I live in Tennessee and it gets real HOT in the summer.... 90's and 100's. I have a 06 heritage. Do I need to look at oil coolers for it? Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

Try running a 20w50synthetic oil first and you should notice a 10-20F drop in temps. If you are running Syn3switch to a GroupIV synthetic like Amsoil or Mobil1Vtwin or Royal Purple.If you are still too hot then add one if you want to get cooler. You are not in the deep South so I don't think you need one. Synthetic oil should be enough to protect your engine.

 

The real question is, how hot does your oil get? If it gets too hot, you need a cooler. If it doesn't, you don't.

 

For peace of mind it wouldn't hurt to install one. If you use a thermostat then you don't have to worry as it'll open & close as necessary depending on oil temp.

I would suggest the Jagg 10-row low mount with thermostat. It mounts in the same location as the H-D model but offers 40% more cooling capacity than the 6-row H-D unit.

Here's what it looks like installed:



[IMG]local://upfiles/26619/ECE28D9CC569462E9B504188821A2082.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/26619/F165D78E4EF34A9A954F47916C608558.jpg[/IMG]

 

That's sort of true.

"It wouldn't hurt to install one". Yes, it can. Oil has an operating range. It should get to at least 180* to do it's job correctly; otherwise there's problems. And, no, it's not the water thing.

"If you use a thermostat then you don't have to worry..." Yes, you do. When cold, the thermostat passes about 10% of the oil through the cooler at all times. That allows all of the oil to warm up at the same rate. Otherwise, when the thermostat opened you'de get a cold thick slug of oil into a warm engine. That's a bad thing. As the oil gradually warms up, the thermostat gradually opens. When fully open, the thermostat passes about 90% of the oil through the cooler. The down side of that is sometimes the oil never gets to operating temperature.

Have you monitored your oil temps on routine riding? I have a street/track car with a cooler and an oil temp gauge. During normal street driving- especially on cool days - the oil never gets hot. I have to cover the cooler with duct tape to get the oil above 180*.

I think if I had a cooler on my Harley, I'd have the same problem on my daily commutes and cool mountain rides.

Again, the answer to the question is another question. Is your oil too hot most of the time? If so, install a cooler.

 

Yep, I'm well aware of how oil coolers and thermostats work- I'm a mechanic by profession and have been for over 30 years. I also know that the cooling needs between a water-cooled car in Colorado with an oil cooler, and an air-cooled motorcycle in Tennessee with an oil cooler, are different.

"When fully open, the thermostat passes about 90% of the oil through the cooler."
Not in this case. Jagg states that for their thermostat, 'The actuator begins to move at 185ÂşF. By 195ÂşF it is fully-actuated, plugging the by-pass hole, and directing 100 percent of the oil's flow to the oil cooler.'

"During normal street driving- especially on cool days - the oil never gets hot... I think if I had a cooler on my Harley, I'd have the same problem on my daily commutes and cool mountain rides."
Possibly, but the cooling needs of a water-cooled car in Colorado have little to do with the cooling needs of an air-cooled motorcycle in Tennessee. Even when comparing motorcycles- daily commutes and cool mountain rides in CO are a lot different operating environment than summer time riding in TN, which is where the OP rides.


Like I said, for peace of mind it wouldn't hurt to install an oil cooler. If you use a thermostat then you don't have to worry as it'll open & close as necessary depending on oil temp.
We ride in similar climates, and even in winter (daytime temps in the 30's to 40's) my Twin Cam develops more than enough heat in stop & go traffic for the oil cooler to come into play...

 

Check this out.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ksid=p3907.m29

 

The HD Premium is actually an 8-row. I was under the impression it was a 6-row, too, but was corrected by none other than a well-informed Jagg tech-support rep, who explained that the two extra rows are not easily seen. Had the 10-row been available when I bought mine I might've selected it over the HD Premium, but either will do the job well. My temps run 180-200° while moving, up occasionally as high as 230° in summer traffic. This is even after leaning the A/F in the interest of gas mileage, so the HD Premium is a good performer.

 

I must side with Lost1 by saying that the virtues of a cooler far outweigh any alleged vices. I had an oil-temp gauge on my bike for some time before installing a cooler, and I saw no decrease in the rate of temperature rise by installing the cooler. Also, the cooler remains cool until the t'stat opens, which is around 185°--so if there is bleed-through from the t'stat it is apparently insignificant. Even if there is a small amount of bleed through the cooler when the oil is cold, the benefit when hot more than makes up for it.

Where is your evidence to support the 10% allegation. Do all t'stats pass 10%? How have you determined this rate? If so and it bothers you, install a manual valve like the one offered by Jagg in addition to the t'stat.

When the t'stat opens the oil is already warmed to 185° or thereabouts, at which time it passes through the cooler. On my bike the oil temp rise stops until the heat factors overwhelm the cooler, which they will in hot weather. It is not uncommon in weather <85° for the temp to rise to 180-185° and remain there for the duration of the ride.

I have not seen this based on oil temp readings. It rises about the same as with no cooler, then stops or radically slows after the t'stat opens.

I can't speculate why this occurs on your race car, but it is not the case on my HD. I do monitor oil temps almost to a fault, and I can say categorically that my cooler performs up to expectations and I see no downside to it other than its failure to maintain 185° when ambient temps exceed 85° and traffic gets thick. At no time in the 16 months I've had this cooler installed has oil temp exceeded 230°, and that only twice last summer in heavy traffic. When moving it stays around 205° in summer heat (90-95°). A Jagg rep agrees with me that the results I'm getting are excellent. I called them asking about connecting a second cooler in series or parallel, but he recommended not doing it for several reasons, but mostly because in his opinion I didn't need additional cooling.

 

Thanks for the clarification, Iclick. The H-D unit being an 8-row makes it much more competetive with the 10-row Jagg in terms of heat dissipating capability. Knowing this, I'd recommend whichever one the buyer could get the better deal on...