Oil cooler XJ6 on E type

[JD-JAG66]

I have installed a XJ6 SIII 4.2 engine in my 66 E type.
This came with an oil cooler which I fancy keeping, especially since new kits cost a fortune...
My idea is to install the cooler vertically, almost centered in front of the radiator.
This would mean that I would run the XJ6 metal tubing underneath the radiator (+/- 5cm below => still higher then the sump) towards the oil filter housing.
I would have to cut the rubber hose in order to turn the fittings +/- 90° that go into the oil filter housing, and add around 20cm of hose. I have a local specialist in oil tubing that says this is not a problem....
My concern is whether the mesh in front of the radiator will touch the cooler. It looks like this mesh, once the bonnet is lowered is around 5 cm in front of the radiator.
Has anybody tried this? Any feedback would be most welcome. Even if it is to tell me this is a silly idea.
Cheers
Jan

[288gto]

I too would be very interested in this or feedback from anyone who has done it.

Simon

[Dave K]

When I got the oil filter housing from an XJ6 to fit to my E it came with the cooler and the pipes. I liked the idea of the oil cooler but was told that the XJ6 oil cooler rad was too large and I could over cool the engine, especially in our climate.
I decided not to fit the XJ6 one and went for n MGB one, its a 10 row cooler and cost about £30 at the time, they are available from the MGB owners club.
It seemed to work OK, I have since removed it and notice although the engine doesn't run hotter for some reason heat transfer into the car has increased or it might be my imagination?

I think I mounted mine behind the radiator.

Dave

[JD-JAG66]

Thanks Dave.
Unfortunately I cannot fit the cooler behind the radiator because of an upgraded radiator fan.
I would say that whoever told you it was too large was probably also right from purely a size point of view, since from calculating the height I would say the cooler would end up just 15 cm below the top of the radiator.
Hence my question on whether that would mean if it would touch that protective mesh in front of the rad.
But since I noticed that on my daily driver, a mercedes (Ok, I know... nobody's perfect ) the engine temperature during relax summer driving (or city driving for that matter) is always around the 90-95° (I live in northern Italy), so I would definitely like to try out an oil cooler.
Will have a look at the MGB oil cooler anyway.
Cheers

[288gto]

After market oil coolers are available in all shapes and sizes. Custom made oil pipes can also be purchased. As the car is a complete restoration, I was going to fit new anyway. Interesting what Dave has said about going for a smaller cooler.
Dave, did the Xj6 oil filter housing fit ok or were any modifications necessary?


Simon

[Dave K]

Simon,

The oil filter housing which allows you to fit the spin on oil filter fits perfectly I think you need a S1 XJ6. You have to use the XJ oil filter housing gasket and not the E-Type one.
If you get the early oil filter housing with the cooler pipe holes in you can drill through and join both ports together and get two plugs to plug off the holes. Rob Beere sells the plugs.

Dave

[288gto]

Thanks Dave.

I have two filter housings, one is from the xj6 series 3 engine I stripped for the head and crank and another which I'm not sure which series xj it came off. I'll have to do a bit more research. I know on the series 3 the oil feed for the back of the head comes off the filter housing rather than the block. Good info on the gasket. The block has gone away for machining so I'll have to check properly when I get it back.

Simon.

[288gto]

I notice Rob Beere does a nice installation kit.
This puts the oil cooler at an angle but I can't find any pictures of it installed.



Simon

[phil.dobson@mac.com]

Not wanting to be a kill joy or anything, but you do not need or see any benefit from fitting an oil cooler on a road car!

[JD-JAG66]

Hello Phil,
You are absolutely right.
But since the XJ6 S3 I took the engine from had it, and I was not in the mood to fork out for adapting the oil filter housing, I was trying to find what could be done to make it fit.
I have this afternoon bit the bullet and drilled and cut the plate holding the cooler.
Tomorrow I am off to the local shop to have them fit a 20 cm extention to the rubber tubing. Should cost me less then 10 euro.
And here is to hoping that when fitting it all together there should be no problem.
Jan

[Kember17]

Jan

A bit of a thread resurrection but I'm just getting to dry fitting a S3 engine.

Did your experiment with the oil cooler work?

Peter

[JD-JAG66]

Worked fine. I drive the car regularly up and down the local private road and leave it idling so as to warm up all fluids. No problems. No leaks.
Can send some pictures when I come back from holiday.
Jan

[Kember17]

Worked fine. I drive the car regularly up and down the local private road and leave it idling so as to warm up all fluids. No problems. No leaks.
Can send some pictures when I come back from holiday.
Jan

Jan

Thanks. I have replied to your pm.

I hope your hols are going well.

Peter

[danxke]

Hi there,

let me post a brief report of my endevours to fit an oil cooler to my S1 4,2L!

1. I've replaced the original oil canister socket by a XJ6 S1 socket with outlets for an oil cooler. The threads are 5/8" BSP with inner cone.


2. I've fitted a oil thermostat to account for lower outside temperatures.

Finding a proper space was a bit problematic because I am using steal braided hoses which are pretty stiff. I've mounted the thermostat next to the distributor:


3. The hoses are routed underneath the radiator as you can see in the picture above. The radiator is sitting now ca. 1cm higher than before, which is ok for the bonnet clearance.

4. The oil cooler is mounted upside down in front of the radiator:



The fittings are arranged nicely between the radiator and the cross section of the front frame:



And this is the view from the outside (the stone guard is not visible on the picture but it is in place):



5. Was it worth it?
We are living here in an area with lots of hills and mountains, and we are having here 30°C+ degrees even above 800 meters above sealevel. I must say that the water temperature is not really affected by that upgrade. The radiator is new with a bigger core (50+ rows instead of 40, 6cm depth instead of 4,5cm), and a shroud with a modern ventilator inside:



The otterswitch is a repro-part with standard specs. The fan is practically running all the time if the outside temp is above 30°C driving 90+ kph (long rear axle) slightly uphill (water temp is probably a bit above 90°C) ...honestly my expections were a bit different... :-|

I would probably not recommend to fit an oil cooler. It doesn't make a real difference!

Let me know what you guys think!
Greetings
Dan

[1954Etype]

Out of interest, why do you need an oil cooler on a road car (unless I have missed something for the last 44 years worth of driving E Types?).

Angus

[danxke]

Idk, I thought it would be improvement required to anticipate climate change :-|
No?

[1954Etype]

I've never needed (or thought I needed one). We tend to look at what the factory did and follow that (apart from S1 Radiator fan and S1 Brakes). They decided that they weren't needed and it seems to be a lot of work to fit something that I don't believe you will see any benefit from. Still, a good exercise and it would be interesting to see comparable figures of running in really hot weather with it fitted and without.

Angus

[Heuer]

I had one fitted and it was the cause of the only major breakdown (in Germany) we had in 50,000 miles of touring Europe. One of the oil pipes chaffed and sprung a leak. Took it out when we got home and never missed it. Zero difference in engine temp or performance.

One thing you need to check is the oil radiator is up tight and personal with the water radiator - no gaps otherwise neither will work optimally.

[danxke]

Interestingly XJ6's came with oil coolers (I don't know which series, though), and they were fitted in front of the radiator, just as I did.
I suspect that's bad design because the oil cooler warms up the radiator and disturbs the air flow.

I guess the oil cooler with scoop would be better:
https://xks.com/i-6917113-jaguar-e-type ... -1523.html

But I get your point which matches my observation: it makes no difference :-|

[Tom W]

Some Series 2 XJ6s had an oil cooler. Police cars, according to the parts books. And then the Series 3 4.2 XJ6 had the filter head and cooler most of the conversions are based on.