little and I change manually for 2 miles. After that, place in Drive and let the gearbox do the work....

...my guide is the 3-4 change. If it is hesitant or too 'slurrrry' the oil isn't warm enough...

If your car is taking too long to warm up, check the thermostat just in case it isn't operating properly

_________________
1969 Morris 1100 S Automatic

ahhhh......the interior smell of an old British car....

the best thing you can do in that case is:

a) use thinner oil
b) keep your car in a garage
c) warm it up for 15 minutes (perhaps before breakfast) start it up.

It will at take least 10 - 15 minutes of idling when it is very cold for a mini to reach 70 deg water temp, so your 'heat exchanger' won't be heating the oil much before that happens. It'll be a waste of money.

On my race car, I tend to feather the throttle (go between 1500 - 2000 rpms) for one or two minutes until the idle settles into a smooth tone, then let it idle for 5 minutes before driving it anywhere.

Consider fitting a higher low-pressure warning switch, or an oil pressure gauge if you're worried about this. Oil temp gauge would be good too, but not really worth the effort.

Jason's up on the Plateau though where dog water dishes freeze solid overnight in winter and it snow's half an hours drive west . Coldest place on the NSW coast bascially . I can see the logic of what you're trying to do jason but don't know about the practicallities of it , probably best to just let it idle for a few minutes to warm the oil up before making the pump push thick oil too quickly . Thinner oil might be worthwhile in winter too .

_________________

I am sure it isnt really needed, as a good warm up will help....but just thinking a bit of prevention and help is never really that bad of an idea..

yes Ian is right about the dogs water dish, but I have even seen coi carp get frozen solid in fish ponds....not nice, but funny after the fact and there has even been a few cases of small water birds found suck in frozen bird baths....