Adding fans to oilcooler plus installing oil temp meter

[Old Rider]

Now that the winter is here and no riding i was bored and came up with the idea to add coolingfans to the oilcooler.My bike gets really hot when
slow riding in stop and go traffic on hot summerdays.
so maybe adding fans will cool the oil more.This is in first hand a experiment but i will keep the fans if the oiltemps drops.
They must have some impact on the oiltemps at least when standing in traffic
I bought 2 fans that I'm going to try out.They look like ordinary PC fans but they are not .They are classified IP57 that means they are
waterproof down to 1 meter and dust sealed.Also made to push air static pressure is 0.320 and cfm is 24 working at 5000rpm.I found a video on
youtube of a guy testing fans by blowing up garbagebags
to see how fast they got filled up so then i had to do the same test =) here is a link to the tester on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qE6bZBYR2k
Since its winter and don't have access to my bike i cant test how they will work on the bike until snow goes away, i done some test on the bench with the old oilcooler i
replaced last year because it had many smashed fins more about the smashed fins later..anyway here is how i did the work if anyone is planning to
do the same.

[Carson City Paul]

Now that the winter is here and no riding i was bored and came up with the idea to add coolingfans to the oilcooler.My bike gets really hot when
slow riding in stop and go traffic on hot summerdays.
so maybe adding fans will cool the oil more.This is in first hand a experiment but i will keep the fans if the oiltemps drops.
They must have some impact on the oiltemps at least when standing in traffic
I bought 2 fans that I'm going to try out.They look like ordinary PC fans but they are not .They are classified IP57 that means they are
waterproof down to 1 meter and dust sealed.Also made to push air static pressure is 0.320 and cfm is 24 working at 5000rpm.I found a video on
youtube of a guy testing fans by blowing up garbagebags
to see how fast they got filled up so then i had to do the same test =) here is a link to the tester on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qE6bZBYR2k
Since its winter and don't have access to my bike i cant test how they will work on the bike until snow goes away, i done some test on the bench with the old oilcooler i
replaced last year because it had many smashed fins more about the smashed fins later..anyway here is how i did the work if anyone is planning to
do the same.

Question - When you were doing this test, were you circulating the warm water or was it stationary?
I hope you realize that if the warm water wasn't moving your results will be different when fluid circulates.
If you want an accurate test result, you will have to use a heated tank of oil pumping into the cooler and back to the tank.
You would then need to run the fans and check the temperature of the oil in the return hose before it re-enters the tank.
Good luck with your efforts.

[Old Rider]

Question - When you were doing this test, were you circulating the warm water or was it stationary?
I hope you realize that if the warm water wasn't moving your results will be different when fluid circulates.
If you want an accurate test result, you will have to use a heated tank of oil pumping into the cooler and back to the tank.
You would then need to run the fans and check the temperature of the oil in the return hose before it re-enters the tank.
Good luck with your efforts.

Yes i did i connected the hoses and while the lady dragon was not home =) i worked in the batroom used the hose for the shower in the intakehose and placed the thermometer i the
outlet hose.I did not take pictures of that because i had to hold the shower hose pressed into coolerhose and only had 2 hands  =)The water was about 55 degree Celsius before entering the cooler i was at first disappointed to see that the water dropped only about 6 degree Celsius (42.8 degree Fahrenheit) but it depends
how fast the water runs i tried with a lower pressure on the water and got a little better results.After that i googled a little bit and found that oil cools down faster and  than water
and that oilcoolers with fans usually don't lower the temps extremely much but they help.I also had the oiltemp meter with sensor installed to se how that worked at the same time

[Old Rider]

Here is the tempmeter that i installed a little later

[Sparky84]

If only there wasn't a nice fat engine behind it keeping that hot water toasty warm.
The fans may cool it a bit while stationary at lights but are they going to hinder air flow whilst moving and let the oil get hotter?

[Bozo]

In Perth Oz I ride to work sometimes in 40+C temperatures (especially now up to 44C), I might be dying but the fj still purrs like a kitten, I can't believe these engines  are not suffering and keep on going. My work FJ is totally stock apart from intake socks for the carbies.
On the other hand I have another FJ with cams, wiseco 1219, RPM cooler and some other work, I do have a GPZ250 radiator fan which I switch on in traffic, but to be honest it also takes the heat well considering the fairing encases the motor.
I am a Kawasaki man but to be honest the FJ motor freaks me out at how it handles our summers.

[Old Rider]

If only there wasn't a nice fat engine behind it keeping that hot water toasty warm.
The fans may cool it a bit while stationary at lights but are they going to hinder air flow whilst moving and let the oil get hotter?

I'm not sure but i don't think the fans will hinder much airflow when riding.When they are OFF they spin very easy so air get past the propeller also if they did not spin i think the air
will get past the propellers .When the bike is at a little speed the total airflow on the engine will cool everything anyway.When i get things mounted on the bike i can do a test by
cover the fans with tape and see if the temp while riding will be hotter.

[Old Rider]

When testing the fan airflow i found something interesting i could feel air flowing out almost all the way on the backside of the cooler.
Much of the air from the fans does not go straight thru but are spread out inside the cooler.When i took a closer look at the coolingfins
i could see that they have small gills that catches the air and direct it sideways.That means that the best would be to place the fans
a little more in to the middle of the cooler ,but that is not possible i think because of the fender brakehoses and speedocable that may smash
into them

[Old Rider]

So the fan on oilcooler experiment goes on
The normal way to install the sensor for the tempmeter is to replace the M20 blindplug on the front of engine and use an adaptor for the
1/8 npt27 treads on the sensor.I could not find any adaptor here in Norway and if i had to order one it was expensive with shipping.
So i then bought a cheep 7usd brass oil sender sensor here in Norway with the same treads as the drainplug on the FJ to see if i could use that.
After some testing it could not be used because the thermistor inside did not have the same ohm value as the tempmeter i got.
I tried to find a thermistor that has same ohm resistance as the tempmeter so i could install that but with no luck.
Then i was thinking i could just open the sender for the tempmeter and install the thermistor from that into the brass drainplug sensor,but
did not go that route.I then decided to install the tempmeter sensor straight into the oilcooler by drilling an tapping.

[RPM - Robert]

You need to install a sensor on each side so you can see the difference the cooler makes in cooling the oil with and without the fans.

[red]

So the fan on oilcooler experiment goes on  The normal way to install the sensor for the tempmeter is to replace the M20 blindplug on the front of engine and use an adaptor for the 1/8 npt27 treads on the sensor.

Old Rider,

I realize that you have already done the deed, but I would suggest that you could have found the correct nut to fit whatever sensor you have there.  Drill a hole in the right location in the cooler, then have that nut brazed or silver-soldered to the cooler, over the hole.  One advantage would be the option to repair or replace your "fitting" if the threads become damaged at some later time.  If you do have that problem later, you could use the nut trick to make a repair better than it was.  Silver soldering is very strong, and brazing is even better.  I have seen some excellent pin-point gas torches, lately.  You can hold the nut with a wrench while you install the sensor, so there is no stress applied to the cooler framework.

Your ideas for fans and monitoring are intriguing.  It will be good to hear about the results.  

[Old Rider]

So the fan on oilcooler experiment goes on  The normal way to install the sensor for the tempmeter is to replace the M20 blindplug on the front of engine and use an adaptor for the 1/8 npt27 treads on the sensor.

Old Rider,

I realize that you have already done the deed, but I would suggest that you could have found the correct nut to fit whatever sensor you have there.  Drill a hole in the right location in the cooler, then have that nut brazed or silver-soldered to the cooler, over the hole.  One advantage would be the option to repair or replace your "fitting" if the threads become damaged at some later time.  If you do have that problem later, you could use the nut trick to make a repair better than it was.  Silver soldering is very strong, and brazing is even better.  I have seen some excellent pin-point gas torches, lately.  You can hold the nut with a wrench while you install the sensor, so there is no stress applied to the cooler framework.

Your ideas for fans and monitoring are intriguing.  It will be good to hear about the results.  

Hi Red you  have read my mind that is exactly how i was going to mount the thermal switch on top of the cooler,but ended up with a little different solution because the nut that i got
for the job ( a driveshaft nut )was very heavy and clumsy.I will get back to that a little later.

[Old Rider]

You need to install a sensor on each side so you can see the difference the cooler makes in cooling the oil with and without the fans.

I think you are right ,but isn't that is only for a fast measurement.with 1 sensor it will show if the oil is getting cooler but it will take a little time for all the oil in engine to pass the cooler
not sure how long that takes

[Old Rider]

Next up was mounting the thermoswitch.The switch opens at 85 degree Celsius and shuts off again at 80 degree it is intended to be used in radiators in the coolant.Not sure how this will work but hoping the way i mounted it will
make it open later so the oil gets up to around 100 degree Celsius so the condense water in the oil can evaporate.If i find it opens too soon when on bike i will use a manual switch to override the auto function.

[RPM - Robert]

You need to install a sensor on each side so you can see the difference the cooler makes in cooling the oil with and without the fans.

I think you are right ,but isn't that is only for a fast measurement.with 1 sensor it will show if the oil is getting cooler but it will take a little time for all the oil in engine to pass the cooler
not sure how long that takes

That will show the effectiveness of the fans by measuring the hot in and cooled out.