Oil Cooler Kit

[frankie406]

Hi im thinking of installing an oil cooler kit in my 03 1.8vvti avensis.. i know of the oil consumption on these engines are bad and have been told of the oil clogging up inside the engine and having to replace the short engine..im thinking if the oil is being cooled with this oil cooler kit will this help with the oil problem that the vvti's have???if the engine is flushed with cleaner then a thicker oil and this kit would it help...sure beats the price that toyota's looking to fix this problem upwards of 2 grand...oil cooler kit 96£.

[Adam C]

Could be worth it. Would probably take the oil longer to get up to temperature though

[Druid Boy]

Sorry to be negative but if I can't help wondering that if it was as straightforward as this wouldn't Toyota do that rather than rebuild the engine. I have zero experience of fitting oil coolers though so I could be talking rubbish.......again.

[Konrad C]

Out of interest, I checked the Haynes manual which covers the petrol Avensis 1998 - 2003. All pre 2000 engines and the 2 litre vvti engines are fitted with oil coolers.

The 1.6 and 1.8 do not have oil coolers.

If the Celicas which use a similar engine have an oil cooler fitted, then maybe it can be fitted on the Avensis 1.8 vvti.

Frankie's point seems to tally with the engines without oil coolers are the one with oil burning issues, though it still an engine design issue.

[Whitewagon]

But wouldn't a thicker cooler oil be more likely to cause the blockages that seem to be the reason for this problem in the first place?

[igormus]

what does an oil cooler kit consist of?

[acetip]

what does an oil cooler kit consist of?

It has a radiator type cooler that the oil passes through.its mounted mostly in front of the cars radiatpr. it should have its own thermostat so it not over cool.

My old passats oil was cooled by a engine coolant it was in the base of the oil filter housing.

the same engine in the audi the oil was cooled by a radiator as in my first descriptim.

The feed pipes to a oil cooler can be taken of a sandwich plate on the oil filter Housing.

[igormus]

how to keep an oil pressure in the system when taken off oil for cooling?

the oil level must be more in the sump for radiator and for lines.

regards / Igor

[acetip]

The oil pressure will be just the same after fitting an oil cooler kit.

Yes,there will be more oil in the system after fitting a cooler kit but oill level will be the same.

There are several firms supplying these kits who will give advice on them.

Unless your towing with a car i cant see the need for a oill cooler in the uk.

Although oil temp is usualy higher than coolant temp in normal use.More so when towing.

[frankie406]

But wouldn't a thicker cooler oil be more likely to cause the blockages that seem to be the reason for this problem in the first place?

thanks for reply...but was it not the burning of the oil that caused the blockages? and not the thicker oil? even if i use the 5/30 fully syn would it help to slow the consumption down?

[frankie406]

Posted 19 August 2012 - 02:35 PM

both oil cooler and cooling jets -- that is cure

the engine is in fact economical basing on my previous drive of avensis

regards / Igor

how to keep an oil pressure in the system when taken off oil for cooling?

the oil level must be more in the sump for radiator and for lines.

regards / Igor

thanks for the reply igor....

[frankie406]

The oil pressure will be just the same after fitting an oil cooler kit.

Yes,there will be more oil in the system after fitting a cooler kit but oill level will be the same.

There are several firms supplying these kits who will give advice on them.

Unless your towing with a car i cant see the need for a oill cooler in the uk.

Although oil temp is usualy higher than coolant temp in normal use.More so when towing.

hi the use for the oil cooler is to try and slow down or hopefully stop high oil consumption.

of course this is only a thought tho and if it was to work it would help the forums vvti oil burners pockets lol.

[t-spiritpete]

Hello, I can't see it doing any harm to fit the oil cooler and the extra oil in the system will help anyway, in fact when Toyota fitted a new short engine under warranty it came with a modified dipstick which increased the amount of oil in the sump, not sure exactly how much but 1/2 litre comes to mind. Toyota must believe that this would help cure the problem along with other modifications to the pistons etc, so even slightly over filling the standard unmodified vvti engine shouldn't do any harm.

Regards Pete.

[acetip]

I was given an oil cooler radiator by a chap who i had changed the camshaft in a Pinto engine in his Cortina,i think it was a 'fell of a lorry job'. It came with a thermo stat.

Never found any use to me so i gave it away, These days being wiser i would have put it on eBay.

There was no eBay then,come to that no PCs either.

Where has the time gone.

[t-spiritpete]

I was given an oil cooler radiator by a chap who i had changed the camshaft in a Pinto engine in his Cortina,i think it was a 'fell of a lorry job'. It came with a thermo stat.

Never found any use to me so i gave it away, These days being wiser i would have put it on EBAY.

There was no EBAY then,come to that no PCs either.

Where has the time gone.

Yes I can't agree more Peter and there's me with a Mk 1 escort bonnet, BMC 1275cc A series Turbo kit, full set of Avensis 2.2 d4d alloys & tyres etc etc sat in my garage and shed, I need to take your advice and get them on eBay .

Regards Pete :D .

[Jamesbelfast]

When fitting an oil cooler there a number of points to consider. Can the oil in the cooler drain back into the sump when the engine is switched off?? If so it will take much longer for the engine to build up oil presure when starting from cold - definitely not good for any engine. To overcome this problem the oil cooler and its plumbing will require non-return valves.

Coolng the oil will reduce it's viscosity thus reducing the rate at which it can flow. When it comes to moving fluids the volume being circulated is just as important as the pressure or temperature.

[t-spiritpete]

When fitting an oil cooler there a number of points to consider. Can the oil in the cooler drain back into the sump when the engine is switched off?? If so it will take much longer for the engine to build up oil presure when starting from cold - definitely not good for any engine. To overcome this problem the oil cooler and its plumbing will require non-return valves.

Coolng the oil will reduce it's viscosity thus reducing the rate at which it can flow. When it comes to moving fluids the volume being circulated is just as important as the pressure or temperature.

Hello James,

most oil coolers have a thermostat that only allow the oil to circulate through it when the oil reaches normal high operating limits and then if the cooler is up to the job it will keep the oil within those limits. I always try to advise people to keep the engine oil fully topped up as the volume in the engine lets say 6 ltrs when full should be able to cool the engine along with the water coolant under normal conditions where as 1 ltr short on oil and it will struggle causing a reduction in viscosty.

Regards Pete.

[Jamesbelfast]

Assuming an engine with a 5 or 6 litre oil capacity running at around 1 litre low will reduce its cooling ability by around 18% to 20%.

As you say Pete ideally oil needs to be temperature controlled where possible differential temperatures throughout an engine can result in thermal stresses. In fact in some cases it may be benificial to increase or decrease the oil or coolant temperatures so they match.

Sadly very few motorists realise that apart from lubricating and engine it also cools or dispates heat from highly stressed areas. Also many think that just because an oil looks clean it is OK when in fact it may be heavily contaminated by combustion gases.

[acetip]

Oil also cleans an engine by keeping any 'dirt ' in suspension so it does not stick to the internal parts. the oil is then cleaned by the filter.