URGENT! UPGRADE TO PURPOSE-MADE OIL COOLERS FOR ENGINES, TRANSMISSIONS, DIFFS AND GEARBOXES
Automotive oil coolers are a form of insurance to keep your car or truck new and to avoid expensive repairs.
OE manufacturers build their vehicles for "normal" use! Well, you don't do normal now, do you? As a "lead-foot" you know that hot laps around a racetrack, rock climbing, spirited driving, towing, or repeated passes at the drag strip have nothing to do with normal driving. There, the event can exceed your original equipment manufacturer’s engine or transmission oil cooler duty cycle, and it becomes overwhelmed with the dreaded heat soak syndrome.
What does an automotive oil cooler do?
An automotive oil cooler is a radiator-like device tasked with keeping the temperature of a lubricant within a predetermined range that reflects the optimum operating temperature for the type of oil used in the system.
Tow, haul, hot weather, stop and go traffic, hills, racing, or stump on the gas and your car or truck is a candidate for an engine oil cooler, transmission, gearbox, differential, power steering, and in racing a valve spring cooler.
"Preparation is essential in off-roading. Something as simple as the lack of an oil cooler can cost you a transmission, and or an engine, not to mention being stranded miles from civilization." Don Alexander, Jeep 4X4 School Chief Instructor
Joe Gibbs Racing Oil's chart above displays the amount of loss of viscosity by engine oil when it is heated. The threshold is avoided with an adequate oil cooler in sufficient air stream.
WHY YOU NEED AFTERMARKET AUTOMOTIVE OIL COOLERS OVER OEM ONES!
OEMs manufacture their oil coolers, for transmissions or engines, for "normal" driving and "normal" conditions!
APPLIEDSPEED.com collaborates with the best manufacturers and their technical advisors. For oil coolers, fittings, lines, hoses, pumps, and cooler gaskets, we deal with C&R Racing, AFCO, Earl's, and B&M Racing. Earl's and B&M are divisions of Holley. Bryan Grigsby, Holley's Motorsports Technical Advisor, assisted with this article.
Bryan explained:
"The first thing you have to remember is that power is heat! As soon as an engine crosses its threshold of power, the oil overheats and must be cooled. Contrary to common knowledge, oil coolers do not cool lubricants, but oil coolers aim to maintain oil temperatures (possibly with the aid of an oil thermostat, ed) within a predetermined range ideal for the lubricant used in the system. Considering that oil loses half its life for every 20 degrees in excess heat, it becomes evident that lubricants must be kept in check."
AFTERMARKET UPGRADED AUTOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE RACING OIL COOLERS
An ounce of prevention!
As soon as an engine crosses its threshold of power, the oil overheats, and it loses some of its original viscosity! Avoid expensive damage to your hard-earned high performance engines and drivetrain components with the best automotive oil coolers for engines, transmissions, gearboxes, transaxles, differentials, and power steering units.
WHAT IS AN UPGRADED AUTOMOTIVE OIL COOLER?
Prevent costly breakdowns with better flow and reliability!Engine and transmission oil coolers need the best flow possible. Upgraded coolers replace marginal ones with higher cooling capacity and enhanced design for improved reliability to prevent cooler leaks and to maximize the cooling ability. Performance enthusiasts and race drivers prefer the Stacked Plate design automotive oil coolers.
Failure to correctly choose an oil cooler assembly can cause expensive and possibly hazardous results from a simple cooler leak to a ruined engine, transmission, differential, or power steering unit.
HOW TO CHOOSE AN AFTERMARKET AUTOMOTIVE OIL COOLER / HEAT EXCHANGER
Buy a cooler that is Purpose-Made or pay the price later!OEMs manufacture their oil coolers, for transmissions or engines, for "normal" driving and under "normal" conditions. If you need an engine oil cooler, buy one made to cool engine oil. If you need a cooler for a manual transmission or differential, get one made purposely for those applications.
Several parameters enter the equation when designing purpose-made oil coolers.
- The best coolers purpose-made for thicker lubricants such as gear oil and differential fluid require more significant passages and fittings as well as a larger surface area to facilitate flow and reduce back-pressure. Oil cooler manufacturers recommend installing an oil thermostat when operating in cold weather.
- The best (correct) oil coolers used for automatic transmissions and power steering units are purpose made and they have smaller tubes and inlets because the fluids used in those units are relatively thinner. In this case, the oil lines and their fittings can also be of smaller size.
- Manufacturers of the best oil coolers research and test airflow through their coolers to maximize heat rejection. The cooling fins are of proprietary design, and they have undergone extensive testing in wind tunnels.
WHY AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION COOLER?
- 220-240 F – Varnish forms on internal components.
- 240-260 F – Transmission seals begin to harden and leak.
- 260-295 F – Clutch plates start to slip and create added heat and abrasive materials in the fluid.
- 295-315 F – Seals and clutches burn-out. The transmission sustains catastrophic failure.
CONDITIONS THAT NEGATIVELY AFFECT YOUR LUBRICANT TEMPERATURES
An oil cooler becomes necessary when any component of the drivetrain surpasses its threshold of power.- High ambient temperatures are probably the most significant cause of overheated lubricants.
- Any condition that requires additional power like with hills, headwinds, towing, and hauling a load affect lubricant temperatures.
- Tailwinds reduce the air intake through the radiator and coolers.
- Stop-and-go driving requires repeated accelerating and slowing. Accelerating from a stop is one of the most power-demanding actions on a car or truck.
- Increased torque converter stall speed requires more aggressive throttle application and higher engine RPM to create more power.
- An increase in engine power, produces more significant amounts of heat.
- Wheel spin, like in rain, mud, or snow, makes the transmission and the engine work harder.
- Transmission or engine malfunctions can also create undue amounts of heat like with slipping clutches, blown head gaskets, improperly adjusted throttle valve cable and vacuum leaks.
WHERE CAN YOU USE AN OIL COOLER?
There are oil coolers for engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering systems, gearboxes like race car manual transmissions, differentials, and even race car valve springs. These oil coolers find their way on cars, trucks, vans, SUV s, motorhomes, RVs, race cars, Street Rods, Muscle Cars, Jeeps, sports cars, tow-vehicles, emergency vehicles, four-wheel drives, 4X4s, high performance vehicles, and many more.
Choose the right cooler for your application
Use coolers purpose made for differentials and gearboxes for engine oil, transmission, power steering, and valve spring cooling. Their fittings and tube dimensions are sufficiently large to avoid most pressure drop.
Coolers for engine oil, transmission, power steering, and valve spring cooling do not have sufficient flow capacity to permit the use of thicker fluids like gear lube. Choose smaller coolers for power steering and valve springs.
Some coolers, called "Deck Mounts" (right), have flanges that permit installing them directly into a panel. The fittings come out the back or the sides to facilitate plumbing. Deck Mount coolers are very thick, and as such, they should mount in the full airflow, and on fast cars to allow the air to saturate the matrix thoroughly. 
For auto racing and off-roading, some coolers are of the oil to water type (left), where water passes through a canister that contains the oil cooler tubes and fins. These coolers are handy when access to free flowing air is not available and they tuck away from rocks, mud, and crash damage."Oil coolers are a form of insurance."Jean Genibrel Tech Editor Appliedspeed.com
New or old. Chevy or Ford. Muscle Car or race car. They all need some attention with engine oil cooling and transmission temp monitoring. Older Muscle cars had marginal cooling systems, and many Hot Rodders further increase the power of their ride, necessitating an upgrade in the temperature maintenance department from the engine to the differential. 
Muscle Cars can go into "limp mode" due to excess heat and substandard coolers. These cars benefit from aftermarket engine and transmission coolers. Some sport a supercharger, and there a heat exchanger assists in maintaining temperatures at an acceptable level and performance at its peak.
STACKED PLATE OIL COOLERS ARE THE BEST AND THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER OIL HEAT EXCHANGERS BY RACERS AND PERFORMANCE ENTHUSIASTS.
Major features include:
- Stacked Plate coolers are up to 30% more efficient than any other design.
- Highly developed fin design produces a boundary layer that maximizes heat dispersion.
- The correct size coolers have nearly zero flow restriction resulting in maximum cooling efficiency and pressure drop.
- They are vacuum brazed for maximum reliability.
- Stacked Plate coolers are the most efficient and sturdiest of the coolers.
- They are available in many dimensions and with the correct size fittings to allow free flow.
- The internal passages feature turbulators to swirl the fluid against the interior tube surfaces.
AFCO, B&M, C&R, SETRAB, and Earl's' coolers for transmissions, engine, gearboxes, power steering, and differentials feature a Stacked Plate design, which is up to 30% more efficient than other models. When chosen correctly, they have nearly zero flow restriction.
Stacked Plate coolers have tanks on each side of the units to minimize back pressure and unify the flow of the oil over the whole tube group. This design provides strength to the units while reducing weight. The side tanks afford an ample supply of oil to the tubes as well as an even oil distribution. This engineering design avoids hot and cold spots to maximize cooling potential as well as to reinforce the cooler.Oil-to-Water Oil Coolers
Oil-to-water coolers use the engine water to cool the oil. The unit consists of a canister that contains the oil cooler. The cartridge is sealed, and freshwater from the radiator passes through the oil-to-water cooler to absorb the excess temperature from the oil.
The cooling air that passes through the car grill can increase by two to four times its original volume from the heat it has gathered through the coolers. The increase in volume creates pressure under the hood, and it prevents fresh air from entering the radiator and coolers. Dodge created these vents on their new Viper sports cars to relieve the pressure from under the hood. This modification helps to reduce the temperature of the engines and transmissions. WHAT IS THE BEST OIL COOLER?
The best oil cooler is the one that is purpose-made for your intended application. Racing, trucks and towing, off-roading, Street-Rods, Jeeps even motorhomes can benefit from the right cooler.
There are oil coolers made for engine oil, automatic transmission fluid, gearboxes like those used in racing, differentials, power steering fluid, and some forms of racing call for cooling the engine valve springs.
Stacked Plate coolers are the highest quality, and they h
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