3.6 Oil Cooling Options

[Mike Feinstein]

What is the recommended setup for this conversion? Mine's running great and temp seems fine but it's cold outside. Running 993 motor with stock Carrera cooler (with temp controlled fan) and a small Setrab (about 7" x 11") in the other front fender with a small (7") aux cooling fan switched in the car (foglight switch). Both foglights are removed and replaced with screens for additional airflow. Planning to install an over-ride switch for the Carrera cooler fan also.

Just wondering if that will be adequate for summer track days here in Georgia. If not, what do you recommend? FYI, my mechanic had tried a second Carrera cooler but it seemed there was no good way to fit it because of the battery box protrusion and the fuel vent cannister up above....was he right? Prefer to keep a stock look so I avoided a center cooler and valance.

Thanks.

[k9handler]

I would like to know more on this as well...I am running just one cooler (Mocal large capacity) and no fan, but temps have not been an issue unless I run over 120mph for an extended time...but all I have to do is back out of it for a bit and she cools right back down. It's been almost 1 year since the install and I have yet to see a temp over 240.

[Bill Verburg]

There seems to be 3 different yet satisfactory solutions[list=1][*]Single large valance mount ex. Bill Verburg 993RS/B&B[*]Dual large fender mount drivers & passengers side ex Jack Olsen 964/Carrera/Mocal?[*]Single large passenger side w/ any valance mount ex Moses 993vram/Carrera/Mocal? Thom Fitzpatick 964/Carera/Mocal?[/list=1]

There are other with minor variations on these themes.

A single large Carrera fender mount will not be adequate.

[Moses]

If you have a Carrera and a Setrab you might be OK. If you find you need a front valance cooler, you can just change to a 930 style valance and keep the original bumper. Looks stock.

[Joe Bob]

I'm running a Carrera in the fender with no fan, a Mocal in the center......gets warm in bumper to bumper.....Elephant lines and a fan go in as soon as my new driveway gets poured and I can get to my lift.....

SmelLA traffic sucks when it comes to overheating.....

[Embs]

I have a trombone and a front Setrab. On 85F days it never gets hot. I do not track it and I have never been in heavy stop and go traffic, so the effectiveness of my set-up may not be ideal for others.

[earossi]

If your cooling is "just marginal" with the Carerra cooler and fan, there are a few low cost "tweaks" that you can try. The easiest is to change out the thermowitch on the Carerra cooler for a switch set to activate the fan at a lower temp. I don't remember, but the Porsche switch is set to turn the fan on at a very high temp........around 300 degrees. BMW sells a direct swap out thermswitch that is set for about 230 degrees. The downside to this is that you fan will cycle more and therefore have a reduced life.

The second thing that you may want to try is the new forced air scoop that Pelican and a few others market that gets installed through the existing bumper. Since the Carerra cooler fan only covers about half the surface area of the cooler, the ram air scoop should provide some incremental improvement.

Let us know what you try and what works.

[Bill Verburg]

As I said many accepatable solutions. The key item in all is copious quantities of air. In normal traffic just running around here the single B&B in the valance has been more than adequate generally running at or slightly above the t-stat opening point( ~80 - 85&degC), the 3.8 runs ~5&degC warmer than the the 3.6, even on the hottest days.

For heavier traffic a Carrera w/fan would help a some but I doubt that it is a total cure in the most extreme circumstances. Coming back from Watkins Glen last year the tow vehicles had more heating issues than the driven cars.

[Mike Feinstein]

Thanks guys. Just got back in from the garage from wiring the Carrera fan with a manual switch inside the car (very easy to do btw). So, I have a small Setrab with a 7" puller fan, and a stock Carrera cooler with fan that is on the stock thermo switch with a manual override in the car. I also have my front running lights removed with those waaaaaay overpriced little black cooling scoops in each opening. I've run some thin aluminum sheet to help duct air from the foglight opening to the Setrab.

I'll watch this setup as the outside temps warm up in the spring to see what happens. I have two DE's in March that should tell the tale. Worst case, I could add a 3rd cooler in a 930 valance but hope to avoid that. It's interesting to see that we've all picked different approaches and all seem to work + or -. Might be useful information for the next 3.6 convert who needs to make decisions...we've all been there.

Thanks again!

[Bill Verburg]

3 coolers is unnecessarily complicated and heavy, "KISS" is a great paradigm to follow.

[k9handler]

Originally posted by Mike Feinstein
I also have my front running lights removed with those waaaaaay overpriced little black cooling scoops in each opening.

Thanks again!

I agree, so I had a friend make one...not as large and it's worked fine for a few years now. But...a guy has to make a living and he does seem to have a solid following on the board who swear by his products.

[surflvr911sc]

Originally posted by Mike Feinstein
FYI, my mechanic had tried a second Carrera cooler but it seemed there was no good way to fit it because of the battery box protrusion and the fuel vent cannister up above....was he right? Prefer to keep a stock look so I avoided a center cooler and valance.

It worked for me- Two Carrera coolers

[Kevin Stewart]

I have a very large setrab cooler up front, remember its cold here and i have no miles yet, in a 65-70 degree day it was barely on the first lin in my car, I bougt the elephant fiitings incase it even hints at warming up ill put a fender cooler in it also, \\\

on another note how many quarts of Mobile one does your car take, my car is 15, wow, Kevin

[Chuck Moreland]

What you have now should be fine on the street, but on the track you may have some problems in the summer heat.

The best low cost upgrade is to improve air flow through the coolers. Oil coolers effectiveness is all about air flow.

Cut out the back of the headlight buckets and remove the lights for track days. Now you two big scoops gulping air at speed.



Box in the area from the bottom of the cooler to the front valance. And on the mocal, seal the cooler to fender. I assume the carrera cooler is already so sealed. Now all the air the comes in the front has no place to go except through the cooler, no leaking around it.

These mods will make a BIG difference on the track, 10-20 degrees. Cost probably about $20 and looks stock when the lights are in place for the drive home.

If that's not enough, finned oil lines will give you more cooling capacity and retain your stock appearance. Still not enough? Get a center mounted cooler and valance to hold it.

[Bill Verburg]

The key item in all is copious quantities of air

Chuck's pic as an example of what is meant by the above statement. The advantage of a valance is lots of air w/o going through some sort of evolution. The disadvantage of course is Thom's little misadventure.

[Jack Olsen]

It's all about airflow, which means that you have to make sure the air can only go through the coolers. Use ABS or aluminum to block off all air that could pass below, above, or around the cooler.

For the hottest track days, getting a second pair of headlight rings and some plastic screening allows you to create scoops. I have coolers in both fenders, so I took the backs out of both headlight buckets.

[widebody911]

I tried running a single cooler in NorCal - no way. I never tracked it that way, but it didn't work well enough on the street.

If you're willing to make the mods, the center cooler is best. If not, then use 2 fender coolers.

I had 2 fender coolers, and it worked well, even on the track. I was planning to paint my car, and wanted to get an IROC front bumper setup, so I decided to go with a front cooler at the same time. I cut out part of the trunk and made a box for the exit air. I fabbed all mine by hand, but TRE sells a piece for this.

The Carrera cooler with a center cooler works much better (IME) than the 2 fender coolers. I recently had a boo-boo with the IROC front bumper and a curb, so I moved the cooler up 2 1/2", upgraded from AN-12 to AN-16 lines, and switched to a 965 bumper. I also setup to two 2 1/2 shunts for the air to exit to the fender wells rather than under the car. I have no real cooling data available yet; I'll be at Sears on the 6th.

The fins of my my Carrera cooler were plugged up with crap, and it still stayed cool on the track. As an experiement, I want to get a -16 union and try taking the Carrera cooler out of the system to see how well things work.

I seriously considered adding a 3rd cooler - even to the point of purchasing the extra braided steel line - but decided I didn't really need it.

I could make you a screamin' deal on on some -12 line and a Mocal cooler

[turbo6bar]

Originally posted by Chuck Moreland
If that's not enough, finned oil lines will give you more cooling capacity and retain your stock appearance. Still not enough? Get a center mounted cooler and valance to hold it.

Any guesses on how much temp drop one might see with the finned lines? An educated guess is fine.

Jurgen