Big willow track days and temp issues

Tougefl5

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I have a Setrab oil cooler in my other car, and it comes with a built-in fan. It's fantastic because you can switch the fan on manually, allowing it to cool before the temperature gets too high.

I keep it on before the track and even after.
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In my FL5, I have a HEL thermostatic oil cooler.HEL Performance Multi Angled Billet thermostatic sandwich plate set at 92°C (197.6°F) . I can’t even tell if it’s working. Maybe it is, but it doesn't seem to be effective enough to prevent the oil from overheating. Given the cost, I'm not sure it’s worth it if it doesn’t resolve the heating issue.
I'm considering getting the same setrab model. Just wondering about the fitment and placement.
Where do you plan on fitting it?
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BuntaTypeR

BuntaTypeR

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I'm considering getting the same setrab model. Just wondering about the fitment and placement.
Where do you plan on fitting it?
I dont know yet. I have to take out the bumper this weekend or next weekend.
Customizing takes so much time.
 

Tougefl5

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I dont know yet. I have to take out the bumper this weekend or next weekend.
Customizing takes so much time.
Your very lucky to have the time. My car is on the east coast and I'm working on the west coast. Although I'm lucky to see others experiment and take what works. Then apply it to my car lol
 

Websitesdown

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So happy with how this is turning out! Dual oil cooler set up is 95% complete, just need to receive the sandwich plate and link up the lines tomorrow.

The fitment of the various pieces is as good as I could have hoped for. Really looking forward to getting it fully operational tomorrow and then testing in this 100°+ weather. Only question remaining is should I do them parallel or in sequence?

Parts list:


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Found this.

Choosing and Using Engine Oil Coolers - Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies


Installation Factors

There are just two general rules when it comes to mounting the cooler. (Remember, "all other variables being equal.")

  • Oil coolers require airflow to take heat away. More airflow is better.
  • Cooling depends on the difference in temperature between the air and the oil. Cooler air cools better than warmer air.
The airflow equation is a little complicated. As airflow velocity increases, the additional benefit decreases (the graph begins to flatten around 40 mph). The important takeaway is that your oil cooler needs to be exposed to airflow. The largest oil cooler will be ineffective if it's sealed in the trunk or mounted flat up against the firewall. Air must be able to get into the cooler, and it must be able to get out of the cooler. This is what carries away the heat.

In many cars, this suggests mounting the cooler near the radiator. After all, Detroit / Stuttgart / Tokyo spent a lot of time and effort to locate the water radiator where it would get the best airflow. It seems like a no-brainer to follow their lead. But that leads to the second point above.

Air temperature has a direct effect on oil cooler efficiency. Hot air does not cool as well as cool air. This is why we turn on the AC when we're hot, and not the heater. Mounting the oil cooler behind the radiator can reduce the efficiency of the cooler by as much as half. A better solution would be to mount the cooler in front of the radiator. The trade-off is that the efficiency of the radiator will be affected by the air coming through the cooler, but the effect should be much smaller because the cooler is typically smaller than the radiator. An even better option would be to mount the cooler next to the radiator (assuming there is room) or below the radiator (if it can be protected from damage).

The air temperature difference also means that if we run two oil coolers, they should be plumbed in parallel, rather than in series. If you run two coolers in series, the oil in the second cooler would be cooler (closer to the air temperature) than the oil in the first cooler, making it much less efficient. Another bonus to plumbing in parallel is that it has the same effect as adding more rows to the cooler: Less flow restriction for an even happier oil system.

Much more information about mounting oil coolers for maximum air flow with minimum drag can be found in Chapter Nine of Tune To Win by Carroll Smith.
Summary: Parallel
 
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BuntaTypeR

BuntaTypeR

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Your very lucky to have the time. My car is on the east coast and I'm working on the west coast. Although I'm lucky to see others experiment and take what works. Then apply it to my car lol
I dont have enough time.lol
I actually have a lot of stuff coming. I dont know if i should install those before this.

I dont think my idea of doing 2 oil coolers is enough to beat a 300F oil temp. We shall see.

I will probably use my other car that doesnt have turbo for tracking on summer. I think the fl5 will come out on 60 to 80f. It really needs more vent on the hood and fenders.
 


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BuntaTypeR

BuntaTypeR

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So happy with how this is turning out! Dual oil cooler set up is 95% complete, just need to receive the sandwich plate and link up the lines tomorrow.

The fitment of the various pieces is as good as I could have hoped for. Really looking forward to getting it fully operational tomorrow and then testing in this 100°+ weather. Only question remaining is should I do them parallel or in sequence?

Parts list:


20240709_150444.jpg
20240709_140250.jpg
20240709_142534.jpg
20240709_150219.jpg
20240709_163713.jpg
20240709_163721.jpg
20240709_163742.jpg
20240709_163735.jpg
20240709_163728.jpg
20240709_163927.jpg
20240709_165128.jpg
20240709_165204.jpg
20240709_165352.jpg
20240709_165817.jpg


20240709_163706.jpg
This is great. Im copying this lol
 

Rhorn

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I have a Setrab oil cooler in my other car, and it comes with a built-in fan. It's fantastic because you can switch the fan on manually, allowing it to cool before the temperature gets too high.

I keep it on before the track and even after.


In my FL5, I have a HEL thermostatic oil cooler.HEL Performance Multi Angled Billet thermostatic sandwich plate set at 92°C (197.6°F) . I can’t even tell if it’s working. Maybe it is, but it doesn't seem to be effective enough to prevent the oil from overheating. Given the cost, I'm not sure it’s worth it if it doesn’t resolve the heating issue.
Interesting that you have that oil cooler. How is the fan powered?
 
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BuntaTypeR

BuntaTypeR

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Interesting that you have that oil cooler. How is the fan powered?
It's in my Model 3 Performance, not in the FL5.

It's drawing power from the speaker wires, and I have a toggle switch located in the trunk to turn it on or off. You can run the wire all the way inside the car, but I'm too lazy to rewire it.

Technically, this can be applied to our FL5s; I just need to customize a mount for it.

it looks like this:
11th Gen Honda Civic Big willow track days and temp issues 1720581497737-ez
 

metal_driver

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Only going off based Honda's water temp reading, which I thought was actual? It's the Honda Oil temp that is calculated. I do have a Glowshift dual oil temp / pressure gauge I'm going to wire up in time for August track days.

Been thinking about my setup, and what I need to revise:

- Add the brake cooler tubes back, may have to connect with silicone hose to route around the new coolers

- Open up the fake vents on both sides of the front bumper and have them serve as air intakes to the side mounted coolers. Open up the fenders and mount vents like @siwelnosaj

- Install the CSF radiator I have sitting

- If possible, I'll add another Setrab oil cooler core in the same position on the left. Have a dual oil cooler setup, mounted in series.

Want this thing to survive the Lemans 24 hours basically LOL. Once I can get water temp at 215 F max, and oil under 240 F max, I'll then have @Jester04 do a tune for me.

Took a screen shot of peak temps right as my brakes went to shit. Man that oil pressure a little low for my liking, was running Kirkland 5w30. In with the Quaker State 5w40 next time!

Screenshot 2024-07-08 104331.png
Glad to see you guys are onto to the double oil cooler idea!
I truly think that this is one of the best mods to help keep things cool. Keep in mind that it takes a good combination of quite a few things together to get improved results.

With my FK8 I found that the parallel oil cooler set up with some good size oil coolers works well
(I went with USR kit using a Setrab 15-row on the driver side and a Mishi oil cooler custom mount on the pax side that did not black the brake cooling air duct)
when combined with other items such as:

- a high flow front grill to let more air flow in the front( i went with a J''s Racing one),
- cut out diamonds in the fake lower fog light covers,
- removed the fog lights to let air pump through the holes directly,
- cut vents into the front wheel wells to let the warm air from the oil coolers escape,
- a turbo blanket,
- an improved rad,
- a higher capacity intercooler, and
- wrap the exhaust pipe near the oil pan to reduce heat transfer to the oil pan.
amongst other ideas.

I also took the time to wire an oil temp gauge probe to a drain plug on the oil drain plug to get a better indication of the temps. With the improved oil temps I have found that the engine coolant temps seem to naturally follow suit better.

For more info see - https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/jeffs-build-for-occasional-light-track-use.51054/


siwelnosaj, that is by far some of the cleanest work I have ever seen done! Keep up the good work sir.
 
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siwelnosaj

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Glad to see you guys are onto to the double oil cooler idea!
I truly think that this is one of the best mods to help keep things cool. Keep in mind that it takes a good combination of quite a few things together to get improved results.

With my FK8 I found that the parallel oil cooler set up with some good size oil coolers works well
(I went with USR kit using a Setrab 15-row on the driver side and a Mishi oil cooler custom mount on the pax side that did not black the brake cooling air duct)
when combined with other items such as:

- a high flow front grill to let more air flow in the front( i went with a J''s Racing one),
- cut out diamonds in the fake lower fog light covers,
- removed the fog lights to let air pump through the holes directly,
- cut vents into the front wheel wells to let the warm air from the oil coolers escape,
- a turbo blanket,
- an improved rad,
- a higher capacity intercooler, and
- wrap the exhaust pipe near the oil pan to reduce heat transfer to the oil pan.
amongst other ideas.

I also took the time to wire an oil temp gauge probe to a drain plug on the oil drain plug to get a better indication of the temps. With the improved oil temps I have found that the engine coolant temps seem to naturally follow suit better.

For more info see - https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/jeffs-build-for-occasional-light-track-use.51054/


siwelnosaj, that is by far some of the cleanest work I have ever seen done! Keep up the good work sir.
Thank you and I'm with you that it's a multifaceted approach that ultimately has to be taken because it all works together. On my fk8 I had 2 secondary radiators and the dual oil coolers, open grill, vented hood, turbo blanket, running e25 on track.
 


RacingIsLife

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Simply outstanding @siwelnosaj

How are you measuring oil temp?

I'm going to redo my system and copy much of yours. Simply the most comprehensive and clean implementation for serious track cooling there is for the FL5
 

siwelnosaj

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Simply outstanding @siwelnosaj

How are you measuring oil temp?

I'm going to redo my system and copy much of yours. Simply the most comprehensive and clean implementation for serious track cooling there is for the FL5
I have a P3 gauge reading a temp sensor I have in the oil pan

You can see it here
 

ITSguy

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How accurate are the oil pan readings vs say, sandwich plate or another place in the lines?
 

siwelnosaj

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How accurate are the oil pan readings vs say, sandwich plate or another place in the lines?
I didn't want to do the sandwich plate because from my understanding this would be measuring the temp after the oil has cycled through the coolers. I chose the oil pan because this gives me the oil temp just before it makes it's way to the filter and oil coolers.
 

RacingIsLife

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I didn't want to do the sandwich plate because from my understanding this would be measuring the temp after the oil has cycled through the coolers. I chose the oil pan because this gives me the oil temp just before it makes it's way to the filter and oil coolers.
Any insight to what the difference is between what you see at the pan versus what the calculated value is on LogR?
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