How Much Do You Kown The Importance of Oil Coolers

Oil coolers are vital components in automotive cooling systems, facilitating heat exchange between two liquid mediums with varying temperatures to lower oil temperatures and ensure the proper functioning of engines, transmissions, and other equipment.

Principle of Operation

Today, we'll focus on the engine oil cooler. Engine lubricating oil, or motor oil, plays a crucial role in lubrication. It continuously circulates within the engine, lubricating all moving parts and dissipating heat. However, maintaining the appropriate temperature of the oil is crucial for effective lubrication. High or low oil temperatures can lead to inadequate viscosity, significantly impacting engine efficiency. Therefore, the importance of engine oil coolers is evident.

Some engine oil coolers use bolted sealing rings to securely seal the water and oil interfaces. The installation of oil coolers requires strict adherence to specific guidelines. Firstly, the mounting surface must be cleaned thoroughly to ensure a flat and clean contact surface. Secondly, new matching sealing rings must be used; old ones should never be reused. Finally, the oil cooler's fixing bolts must be tightened diagonally and in multiple stages (as shown above). This is especially crucial for products with large installation surfaces and multiple fixing bolts. Since oil coolers are made of aluminum, a metal with relatively low hardness, uneven pressure during installation can easily deform the mounting surface or cause partial compression of the sealing ring, leading to leakage. (Common failure symptoms resulting from this: oil leakage or oil-water intermixing, without internal leakage of the oil cooler itself).

Most oil coolers are plate-fin type, consisting of stacked aluminum plates and heat-dissipating fins welded together, with small and thin internal apertures. Prolonged use of antifreeze or diluting antifreeze with water can lead to severe scaling within the cooling system, causing internal blockage and rupture of the oil cooler due to prolonged wear and tear. Common failure symptoms resulting from this: oil-water intermixing, internal oil cooler leakage, etc. Therefore, regular replacement of antifreeze, cleaning of cooling system pipelines, and prevention of scaling are essential measures to prevent the failure of various heat exchange system components, including oil coolers.

A reminder: The installation and fixing of oil coolers must adhere to the "diagonal multiple" principle and be tightened with the specified torque. Before installing any component of the cooling system, observe the internal condition of the old parts. If they are dirty, the cooling system must be thoroughly flushed to minimize rework and customer complaint occurrences.