3.6L Oil Flow Path Re: cooler

[roaniecowpony]

I'm considering installing a remote cooler on my 3.6L and eliminating the little cooler/heater in the valley as it is a source of leaks.

Physically, I could just make a block-off plate to replace the cooler/heater, but I'm wondering if it needs to flow through as though the cooler/heater is still there? If so, I would have to make a more complex block-off plate with passages. I've searched online, but just can't find any specific information on this.

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[mwilk012]

Your blockoff plate will just leak then, unless you plan on seal welding it.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Does this help?

 

[CarbonSteel]

Your blockoff plate will just leak then, unless you plan on seal welding it.

Perhaps not if the gasket material is not rubber based.

@roaniecowpony - also reach out to Kevin @ Baxter Adapters. When I chatted with him a while back, they were in the process of designing a block off plate. He was very forthcoming with information.

 

[mwilk012]

Perhaps not if the gasket material is not rubber based.

@roaniecowpony - also reach out to Kevin @ Baxter Adapters. When I chatted with him a while back, they were in the process of designing a block off plate. He was very forthcoming with information.

Not sure how else you could seal the one tube that is recessed into the block with an O-ring. Not that it ever seems to be the source of the leak though. If I were deleting it, I would much rather have the ports welded up. It all does seem like a lot of work for relatively little gain.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Not sure how else you could seal the one tube that is recessed into the block with an O-ring. Not that it ever seems to be the source of the leak though. If I were deleting it, I would much rather have the ports welded up. It all does seem like a lot of work for relatively little gain.

Could likely use a graphite embedded gasket and a 3/8" to 1/2" thick plate to seal the whole system.

Would need to confirm blocking both the oil and coolant does not cause any other issues, but would need to find an inlet/outlet for the oil to be piped to an external cooler and filter.

The plate could be designed to be that point of entry/exit.

 

[mwilk012]

Could likely use a graphite embedded gasket and a 3/8" to 1/2" thick plate to seal the whole system.

Would need to confirm blocking both the oil and coolant does not cause any other issues, but would need to find an inlet/outlet for the oil to be piped to an external cooler and filter.

The plate could be designed to be that point of entry/exit.

graphite impregnated or spiral wound? Curious what you have in mind.

 

[CarbonSteel]

graphite impregnated or spiral wound? Curious what you have in mind.

Graphite impregnated with a steel shim in the middle. It would be very heat/oil/coolant resistant and would have enough compressibility to seal without requiring a high torque value.

In a former life, I worked in heavy petrochem and used all manner of gaskets including Flexitallic (spiral wound) and extreme low and high temperature use case gaskets.

 

[mwilk012]

Graphic impregnated with a steel shim in the middle. It would be very heat/oil/coolant resistant and would have enough compressibility to seal without requiring a high torque value.

In a former life, I worked in heavy petrochem and used all manner of gaskets including Flexitallic (spiral wound) and extreme low and high temperature use case gaskets.

I come from a nuclear background, now exclusively automotive. It sounds like what you have in mind would be the strongest piece of the entire engine.

 

[CarbonSteel]

I come from a nuclear background, now exclusively automotive. It sounds like what you have in mind would be the strongest piece of the entire engine.

Touche and too right!

 

[roaniecowpony]

Nuc? Wife and I met in a nuc R&D project for centrifuge uranium enrichment. We were in our 20s. I'd come in hung over. Her and her friend would walk by my desk and give me a hard time. Wife was working as a metrology tech, and I was working as a QC inspector and before that an experimental machinist in the prototyping shop. She got her Mech Eng degree while there and went upstairs and eventually to Rocky Flats in Denver to build big boom nucs. I slogged through engineering classes at night and went to McDonnell Douglas to do airplanes.

As for the "block-off plate", I'm thinking it's really going to be just a pass-through, cooler eliminator plate. The "cooler" on this engine is a double edged sword.

• It acts as a oil pre-heater during warm up, because the coolant heats up quickly and then transfers that heat to the oil. That's good.
• Once the coolant and oil are up to temperature, the coolant temperature drives the oil temperature either up or down based on their relative temperatures. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But in a situation where the coolant is near limits and the oil is near limits, nothing good happens. The oil can't get enough cooling from hot engine coolant.

My solution will be to eliminate the OE "cooler" and install a conventional cooler with the Baxter remote filter adapter and a remote filter mount. The plate is pretty simple to make with the internal passages. I've made similar parts in the past.

Welding the block really isn't appropriate in situ, without complete disassembly. Even then, welding would not be preferred over threading for a plug. Internal weld slag in an oil passage could be the end of the engine if it got loose. But having the same flow path as the OE system keeps it a no brainer.

I will give Kevin Baxter a call and discuss what he thinks of this and see if I'm missing something.

 

[OSCAR II]

How would you deal with the sensors? Aren't some of the aftermarket adapters throwing codes.

 

[roaniecowpony]

How would you deal with the sensors? Aren't some of the aftermarket adapters throwing codes.

Nothing to deal with. No sensors would be replaced or relocated.

 

[mwilk012]

Nothing to deal with. No sensors would be replaced or relocated.

How not? The oil pressure/temp sensor is on the rear of the plastic housing.

 

[roaniecowpony]

How not? The oil pressure/temp sensor is on the rear of the plastic housing.

I'd retain the oil filter housing and R&R just the cooler.

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