How does JL 3.6L oil cooler work?

[roaniecowpony]

The "cooler" on a JL Wrangler is an aluminum, stacked plate, liquid to liquid heat exchanger. Oil in one partition and coolant in the other. You can count the plates on the outside of the heat exchanger. Every other gap between the plates has oil, while the others have coolant.

There is no thermostat for the heat exchanger and therefore the coolant and oil flow continuously, whether hot or cold. This continuous flow facilitates a dual function of the heat exchanger. When the engine is cold started, the coolant heats much more rapidly than the oil, since it cools the cylinders and cylinder heads, including the exhaust ports. The heated coolant flows through the heat exchanger and heats the oil. In this part of the engine warmup cycle, the "cooler" is really performing a function as a "pre-heater". Once the oil and coolant are at normal operating temperatures, the coolant is intended to moderate the maximum temperature of the oil.

The downside to the above design is if the coolant system gets over heated, it allows/facilitates overheating of the oil too.

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[Jeep Junkie]

The "cooler" on a JL Wrangler is an aluminum, stacked plate, liquid to liquid heat exchanger. Oil in one partition and coolant in the other. You can count the plates on the outside of the heat exchanger. Every other gap between the plates has oil, while the others have coolant.

There is no thermostat for the heat exchanger and therefore the coolant and oil flow continuously, whether hot or cold. This continuous flow facilitates a dual function of the heat exchanger. When the engine is cold started, the coolant heats much more rapidly than the oil, since it cools the cylinders and cylinder heads, including the exhaust ports. The heated coolant flows through the heat exchanger and heats the oil. In this part of the engine warmup cycle, the "cooler" is really performing a function as a "pre-heater". Once the oil and coolant are at normal operating temperatures, the coolant is intended to moderate the maximum temperature of the oil.

The downside to the above design is if the coolant system gets over heated, it allows/facilitates overheating of the oil too.

Thanks, that's a lot of information. So how to avoid the coolant system from getting overheated? Changing the coolant every 30,000 miles?

 

[roaniecowpony]

Thanks, that's a lot of information. So how to avoid the coolant system from getting overheated? Changing the coolant every 30,000 miles?

 

[Jeep Junkie]

Then what to do? Keep the engine bay clean?

 

[roaniecowpony]

Thanks, that's a lot of information. So how to avoid the coolant system from getting overheated? Changing the coolant every 30,000 miles?

If you want to add margin in the coolant system, you can make modifications to a JL 3.6L.

In my case, I did the following:

• changed the fan schedule with an aftermarket RPM Extreme fan controller.
• installed a higher powered 850w fan from a Gladiator
• installed a larger radiator from Mishimoto
• replaced the restrictive grill mesh with Gladiator/392/diesel grill mesh.

 

[Ratbert]

@Jeep Junkie, verify that you don't have the higher powered fan before buying one. My JLURD came with it.

 

[Jeep Junkie]

@Jeep Junkie, verify that you don't have the higher powered fan before buying one. My JLURD came with it.

Wow, maybe I have it, it sounds like a helicopter

 

[roaniecowpony]

@Jeep Junkie, verify that you don't have the higher powered fan before buying one. My JLURD came with it.

diesels and 392 Wranglers came with higher output fans than the 2.0 or 3.6. Also, the JT Gladiator came with a larger fan. The 2.0 & 3.6 fan is 600 or 650w and the high output fan is 850w. The blades of the higher output fan have a broader cord.

 

[Jeep Junkie]

Last year in the summer a lot of bugs had accumulated in the thingy behind my grill, so I scrubbed it and washed it with pressure washer. I even found a few bugs in my engine air filter

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