are oilcoolers really necessary?

[Cactus Jack]

Oil is light and puts up minimal resistance thru the galleries and lines like water thru a hose ... Lifan engines have hi volume oil pumps to cope with the added flow / volume requirements ... Oil gets pumped upwards to the head in a vertical engine anyway ... It runs downwards from the output of the cooler giving a syphoning effect that balances out with the input line ...

Ducati runs oil coolers on their race engines so they DO serve a very good purpose ... especially if you thrash your engine on hot days ... If the fins on a billet cooler didn't work ... neither would the fins on a cylinder or head ...

Take a good look at a Ducati engine , the laid down cylinder and head has horizontal fins going ALONG them and the vertical cylinder and head also has it's fins going in direction of the airflow ...

An oil cooler would be especially beneficial on a Jialing 125 ~ YX140 ~ Lifan 120/125/127/138 ~ Loncin 120 as those engines have vertical fins which are shrouded against the direction of the airflow ...

With the Lifan 140/150 and YX 150/160 ... the manufacturers have gone back to horizontal fins to provide adequate cooling due to the higher heat created by the increased cc capacity ... A 59 mm stroke engine especially would get a lot hotter than a shorter stroke , smaller capacity engine ... Think of a Lifan 140/150 as a highly modified , bored and stroked 120 motor ... with the resultant higher heat production penalty ... Start flogging them and using the added power and they'll get a hell of a LOT hotter than a 120 ...

 

[GenuineRider]

Back to "Running a loop" subject, is it alright to use the same lines originally being used for the oilcooler? like so:

or do you have to use a smaller line?

 

[DvDRip]

if you can make sure it doesn't touch the exhaust pipe it should be fine, but you should try to get a shorter line if possible

 

[GenuineRider]

ok, thanks mate

 

[Cactus Jack]

That's an EXCELLENT way to make an oil HEATER for use in Antarctica ... LOL ...

 

[headsmess]

thats what ive done as a stop gap measure...seems to work.... nice to point the hose out the other side of the engine though and mind the branches.... what cactus said about drilling a port in the case is a very good idea gets rid of the hose altogether....

 

[tormentandglory]

Oil is happiest between around 80deg to 120deg. If your oil is reguarly getting to 110/120deg or higher, use a cooler. A cheap digital thermometer probe is easy to fit to your filler plug. Drill a 3mm hole in a spare dipstick and stick the probe in. Use a bit of silicone if its not a tight fit. A decent cooler will knock 15deg off the engine temp straight away, even if its not in direct airflow.

 

[I_THUMP]

Anyone tried these type of oil temp gauges? Do they work accurately enough?

 

[tormentandglory]

Hehe I bought one of those off egay, its crap. I was planning on fitting it permanently to my oil filler but its more suited to measuring the temp in my rubbish bin. $15 will get you a digital one from jaycar or dick smith.

 

[headsmess]

wtf? i dunno!

get one n stick it in some ice then boiling water...

 

[rossetti]

haha just readin ya thread i just bought a 140cc lifan oil cooled and couldnt fit the cooler because of clearance issues so just done the loop with a short oil line. dont know how its gunna hold up but ima just run my engine rich so it keeps it a bit cooler aye.

 

[thump*140]

Rosetti going by your build thread, it looks like you may have the older Pre-oil cooler style frame... if it used to be battery start, you could consider mounting the oilcooler on the side of the frame near or below the upper shock mount... Kinda tucked in behind the kickstart if that makes any sense...
If not, take a look at Snitchy's build thread on his Z50... the pics in there will show you what i mean...
I'm pretty sure the thread is called "My Whip" in the CRF/TTR/KLX/DRZ section...

 

[sly1300]

why bother with the loop?

if you aren't gonna run a oil cooler simply block the ports up with a bolt (same length and thread pitch as the nipples that bolt into the case)
Add a washer (and a dab of silicone so it doesnt vibrate out)
Job done.

those loops just look like they are waiting to get tangled up and split and dump hot oil all over your exhaust, and leg..

 

[tormentandglory]

but those loops also carry oil to important places. block them up and BANG, you're shopping for a new motor.

 

[sly1300]

^^^^^ uh... no.

the ports on my yx160 tap into the centre case, one line goes TO the oil cooler,
other port is the return line.

loops arent carring it to important places, just to the cooler and back again.

Disadvantages of no cooler.

hotter engine maybe if youre holding WOT everywhere or low speed hill climbs etc
remember these are a air cooled motor.... thats why the head and barrel have all those fins on them, for the air to flow thru and cool...



Advantage of no cooler.

no messy lines tangling up, or gettting damaged in crashes etc

but the main reason is theres waaaaay less stress on oil pump, not having to push oil all thru the engine AND push it all the way up into cooler.
9/10 these things dont get decent airflow to cool it and are stuck behind the number plate or are those dodgy little billet brick ones that basically do nothing but look hektik uleh.
go on, take ur billet cooler off and blow thru it.. absolute rubbish. just there for the **** factor.
the "radiator style" ones actually do a decent job of cooling oil. they are very similar to a auto trans cooler found in most v8's

id rather have slighty warmer oil, being pumped round my engine at a decent pressure thanks rather than drop the pressure coz its also trying to push oil to the cooler. crank>oil cooler when it comes to replacement cost.

most of these chinese engines oil pumps are pretty weak stock. most have a plastic gear driving them ffs.

most of us change oil regularly, so oil becoming more "dirty" sooner isnt a problem. if ur cooler is giving u the $hits. block it off i say!
if you must run that bling bling cooler, UPGRADE the oil pump to a higher flowing one... preferably without the plastic gear drive.

my 2c worth.
/end rant

 

[1fifty1wheel]

^^ ignore the advice "simply block the ports up with a bolt"!!!!!!!^^

 

[Fiddy@norway]

a lot of what sly1300 is saying makes sense to me, although I don't like the idea of just blocking the ports.
I still have not found time to do testruns with and without the cooler, I'm gonna pick up a infra-red tempgun today while I shop for Nitro parts

I'm with sly when it comes to what type cooler you run, the billet ones are just a block of scrap metal, but I cannot use a radiator type because it wouldn't last one ride with me, I don't see the point of relocating it either, that would only rob it of airflow and probably break when I crash anyway (I tend to crash at weird and random angles...)

I ride in WAY cooler climate than you guys anyways, but here is what I had in mind to test the temp with and without a cooler.

1: let the bike sit at idle for a full 10 min, check temp.
2: do High speed runs, 5-6 runs on a straight, maxing out all gears, check temp.
3: do a 20min run in some trails, check temp at several fixed spots along the trail.

gonna try it this weekend and see if there is a major difference.

 

[Cactus Jack]

I just checked a new Lifan 140 RHS centre case ... The port on it faces downwards and is the output line direct from the oil pump ... Block THAT off and your engine is stuffed ... crank AND top end ... and since the pump will be straining to pump oil against a solid metal object ... the plastic gear will break in short order ...

Oil pumps out thru the centre case port which is the OUTLET port ... then has to be run thru either a cooler and back in thru the INLET port on the clutch cover ... OR run thru a jumper line direct to the INLET port on the clutch cover ...

A Daytona 150 (which is very similar to a Lifan 150) showing one way to jump the two ports ... Whatever you do ... Don't run the engine without the two ports connected ...

 

[headsmess]

cactus 1, sly 0

" the ports on my yx160 tap into the centre case, one line goes TO the oil cooler,
other port is the return line.

loops arent carring it to important places, just to the cooler and back again."

sounds like you forget what the loop is for, to me...oil has to come OUT, then RETURN. so with no loop at all, just a blocked port.... well use your ******* head!!!!

the stuff doesnt just miraculously transfer through solid aluminium, unfortunately... or through the steel of a bolt blocking the hole...

 

[headsmess]

and fiddy...i wanna see this thing in the snow when it starts afallin