V70 P1 oil cooler

[c_lee]

That cooler in your link looks about the same thickness and width as the one I bought but mine was taller.
If you were hoping to fit in front of the radiator you need to check size carefully especially thickness.
I notice it doesn't give dimensions.

I hoped to fit mine in front of the radiator but it is too thick to fit there and also too tall to fit below the rad pack without risk of kerb bumping.

When it comes to plumbing pipes adapters for that are cheap - I would concentrate on it being able to fit in the space available.

BTW did you know that the stock ATF pipe couplings on the radiator will unscrew from the radiator body ( internal ATF cooler actually ) once the pipe is removed.
There is provision to insert an allen key to get proper drive to unscrew the coupling and IIRC the thread on the internal cooler is 3/8 BSP.

It is difficult to get going as it has hydraulic sealant on it ( Locktite for hydraulics ).
I have seen this on an old spare P1 OEM radiator I have and unscrewed it.

I believe a fitting is available for 3/8 BSP ( ?? ) to hosetail and that can replace the stock connection if needed.

Another option I have considered is using the radiator from a P1 that has a second cooler at the opposite end of the radiator in the other end tank for engine oil cooling and running both coolers in series.

Not sure which P1 it was used on - prob T5ish or similar, can anyone confirm?

Colin

[MikeS100]

Thanks guys. I wasn't sure about the hose size so that's a help. Which hose is the return on the stock cooler?

Now you mention it I think size on that one may be an issue. From what I can work out it is just a few cm too tall to fit in front of the radiator considering the thickness.

If I go for a shorter one the thickness isn't so much of an issue so I'm thinking a shorter one with a fan to push the air through might be the answer. More work involved to power the fan but I'm thinking I could wire in a switch and then when I'm towing I can run the fan but when I'm not the fan will be off effectively blocking the additional cooler and so hopefully reducing the risk of overcooling.

I'll have a think about it and see what I can come up with.

[MikeS100]

The good news is the Mocal one should fit. According to the Mocal website their 10 row coolers are only 77mm high so should be plenty of room in front of the radiator. The bad news is if I want to fit a thermostat as well, which I think will be important to prevent overcooling, it's going to come to about £200 all in. I could do it for nearly half that if I buy an unbranded oil cooler from eBay, but then there is a risk that it's inferior quality and bursts as I'm going up a big hill with the caravan on the back!

£200 is a lot when the car is probably only worth a few hundred pounds anyway, but I think it has to be done. I know I could get a second hand one as others have done but I would always worry about the history and condition of it. It will mean I can stop worrying about it and it's cheaper than replacing the gearbox or worse the car. I just hope it's big enough to keep the oil cool!

[MikeS100]

Quick update, I've been doing a lot of reading about the operating temperature of the gearbox oil and it seems that overcooling is nothing to worry about, not in the UK anyway. It seems like gearbox oil doesn't have to get up to temperature in the same way engine oil does, that would explain why these cars (or at least my car!) run cool in normal use. And if you think about it, Volvo just fit the additional cooler in series without a thermostat so they obviously don't think overcooling is a problem. And if it needed a thermostat then surely the Mocal dedicated transmission cooler kit would come with one. Their engine oil cooler kits do so I think they have left it out because it's not needed.

So I'm going to save a bit of money and just fit the cooler without the thermostat for now. The good thing is if I do decide I'm not happy with the oil running cool at a later date it's very easy to add the thermostat in.

I'm going to get 4 litres of Volvoline Maxlife fully synthetic ATF to do a partial change while I'm fitting the cooler and I'm also going to add some Lubegard into the system as well, hopefully I will then have a setup that keeps the oil cool enough and a fluid that can cope if it does creep up.

The plan is to order it all for delivery next week and then fit it next weekend. I'm cutting it fine because we are going away on the 27th so hopefully everything will go smoothly when fitting.

[MikeS100]

Fitted the additional cooler today, not too bad a job really. There are some holes already there that are in the perfect place to secure the bracket to. Couldn't get a spanner on the head of the bolt with the bracket on though so ended up securing the bolt in place first and then that gave me a stud the I could secure the bracket to without having to hold the head of the bolt. You can see what I mean in the attached photos (not sure what that is that's leaking in photo 3, any ideas?)

I'm pleased with the way it turned out and just have to wait until the 27th when we set off with the caravan on the back to see what difference it makes.

[MikeS100]

Couple more photos with the cooler in place, second one is everything finished and all the pipes etc connected up. Quite pleased with the way it looks

[CPH]

Nice work, Mike. Looks like a tidy install.

Do let us know what difference it makes to the temperature of the ATF, please?

Speaking of, how are you monitoring the temperature currently?

[MikeS100]

Thanks Yes, I'll post an update with the temperature when we get up to the campsite, I'm hoping it will run much cooler than it did last time!

I use a Volvo specific obd2 reader to monitor the temperature:

http://www.scantool-direct.co.uk/ica...tool-i906.html

It's a pretty good bit of kit, it won't read engine codes on the V70, the diesels are notoriously difficult to read, but it will reset engine codes, read and reset error codes from the other modules (SRS, gearbox etc) and it will show live data from all the modules as well. The auto has a temperature sensor built in so I just get the live data from the gearbox module. It's a nice handheld unit and I have a holder for it in the car so I can just set it up and keep an eye on it all the time during the journey.

[happy diver]

Which will rub through first, the cooler or the condenser

[MikeS100]

Originally Posted by happy diver

Which will rub through first, the cooler or the condenser

Considering they are not touching I would hope neither of them