Oil cooled?

[David Mantle]

Maybe just put a VW engine in!

or a Porche flat 6? LOL

It might seem unnecessary using oil instead of water as a coolant , and arguably more expensive , It`s just an idea I have and besides - difference is good.

 

[joedrum]

yes different is good ..... :headscratch: :mrgreen:

 

[David Mantle]

I have been asking round some of the local engineers and they find the idea strange but plausible so long as the right sort of oil could be located. One suggested the oil you use for power steering units . It should be able to cope with all the temp ranges normally found. The Glycol used in water prevents freezing in the icy depths of winter and pressurizing the system prevents boiling found in the hottest of deserts. Power steering oil has non of these issues and as far as I see the main issue would be the cost since the coolant system on a wing is about a gallon.

He did suggest that I try this on a motor I could afford to wreck should the whole idea fail. After much heated debate I have to admit he makes sense and I might try this concept on an old CX 500 that I have. I need to get it up and running first before I try oil cooling and this might take longer than I envisaged but give me time LOL

 

[joedrum]

hmmmmm without thermostat it would cool even better ...and probably more suited to the oil qualities......maybe

 

[dan filipi]

Interesting idea.
This isn't the first time I've read about using oil in our bike.
I hope someone tries it.

 

[scdmarx]

Do you suppose oil would bake and varnish, at least in high temps like Las Vegas, or any hot desert?

 

[David Mantle]

Do you suppose oil would bake and varnish, at least in high temps like Las Vegas, or any hot desert?

If that were to happen does that mean that cars fitted with power steering would not be able to steer?
In post #23 a local engineering friend suggested using oil normally found in power steering . It is also non hygroscopic .

 

[slabghost]

I've not had a power steering pump apart but Ive ad a few leak enough that when checked it looked like the impeller in there was similar to our water pump impellers. If true it seems you could use steering fluid to cool if you had enough coolers and air flow through them.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you suppose oil would bake and varnish, at least in high temps like Las Vegas, or any hot desert?

quite the opposite - check out the link the boiling point of thin cooking oils are 3 and 4 times higher than water

https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=1428

 

[David Mantle]

I have been talking to one of my neighbors who is into hot-rods and custom cars . He tried oil as a coolant in one of his cars a while ago and came up with all sort of problems. The heat transfer was OK for a while until he found that the oil whipped into a froth and clogged the radiator cores plus the hoses started to rot because of the chemicals within the oil. Pursuing this further would mean a redesign of the radiator with bigger cores and more cooling fins and different hose materials. With a car and the added space advantage of it then using proper oil coolers is an option but he is finding it difficult getting hoses specially made to connect coolers to engine. He did think of making reducer pipes out of stainless steel to connect the oil coolers to the engine water pipe connections.He ended up abandoning the idea but was pleased to have exercised the idea just to satisfy his mechanical curiosity.

 

[scdmarx]

Any idea what type of oil he used? I'm thinking power steering fluid would have some type of antifoaming additive, but just how much of a whipping it can take, I don't know.
I have no intention of trying this, but because it's new to me I'm naturally curious of the science behind it. I like to know why things work.

 

[Ansimp]

Remember KISS ( keep it simple stupid)

 

[ekvh]

Or as the infamous Jesse Ventura, then Gov, said on national tv, "
Keep it stupid, simple,"

 

[AApple]

Take a gallon of whatever oil you think would work in the cooling system, and a gallon of water/antifreeze mixture. Heat them both up to, oh, say, 200 *F for 10 minutes or so.
Then see how much longer it takes the tub of oil to cool back down to ambient temp, compared to normal coolant. I bet the oil won't cool down near as quickly as coolant. Meaning, I don't think using oil as a coolant in an internal combustion engine is an improvement....
On top of all of the other negatives that have already been mentioned, such as cost, foaming, hose deterioration, etc., oil just doesn't have the heat transferring capability of a water-based coolant. Think about this....automatic transmissions cool the trans fluid by running it thru a cooler built into the radiator....so you're using engine temp coolant to cool an oil. There are air-to-oil coolers, but they need massive quantities of air flow over them to work properly.

It's a neat concept, and I see the curiosity of trying it, but......imo, it won't feasibly work. The radiator, and fan needed, plus all the other crap needed is just too much to make it worth the effort. If it was possible, and there were any benefits to doing it, it would have already been done.....no? :headscratch:

 

[scdmarx]

AApple » Tue May 21, 2013 6:43 pm[/url]":3qcow2rv]Take a gallon of whatever oil you think would work in the cooling system, and a gallon of water/antifreeze mixture. Heat them both up to, oh, say, 200 *F for 10 minutes or so.
Then see how much longer it takes the tub of oil to cool back down to ambient temp, compared to normal coolant. I bet the oil won't cool down near as quickly as coolant. Meaning, I don't think using oil as a coolant in an internal combustion engine is an improvement....
On top of all of the other negatives that have already been mentioned, such as cost, foaming, hose deterioration, etc., oil just doesn't have the heat transferring capability of a water-based coolant. Think about this....automatic transmissions cool the trans fluid by running it thru a cooler built into the radiator....so you're using engine temp coolant to cool an oil. There are air-to-oil coolers, but they need massive quantities of air flow over them to work properly.

It's a neat concept, and I see the curiosity of trying it, but......imo, it won't feasibly work. The radiator, and fan needed, plus all the other crap needed is just too much to make it worth the effort. If it was possible, and there were any benefits to doing it, it would have already been done.....no? :headscratch:

Word up, yo! :ahem: