oil coolers

I have a 2001 Electra Glide Classic and want to install an oil cooler. I see that "Seahag" used his crash bar for an oil cooler... Will this process compromise my oil pressure? Should I use a thermostat or a manual valve to route the oil?
Any help is appreciated....
Thanks,
Bob

I tapped into the oil return lines, which are hidden behind a cover, just to the rear of the cam cover. By tapping into the return you avoid the pressure side and thus have fewer problems with leaking lines.

This may just be my theory, but I believe the cooling effect will be greater tapping into the returns as well. Since you are directing the oil to the cooler when it is at its hottest, just after exiting the engine, the larger temp difference between ambient air and the hot oil, should promote a faster rate of heat energy transfer. After the cooler, it then is routed back to the oil pan where it has a bit longer to shed even more heat before being re-routed to the engine. 9th grade physical sciences is waaay behind me now, so I reserve the right to be wrong....but I believe I'm correct in this. You cannot hold your hand on the inlet side of the guard at all, yet on the other end of the tube, at the outlet, you can hold your hand, albeit with an uncomfortable ammount of heat....about like handling dishes right out of a dishwasher.

If you have your cooler on the pressure side, before going into the motor, the oil has already dropped considerable heat in the oil pan, thus I don't believe the heat transfer rate would be as great.

I haven't noticed any drop in oil pressure whatsoever. We have just recently experienced a heat wave so I think I can honestly give you an idea of what you can expect for temps.

Saturday I rode 160 miles with some friends in 90* temps. For most of the ride, temps stayed steady around 180*, but late in the afternoon as the temps outside peaked and we routed through some towns, that required us to slow to 30mph, my oil temps creeped up to about 195* held steady between 195-200*. Temps would climb to 200 in town and then sloooowly drop back down to 190-195 when back on the highways.

Two of my friends were running without oil coolers on simple stage I upgrades and were showing temps of 230-235*....my bike has a hot motor setup, that should now be putting out over 100/100, which should create a lot more heat; yet my oil temps were considerably cooler.

I detailed my winter mods, including this oil cooler job, in a thread at the harleyarena. Registration is free if you are interested in taking a look at whats involved.
http://harleyarena.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5725

Oil cooler

Thanks to all for the quick responses, I appreciate the input in this humid Wisconsin weather...
Seahag??
What type of temps. sensor would you recommend for my model of bike? One that mounts on my dash or an oil dip stick gauge?
Bob

I've heard of several failures of the HD LED oil temp dipstick. Even one of my friends had one quit working on him....

So for that reason, plus the fact the heads up display is nicer, and in the case of the Roger McEwan gauge, is cheaper than either of the HD offerings, I recommend the fairing installed guage.

P.S....Where in Wisconsin are you located? I live next door in Mankato, MN.

Oil cooler lines

I'm running a premium HD oil cooler on my 05 Softail Deluxe. I'm about to change the black rubber oil lines with stainless flexible toilet & sink water lines from Home Depot. Cost about $5.00 for a 24" piece. I'll give you a progress report after it's done and has been running awhile.

Is the rubber in those lines capable of running the temps, and what about petroleum products? They're designed to run water, not oil. just my .02 worth.

Lower the seat!

Errr, does that mean if something goes wrong you can say it took a sh!t?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Yeah, good one!

Seriously, would those lines be able to handle the oil & pressure?

Joe