Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

A water to oil heat exchanger is used on many modern engines. The water warms the oil faster and maintains a more stable temperature in both warm/hot or cold outside temperatures. The water thermostat becomes the controlling factor. Under racing conditions, we found that the oil temperature generally stayed at approximately 15 degrees (F) above the water temperature. An oil temperature of 220 (F) resulted in optimum horsepower. I am currently using one on the Zetec Plus2 that is a Ford product. Mounts between the oil filter and the block.

I used to run one of those on my Sprint that I used on the road and the occasional sprint/hill climb.

It was fine in competition but on the road, I could never get the oil temperature high enough - it hit the water temperature and only increased when I drove really hard. This may be linked to the fact that my cooling might be too efficient - hence the thought about blanking part of the rad in cooler weather.

Gavin

Gavin, my sump is level with the cross-member but I'm loath to tap into that to attach a sheet of insulation. But maybe some straps round it could hold a T shaped board on it. Thanks for the stimulus, I'll report back!

In Canada a friend of mine, and everyone else, used to plug his car's sump heater into the mains (line) when they got home in -40?C and maybe there was one in the radiator too.