making your own oil cooler from copper pipe tube ?

[1 FMF]

what are your thoughts about using 1/2" type M copper tubing, the type used in plumbing, to make a simple oil cooler? Specifically a remote power steering cooler where the system uses power steering fluid not ATF.
I assume the main reason most aftermarket coolers are made of aluminum tubing is economics.
I've read about copper leaching from oil cooler tubes and it happens on new vehicles under high temperatures but falls off greatly after a few oil changes and the copper in the cooler gets a layer of varnish on it and pacifies. Also mentions ZDDP in the oil can react with copper at high temperatures, but I'm thinking for power steering fluid which should stay below 200°F it there should be no problem ?

http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/646/copper-diesel-engine-oil
http://universallubes.com/assets/uploads/lubetalk/0207-2-CopperAnyone.pdf

 

[Astro14]

You can buy a more effective one for not a lot of coin: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/der-13212

Cheaper would be to pull one off a Crown Vic that had the fleet or police package...check the salvage yards...

 

[heynow]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
You can buy a more effective one for not a lot of coin: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/der-13212

Cheaper would be to pull one off a Crown Vic that had the fleet or police package...check the salvage yards...


Not as much fun as making it yourself though!

 

[OneEyeJack]

What do you plan to do to gain surface area for getting read of heat? Are you going to create a bunch of fins and get out the soldering tools?

 

[JimPghPA]

High quality trany coolers have a temperature controlled bypass valve that allows the trany fluid to bypass when it is cold, so the trany fluid can warm up to a decent operating temperature on cold days.

I am not sure if that is an issue for the PS but it might be. Maybe you should research the coolers that are currently being used on PS systems that have them and see if they have a bypass valve for cold days before you consider making one.

 

[heynow]

Many power steering systems run some non-finned tubing without a thermostat in front of the radiator for cooling. I don't see any reason why the copper tubing would not work. Just clean out the insides well after soldering.

 

[SuperDave456]

Just be careful of vibration.

Just put a Magnafine filter on the power steering and call it a day. The system will run better without all the junk in there circulating, and the filter will give you about a cup more fluid.
If you really want to do a good job, add a aftermarket full flow spin on filter to the low pressure side. The extra capacity, over a quart, and the filtration will provide a cleaner cooler loop for the pump to work in.

Just some ideas.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

I appreciate the DIY spirit of the OP but really, a cooler sufficient to do the job is not expensive new, and can be found at junkyards for even less.

Keep in mind that a cooler can be re-purposed fairly easily; for example using a transmission cooler for your PS system.

I don't see the cost savings in doing it yourself with copper tubing at today's metal prices.

It's my understanding that aluminum is used in current offerings because of manufacturing processes and overall assembly weight, not efficiency. Copper and brass are fairly good heat exchange materials, but aluminum is no lightweight there either.

There are corrosion issues as well; the old-school OEM brass or copper radiator was painted black to hide the corrosion on the outside (turns green without paint). They used thin black lacquer on radiators.

So that leaves function as a reason to DIY where current offerings in the market are short of your design and performance goals.

But I don't see function deficiencies in the current market offerings either; there are vast options either repurposing OEM or within the aftermarket. So, no real reason to DIY, in my opinion.

Not trying to talk you out of DIY, but perhaps there is another area worthy of your time?

 

[229]

A plate and fin cooler is more efficient and gives less pressure drop than tubes.

 

[dwcopple]

My Montego has one front and center of the grille area.

 

[1 FMF]

thanks for the responses,
to answer some of your questions i did buy a $20 cooler kit from advance auto initially, the imperial 241009 which is a two row and about a foot long for $20. this was going on a 2002 camaro which has an oem power steering cooler in the upper radiator hose but with coolant temps 200°F the power steering fluid is hardly ever less than that at least not in the summer. There is basically no room in the engine compartment to mount anything and what people have done is mount coolers like that under the radiator on the frame rail. it's not in any airflow but still is effective at radiating heat away and keeping power steering fluid temps considerably under 200°F or so i've read. I decided to return the imperial cooler kit, not a big fan of the size and shape of the way they fit or how i could fit them in my car. I could fit a cooler like that in front of the radiator but i'd have to cut access holes in plastic paneling under there to get a decent install and didn't want to go to the effort. since i had 1/2" copper tubing I made my own that i was able to mount under the radiator and made it to my liking so it fit nice. i get a chance i'll post a pic. I spent about $20 anyway on two barb fittings, two elbows, and 6' of cooler hose but the upside is now i have 4' total of piping- 2' one way then 2' back under the radiator that fits to my liking. I'm not too concerned with all out cooling performance of it since a lot of cars came without a factory power steering cooler anyway. And if mine doesn't work i can always return things to oem with nothing having been destroyed. the car is now 10 years old and the original pump over the last couple years has started to whine under certain conditions so over the winter with all the other work i did i drained the power steering system, bypassed the oem cooler and installed mine, and also put on a $10 universal cooler part 2210 from autozone between the cooler and the reservoir.

 

[MolaKule]

Quote:
what are your thoughts about using 1/2" type M copper tubing, the type used in plumbing, to make a simple oil cooler? Specifically a remote power steering cooler where the system uses power steering fluid not ATF.


Do you have the math to determine the surface area needed, flow rate, etc?

 

[Tempest]

Copper increases the rate of oxidation of the oil. It is not a good choice of materials for this.

 

[1 FMF]

no i don't have the math for the surface area needed. i am guesstimating based on what the sizes of aftermarket coolers are, along with the fact the cars had comes without any kind of power steering cooler. so i'm not worried about lack of cooling.c worst case i periodically monitor the power steering tempp and if the fluid overheats then i undo it and go back to the stock cooler. unfortunately i never thought of measuring fluid temp before so i have no baseline.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

I drove an '87 Caprice police car that had a cooler like the one you made, in the same place. The tubing loop was 3/8" steel.

 

[hofcat]

I read some years ago about a guy who used copper tubing for an oil line to his turbo charger. The line fatigue cracked and sent oil all over his engine which caught fire and the car burned up. He said he learned after this that copper should never be used in automotive applications because it can easily fatigue cracks from vibration, and I have read this in advice in magazines since then. I cannot remember ever seeing copper coolers or tubing in any auto parts store or car I have owned. It has all been aluminum or steel. There are those who have used copper in autos and had not any issues, but I would not take any chances. Google copper oil lines and there will be lots of results on this subject.

 

[1 FMF]

http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/UNI523...CFc9lOgodExEAcw

https://www.denniskirk.com/183770.sku?utm_source=pricegrabber&utm_medium=cse

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/copper-oil-line

seems to contradict what you said in general- google is showing me a bunch of things for sale that's copper for oil lines and such, almost funny. I can sort of understand about using a copper line going to a turbo, that's got to be one of the worst applications for heat and vibration.
mine's a lot more simple, won't see any real heat, and if something were to happen it's not critical. pic of it below.

 

[surfstar]

Question:

Why not run synthetic PS fluid and change more often if you're worried its not holding up?

Seems a lot simpler.

 

[1 FMF]

http://www.qualityaircraftaccessories.co...pper-oil-cooler

http://www.oilcoolers.com/vintage_oil_coolers.asp

starting to believe it's largely economics and weight driven.

 

[1 FMF]

not a big believer in "synthetic". also believe in having a properly designed system as a whole rather than temps going too high and having to use a synthetic. this was also more of a fun thing to add for my curiosity since i needed to service the power steering fluid- haven't touched it in 10 years, and i wanted to add a filter on the return line. and it was cheap to do, i really only needed a couple fittings.
in addition to monitoring the temps, gonna check the fluid periodically with a copper test strip to see what kind of leaching happens. hopefully i can find copper test strips.