Where does one hook up ones oil cooler lines?

[Bibleman]

I'm going to order a Jagg 3110 universal oil cooler and do the installation, BUT I'm still unclear on where to hook it up. Could anyone post pics of where I'm going to tap into and out of? Am I going into the line that returns oil back into the top of the frame or where it comes out of the bottom? Thanks!

[ant_mb]

I'd be interested in knowing how others have done it as well. I picked up an oil cooler last week and will be hooking it up next week.

[Bibleman]

Check out Jaggs website, they have a nice manual oil cooler bypass valve for sixty some dollars. You just put it in the lines and you can bypass the cooler on colder days and use the cooler when you want:prof:

[ToXicD]

You will want the outlet line from the motor to the top of the oil tank to run to the cooler then the other side of the cooler will run back to the top of your oil tank.

[Denn10]

You will want the outlet line from the motor to the top of the oil tank to run to the cooler then the other side of the cooler will run back to the top of your oil tank.

that sounds about just right!!! Those coolers are really nice i just find it hard to hide them well enough for my taste, im still deciding what ill do before this summer as i HAVE to have one this year.

[ToXicD]

well there is one on ebay for an xr400 right now, the nice rounded one that wraps around the front of your frame.

[Denn10]

got a link maybe? item number

[ToXicD]

well i cant find it now, must have sold but you can always just attach one to the radiator like you do a transmission cooler, that way you dont have to worry about mounting it anywhere and it is protected.

[Denn10]

yeah i guess so ive been searching but guess its gone LOL i see coolers off 400ex are pretty cheap!! about 20-25 bucks. Have to take some measurements off mine to see if it would fit ok behind number plate if i relocated the horn and all. THX tox!

looked at those jagg ones too, seems alot of kits for v twin cruisers. Nite all

[dldavis_66]

? I feel another homemade project idea popping into my head. I could make my own oil coolers, out of aluminum...or even copper...totally custom like...wow.?

[Denn10]

WHEW have fun with that one!!! i wouldnt want to tackle that. custom oil tanks sure not coolers.

[Bibleman]

Thanks for the info! I'll put it in series between the oil going out of the engine to the inlet going to the top of the oil tank:ride: Right now my temps stay in a good range but I want to put a different tank and without the wings it gets hot.

[Descalzo]

Am I going into the line that returns oil back into the top of the frame or where it comes out of the bottom? Thanks!

I don't know what kind of bike you're doing this too - but if it's a dry-sump design (ala XR-R) your plan is a mistake, & so is the "advice" you received in this thread. ?

The scavenge stage ofthe oil pump sucks as much air as it does oil, & the scavenged oil needs to go directly back to the tank to allow all the little air bubblles in the imuslified mixture to work themselves out of the oil. You "could" put the cooler in this line, but be aware that you're going to loose more than 60% of the cooler effecincany - because you're cooling air, not oil. Do a search on dry-sump systems on the web & look at the schematics if you doubt me. Scavenge to tank - period.

That leaves you with where you put a cooler - pump fed line (tank to pump), bad idea. Fed line needs an unobstructed flow of oil to the pump. Although the pump will "suck", you also run the risk of scoring the lobes if it runs dry, and the design relies on an unobstructed gravity feed to the pump as does any other dry sump design (although the tank & pump may be on the same plane, the oil level is always higher than the suction section of the pump - hence gravity feed)

This leaves you withth e pressure section of your oil system, & this is where you're cooler (& everything else) needs to be plumbed in (you'll note that this is the stage your filter is in) which is where the difficulty of adding a coller to the R comes in. You'll need to drill, tap weld, & plug the original passages after the pump (& preferably after the filter - which keeps your cooler free of debris should you experieance a catasprophic failure, or merely clutch fibers/material - trust me, a cooler with metal debris in it is trash, you "can't" clean it) for an outlet to the cooler & a return from the cooler. These outlets & returns don't exist in the casting which is why you'll need to drill a hole, weld a bung, block the original passage (to force the oil through your cooler, rather that by-passing & going directly to the engine) and do the same for the return side from the cooler.

Not an easy or inexpensive proposition to add a cooler correctly. I really suggest you research dry-sump systems a bit, & verify what I've just told you here. (check out dry sump pump mfg's sites - like Moroso for one. Yes they're for cars, but they have schematics of corectly designed systems & further explainations of why things go where in the system - like I've tried to give you here)

Yeah, you could just plumb your cooler into the return line, but that's just wrong.

[Bibleman]

Wow, thanks for taking the time to explain all of that. I will definitely hold off until I know more. Just for the record, I have an "L", so is there a way to get the cooler installed properly without the welding and modifications you mentioned regarding the "r"? ALSO, how are the coolers "wired" in on the XR400s which come with one from the factory from what I understand?

[ToXicD]

i never said to put it on the return line back to the motor, your right that would cause problems, but there is no harm in putting an oil cooler in the line that has the oil leaving the motor and going to the tank. you have air in the tank anyways so it doesnt matter if you get air in the system going to the tank, that is why the inlet to the tank is on the top, so as the oil runs to the bottom of the tank the air can be dispersed. as long as you have the "suction" or inlet to the motor on the bottom of the tank you do not have to worry about vacuum or air. if you want you can check the oil pressure of a factory 650r, and then checking the pressure after putting an oil cooler on, i doubt there will be much loss in pressure, if any. only problem is you must compensate for the extra volume you have added to the system.

[Bibleman]

Toxic, I think he was saying that it wouldn't hurt to do it the way you suggested, you just might not get full efficiency since you may/will be cooling some air besides the oil:prof:

[stepho]

Here is a basic over view of the oil cooler instal that i did on mine. If you do the xr400 route you dont have to route to the front fender. I dont have the pictures on this computer at the moment but I will post them when i get home.

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5870673#post5870673

I am at the bottom.

[ToXicD]

Toxic, I think he was saying that it wouldn't hurt to do it the way you suggested, you just might not get full efficiency since you may/will be cooling some air besides the oil:prof:

if that were the case then you wouldnt get full efficiency in any other kind of oil system. an oil pump is an oil pump, whether its in a wet sump or dry sump system. of course you are going to have some tiny air bubbles in any kind of circulating sytem using a pump but that is no reason not to use an oil cooler. if they did not work they would not be used on all kinds of high performance racing vehicles. i guarantee if you use a 7 pass oil cooler you will get a 10-20 degree decrease in oil temp, air bubbles and all!!

actually i believe there is a post on here where someone did the before and after tempsl and after the install of their oil cooler i think it was around 15 degrees if i remember correctly.

[Bibleman]

Good discussion guys. The more I'm thinking about it, since the same volume of oil gets pumped to the engine as it does to the reservoir, I would imagine the same amount of oil has to go through the cooler regardless of where it's plugged in. I would assume this would have to mean it would offer the same amount of cooling all other things being the same. Then again, I've been wrong before:crazy:

[Bibleman]

Hey, I'm also thinking about using brake lines to hook up the cooler since they can take pressure, heat and repeated flexing. Any thoughts on that?