ORIGINAL: geargrinder

Oil coolers canbe a liabilityVs an assetif not working properly and many may not be working properly. The case in point is, until I installed an oil temp guage I was happy with my cooler, ignorance was bliss. After installing the gauge I realized that my oil temp could not reach 150 deg F even during agressive driving in 80 deg air temps, typically read below 130 deg F. I pulled the cooler's thermostatic valve, tested it in boiling water and as predictied,it failed the test. Thisis so remenescent of when I used such devices on my performance cars, these valves do not last long and in this case, the cooler was decreasing engine longgevity.

Worse yet,HD does not sell replacement parts for oil coolers, meaning that you have to buy a complete replacement cooling system for a common thermostaticvalve failure.

Lessons learned by me again (I'm obviously a slow learner). Do not use an cooler unless you know for sure you need one, one more thing togo wrong. Do not use anoil cooler without an oil temp guage so you know if the cooler is functioning properly, not too cold or too hot. Too cool is as bad as too hot,very important to keep your oil temps within there proper operating range, not too cold or too hot, like 200-250 deg F, IMHO.

For me, no more HD coolers if thery don't sell replacement parts.

ORIGINAL: iclick

You can buy the adapter only (#26154-07), where the thermostat resides, for the '07 version (#26155-07) of the cooler for about $70 from Chicago HD. Check your instruction sheet for a breakdown of parts available, as on mine almost every part of the cooler kit is available for separate purchase.

ORIGINAL: Bryan TTM

hmmm....i'd think usin a cooler even if it just free circulated would be better'n nothin...the washer trick was always just a way of allowin the cooler alittle more time to cool than a free flow deal


i'd love to see your turbo setup....got any pics

ORIGINAL: pino56

Will covering the cooler in cold temps make any difference? When ambient temperature drops wouldn't the thermosthat just close, therefore oil circulates in engine only? Isn't that the purpose of the thermosthat?

ORIGINAL: geargrinder

I'm starting to wonder if I even need a cooler andif I don't need one, who does?Is after market mechandising hypeagaincausing us to solve a problem that doesn't exist and create new ones? Running too cold of20W/50 oil doesn't sound good to me anyway. The more is better syndrome is not always better with most things.There are very few mods thatwe make where wedon't have to be willing to give up something in order to gain something, besides money.