Adding an extra Oil Cooler to my 3126B

[Ted DuPuis]

Originally Posted by JNSNWT

I went to your YouTube channel and snagged these pictures.

The passenger side electric fan is pretty self-explanatory, but what is going on with that aluminum spacer between the oil filter and Engine?

That aluminum spacer is the sandwich plate that sends oil to and receives oil back from the oil coolers. The connections ended up on the other side from the photo you took. I haven't done a video on the sandwich adapter but I can.

The same sort of thing is very common in the normal automotive world. I couldn't find one big enough for a 3126 and one didn't exist. A friend of mine has a CNC mill and offered to make it, so I took him up on his offer. It's full flow - 100% of oil coming into the oil filter goes to the coolers, then comes back and goes through the filter. The engine has bypasses internal to the oil filter/cooler housing to account for a clogged filter and a clogged cooler, so I didn't think there was an issue.

I did observe a drop in oil pressure indication after installing this. However, keep in mind that the sensor for oil pressure on a 3126 is located well after the oil cooler/filter, so this isn't surprising. Everything is still above the Cat min spec for oil pressure, and much moreso than it was when I first got the thing. Oil pressure was quite low then but the bearings were worn and the oil pump needed replaced.

[Ted DuPuis]

Originally Posted by bpu699

Well, you get an A+ for being creative.

How do you know your engine oil temps? Mine has a cooler temp and trans temp.

Riding grades clearly effects the oil temp, as reflected by my idle oil pressure.

Cruising along, stopping, idle pressure is 20 PSI or so. After grades, I can see 15psi at idle, and just sitting there over 1-2 minutes it climbs right back to 20 psi...

I welded in a bung for an oil temp sensor to the oil pan when I had it off to replace the bearings and oil pump in the engine. Temperature probes are often simple single-wire setups (just a resistance measurement), which is what I used. The gauge itself is powered at the dash and the single sensor wire runs the 40 feet from the dashboard back to the engine. I used an Autometer gauge for both oil temp and pyrometer, but there are plenty of other good brands available.

After completing install, I used an IR temp gun to determine if the reading was accurate, and tried it at multiple temperatures. From what I could tell, it seems to be pretty spot on.

The only anomaly I've seen is if I'm driving in the rain/wet roads. The sensor gets splashed with water and that seems to lower the indicated reading. However the water is probably also getting on the oil coolers and thus lowering the temp a bit, but I think that it's mostly an indication error.

Basically, it's accurate enough.

[Pltmarty]

Hey Ted can you find out if your friend would be willing to make me one of these and how much he would charge. I spent the day researching this, on the phone with cat and and other friends to find out that there's no other option

[Ted DuPuis]

Originally Posted by Pltmarty

Hey Ted can you find out if your friend would be willing to make me one of these and how much he would charge. I spent the day researching this, on the phone with cat and and other friends to find out that there's no other option

My friend isn't able to - he's in the midst of a move. I'm getting my personal machine shop set up and I'm debating whether I'd want to start making parts for projects besides mine.

If there's interest, I might consider making several at once. I'll give some thought to what pricing would be.