I am looking for some ideas to help reduce the oil temperatures we are seeing at the end of 30/35 lap Main Events (340 + this past weekend). My oil temperature gauge sensor probe is screwed into the remote oil filter adapter at the rear of the engine. I am not sure that is the best location for the sensor, I just copied what the previous owner of the car had done. I have two oil coolers installed in the car, one is an EMPI 96 plate cooler with a 10" puller fan mounted behind it. That cooler is connected at the top to the remote filter adapter at the rear of the engine. The bottom port is connected to the remote oil filter where it eventually passes the oil back to the adapter at the rear of the engine. The other cooler is a small Setrab cooler of the type you see at the 600 site. The two lines from that cooler are piped to the fittings on the oil pan.
I am using the 600 Racing style air box on the header side of the engine to get cooler air from the front of the car to the heads. I have also punched several holes through the front of the fenders to help get more fresh air into the engine compartment. I mounted a vent scoop in the hood to try and direct fresh air to the #3 and #4 cylinder heads. I have seen some folks actually mount a fan in that location of the hood. Not sure if that would be more effective than what I have now.
This week I purchased some Thermo-Tec header wrap and covered as much of the header pipes and Borla muffler as is practical. I added a scoop the the front of the car to help direct air into the smaller Setrab cooler. I have also been running the Alisyn Pro-Drive 21 synthetic oil for the past several races. The oil, although thin as water, seems to work well but my extra engine heat seemed to start showing up about the time I made that switch also. (I previously used Valvoline VR1 20w-50)
Has anyone found any small fans or other methods to help these engines keep their cool on hot Summer days? Is it possible that my oil coolers puller fan is actually a hindrance rather than a help to the oil cooing?
HELP!!!
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!