JackOlsen

My car is a mish-mash of parts from every 911 iteration from the early cars up to at least one 996 piece. I reversed the wipers for visibility.

2002M3Drew

One more question, to reopen an old wound...err...thread

I have the A/C unit (though it does not work) still installed in my car, including the A/C heat exchanger that covers the engine grille under my engine lid (and I also have the Carrera tail on the car). Has anyone seen a temperature difference when this screen is removed from in front of the grille? I have to think that more air is allowed into the engine bay, thus keeping it cooler...thoughts?

Brian_77_3.6

Couple of additional things to check. Make sure the oil lines running up the side of the car from rear to front have not been crushed somewhere in the cars life. A lot of mechanics are not careful when they put cars of a lift and can damage those lines. These will decrease the oil flow to or from the cooler making it less eficient. Also look at the oil lines running under the engine. If they are close to the heat exchangers or headers they can be wrapped in a thermal blanket which will lower the exchange of heat from the exhaust to the oil lines. (had to do this on my 3.6) I would loose the AC parts as well. Just extra weight but I do not think this is a key issue as far as oil temp is concerned. Porsche is now recommeding running full synthetic 0W40 in all air cooled engines. They say it will lower the oil temps. I have to run a center cooler and a carrera fender cooler in series to keep my car cool on the track and have duct work focusing air through each of the coolers as well. Used to get up to 250 on the track but since these changes I do not see temps above 210. My oil thermostat opens at 170.

Peter Zimmermann

Drew: Removing the engine lid condenser will make a big difference. I recently gave up trying to keep my A/C alive on my '82 SC. When I take the car to L.A. on 100 degree days I used to see 240-245 at about 90 mph on I-5 coming back to Bakersfield. My last trip to Santa Monica was to have the remaining R-12 removed from my A/C so I could remove the compressor and rear condenser, which I did while at my old shop. On the way home it was extremely hot, above 100, and my car ran at 225 - 230. It had never run that cool, at higher speeds (80-100) since we've lived in the Central Valley. By my numbers, on a car with a stock engine lid, removing the rear condenser should be worth at least 15 degrees. Also, because my car has 200K + miles on the original engine I have not changed to Mobil 1, I still run the good old standby, Kendall GT-1 20/50.
Pete
By the way, did you seal the perimeter of the front cooler in order to force incoming air through the cooler?

2002M3Drew

Thanks for the responses, guys!

The oil cooler appears to be pretty tight to the inside of the fender, and I think my mechanic sealed that part off. The other side also has some foamsealing off the area between the right (outside) edge of the cooler to the car. The top area and bottom areas, however, are unsealed. I know the stock carrera cooler actually had some kind of a seasling tray, right?

What could I use to seal these areas off? Any ideas, and where to find the material? I'm going to get a Carrera front valance, per Steve Weiner's advice, and leave the fog light hole open.

Mysterytrain

I'm surprised no one mentioned this..have you had a good look at your engine oil cooler? Before my rebuild I was having an issue with temps being higher then normal with my 78sc. When we tore the engine down we found that oil leaking from above the cooler had coated most of it with a blanket of crap..preserved it nicely but she didn't cool much.

Peter Zimmermann

Drew: Cover the fog light hole with a fine mesh screen to keep debris from coming off other car's tires away from the cooler. One rock is enough to end a perfectly good weekend! And yes, the factory cooler is sealed. I've always used the factory parts so I don't know what would work the best. Perhaps a cut to fit piece of aluminum that can sandwich a thick piece of insulation against the edge of the cooler?
Pete

Edward

No need to get a carrera valance. I took a reciprocating saw and made a neat trapezoidal hole in the valance where the foglight used to be. In fact, the hole I made is considerably larger than the carrrera's foglight hole is. I then bought door-edge trim from the autoparts store to finish the edge, though Peter's admonition to put a screen there makes sense ...will do that soon.

I also bought a square of sheet metal and foam insulation for pipes from Home Depot. This is the squishy foam that is slit so it fits around plumbing pipes and is really convenient because it already has adhesive along the slit.

With the front wheel off and the bellows on the bumper removed (or unscrewed loose so you could pull it away from the body some), simply cut sheet metal to size with tinsnips, screw into the cooler edge and to the bottom mount (or anywhere you can), and finish off with the foam pipe insulation on the edges so the sheet metal flushes up against the body when you screw the bellows back in. It's a bit of work but not hard at all. Mine is now completely sealed off at the bottom, top, and outer side so that the huge opening in the valance that I made channels air straight into the front of the oil cooler, and the surrounding sheet metal blocks off any escape route for the air to go around the cooler. My next event is Streets of Willow in Sept (desert, short track, really short straights) which should be a good test for it. BTW, I haven't gotten around to adding a fan yet, but I figure I've got lots of room at the top/back of the cooler to add in a 7" pull fan should I need to.

Edward

2002M3Drew

That isn't a bad thought, and you're right, no one has mentioned it! I'll check that out.

Thanks to everyone else for suggestions as well...guess a trip to the Home Depot is in order this weekend!

Drew

Edward

Funny you mention that Mystery Train. You are absolutely right!

A few months ago I posted in the 993 board that on my 993, a daily driver with then about 95K miles, the oil needle started climbing higher and higher. Sure the weather was getting hotter, but I have never seen the car get that hot so quickly over the years I have owned it. I then surmised that the cooler may have gotten a bit mucky over the years (it is a '95, after all), so I opened up the front end to clean her up. WHOA!!! Over 1/2 of the cooler's surface area was covered in a nice furry blanket of road grime. No evidence of leaking oil, just garden variety dirt, but thick! One can of gunk and a garden hose later and all was sparkly again. I buttoned it all up and the oil temp needle is where it should be. Few solutions in life are this easy

Edward

astark

Drew--

I had a similar problem with temps too high (street driving in city traffic--Philadelphia rush hour in summer--95 degrees with high humidity). PO had installed a turbotrol oil cooler (it functions as a radiator) which, in my opinion required more air flow. So....

I "notched the front bumper,"

Added a Spal 7.5" Pull fan with a NOS rear wiper switch in dash (if I did it over I would add a Push fan),

Ducted the bumper notch (fabed a piece of aluminum to form a "floor" so air entering the notch is forced through the oil cooler.

I have lowered my oil temps ~20degrees in bumper to bumper traffic on hot days...I'm very pleased.

Tryed to post pix but they are too large, will email if you want.

Regards,
Alan
PS I'm just north of Philly, you're in Jersey, if your in the neighborhood stop by and you can take a look.

SC-targa

Drew, you said

"This winter/spring, I added a Carerra Tail to the car, and oil temperatures rose a little bit to 200-210 or so, even on the street."

I believe that the tail should have improved yuor cooling because it mproves airflow intot eh engine compartment. That's what Frere's book says and it make sense.

Jerry Kroeger
82 SC

Mark Hald

Another thing I haven't seen mentioned, and was a cause for high temps on my own car, is the engine t-stat.

Mark Hald

One more thought. Critters do sometimes build nests atop the engine, under the shroud, and on top of the engine-mounted oil cooler.