Oil cooler oil changing?

[sirivor70]

Hi there.

Right, am going to install an oil cooler as part of my new AAZ ingun swap. Thing is, what do people do when it comes to changing their oil at service.

There is going to be oil in the lines up the front rad and in the rad itself. Is it a matter of undoing and dropping the rad every time to get the oil out and ditto for the lines? Blow compressed air to empty them then?

Seems a bit of a big job every oil change. Would it be possible to insert some quick release joints at the front of the van and just undo them. Oil will flow down from the rad without dropping it down....know what I mean?

How have folk overcome this on their vans? Tried the search but did not really come up with anything?

[tencentlife]

You don't worry about emptying an oil cooler circuit on a routine oil change. Just drain the oil at the engine. Always install a new filter (I'm positively amazed that there are people who think they shouldn't change the filter with every oil service).

The mix of older oil with fresh, of the same product, is actually a better lubricant than the fresh oil in the bottle. I know, it's counterintuitive, but then everyone's convinced that the more often you change your oil the better, which is nonsense with nothing but marketing hype and 30 years of "conventional wisdom" to support it. Start sending samples off to a lab and you'll find out just how bogus that is. I know, it's painful to find out that something that's been hammered relentlessly into your brain your whole life is wrong, but you'll get over it, and the increased weight of your wallet will lessen the pain.

In reality, assuming first that you're using a suitable product, the best engine lubrication service would be to drain half of the old oil, and top off with fresh oil, and a new filter. So you're partway there if you leave the oil in the cooler circuit.

Zipping up my Nomex suit in preparation for the firestorm headed my way.

[sirivor70]

Agree with you re the oil changing intervals. Lived stateside for 8 years and there it was dogma that your oil had to be changed every 3k miles. Mad.

[tencentlife]

Yeah I don't know if you guys got infected with this over there, but here it's like a brain disease. The "quick-lube" oil change industry cropped up on every corner back in the 80's, and got everyone convinced they simply must change their oil every 3k miles regardless of engine type or usage. It's true that for cars driven almost exclusively in urban stop and go traffic, for short commutes, that the oil may never warm up enough to cook out condensed water, so that's a condition where more frequent changes may be warranted (although simply driving the car for more than fiteen minutes at a time solves the problem, too) . And on Aircooled VW engines, some of them (not all) really cook their oil, so that's an instance where frequent OCI's also may be warranted. "May be". Only lab testing (which costs about the same as a change of oil these days) will say for sure. But the vast majority of vehicles, especially here in the US where we do so much highway driving, do not need their oil replaced so frequently. It's a waste of time, money and resources, and adds to the load of pollution and waste we generate. It IS madness.

Anyway, don't sweat getting the oil out of your cooler circuit, just drain at the engine, new filter and refill as normal. The old oil trapped in the circuit will mix with the fresh product and temper the high TBN, making the oil a little closer to neutral pH at the start, but you'll still have adequate TBN for long service.