my 08 FXDB has two ports in the front of the oil filter mount for fittings to run an oil cooler. i have an oil cooler with no thermostat.
since in live in LA and i rarely ever ride in sub 50's temps, im considering just running it full time.

anyone ever run it like this? thoughts?

 

I'm in central Fl. and run a Jagg 10-row cooler without a thermostat on my FLHR. You're like me, as soon as the bike idles for a minute on the driveway, you're already at 180* or so. Go for it....

 

I have been running a jagg 10 row with out a thermostat up here in northern new york for two years now. i haven't had any concerns and ride in weather in the forty's

 

I have the Jagg with a fan. No thermostat and since its always hot here, will turn the fan on whenever stopped in traffic.

 

Are you sure those two ports are for an oil cooler?

 

Those two ports are NOT for an oil cooler. If those are used, the filter will be taken out of the loop.

 

I agree with the above...don't think HD made it that easy to add a cooler!

 

Down here in Houston, it gets Africa hot and getting stuck in traffic on one of those summer days is not a possibility, it is a probability. I kept worrying about over heating so I scored a righteous deal on an in the box factory NOS HD cooler, 62989-04, off of eBay, ($50 shipped) and it took me all of two hours to install it on my 2001 FXD, including pulling and reinstalling the front exhaust pipe. I never thought about taking the thermostat out so oil will cycle through the cooler all the time. I may have to look at that next time I have the exhaust pipes off. (thermostat is just behind the front head pipe.)

I still want a temp gauge of some kind, though.

 

rustang: If it is a HD cooler the thermostat is in the adapter just behind the filter.

The cooler HD sells for Sportsters just routes the oil from the pump to the cooler and back into the filter. The ones for the Dyna, Softails and earlier Touring all have 185 degree thermostats in the adapter housing that the filter spins onto. It is a waste of time to remove it if even possible. In the high temp areas it will open soon and stay there. The oil will always be moving until the engine is shut off and cools down.

I ride year long. Last winter when the temps were in the 20's the Sportster mpg's dropped. Just covered the cooler and it went back to normal mpg's. The oil was too cool and the ECM kept the enrichment on thinking the engine was not warmed up.

Never had any issues from the forties up.

The thermostat models are great in the winter to get the engine up to operating temperature sooner and keep it there.

I have installed over 6 oil coolers on my HD's that did not come standard with them. Was an easy straight forward job. Less than two hours.

 

To answer your question as plainly as possible, there is absoloutly nothing wrong with leaving the thermostat out of the equation. Yours does not have one....good!
However what QC wrote is right and those holes are not to be used. you need the adapter to make the cooler and filter both work.