Oil Coolers - Harley Forum

Buzz Kanter · #1 04-22-2008, 07:28 PM

I've never installed an oil cooler on a Harley as I've never really seen the need for where and how I ride.

How about you guys in the hot weather climate?

#2 04-22-2008, 10:06 PM

Buzz, I installed the Harley premium oil cooler on my 01 Glide a couple years ago. It gets pretty hot and humid here in Tennessee and I found that it does help and the engine does run a good bit cooler. I'm sure there are a bunch of good oil coolers out there but the cooler from Harley works well and is pretty easy to install. Have a good one and rise safe. Clif

GrayRider · #3 04-22-2008, 10:13 PM

I always used them on my shovels, but these twin cams seem to do well without them, unless you live in a very hot climate.

Wrightturn · #4 04-22-2008, 10:23 PM

Don`t use them. At high speed you don`t need them. At low speed they don`t work. Race bikes benefit but I think street bikes ridden normaly gain little.

I tried them with air cooled VW engines years ago. The stock oil cooler made a big difference. It was inside or just outside the fan shroud. The aftermarket oil coolers had to be mounted in an air stream to make any difference. Mounted on the engine deck lid would preheat the air that was supposed to cool the engine.

I think we will see water cooling on all HD models first.
Orlando, Fl

Majicbringer · #5 04-23-2008, 12:40 AM

It can't hurt. Anything that keeps the oil doing it's job and cooling things down is a good idea.

frisco-rigid · #6 04-23-2008, 01:35 AM

I'm sure Wright has diff experiences than I but in my experince oil coolers work and work well.. Here's something I wrote awhile back, I'll insert it here...........

I've read and heard before that you gotta be moving for the coolers to do any good, nope..!! The coolers fins will release heat whether you're moving or not, just put yer hands on em and you'll see what I mean..!!

In 1998 I moved to Las Cruces where the summer heat was waaaay more than I or the 93" shovel was used to.. The OIL temp got as high as 220 plus.. Sooo, I built an oil cooler..

I took a few feet of hand-bendable 3/8" copper tubing, bored out a bunch of 5/16" copper washers to 3/8" so they would "Press-Fit" on the tubing, and sweated them on.. Installed them and WaLaa the OIL temp lowered back to 180 - 185*..
Then I moved to the Phoenix Valley.. Riding in 116* heat the temp again rose to 220 plus.. Ok, this time I added a Catalog bought cooler to the one I made and Walaa, the OIL temp again lowered to the 180's..

When I built the 120" sickle in '02, I included both a home-made copper cooler and another catalog cooler in the build.. Put one on the deep-breathing 80" too..
Now, during our daily 50 mile errand//commute round trip on a 116* afternoon the OIL temp remains in the 180's for all three sickles..
Oil coolers work and they work good..!!
I beg yer pardon, how do I take the oil temperature.? Golly, I'm soo glad you asked.. I do this test the moment I pull in to the compound..
First I use a laser beam shootin Infra-red temp tool on the outside of the oil bag and then a candy thermometer to stick right in the oil bag..
The Laser tool is good for all kinds of temp readings like head//barrel temps, tires, crotch/booty, er ah, and costs about $75..
The candy thermometer is tempered glass for reading 400* cooking candy..
When the Laser Tool reads 160* on the outside of the Alum. oil bag the candy therm. reads 175* IN the oil bag, I like to be correct so I double-check..
Also,, correct tuning is a giant help in controlling oil/motor temps..

#7 04-23-2008, 10:10 AM

Frisco, that's a great tale. Many thanks.

I ride an 04 Dyna Low Rider and I installed Harley's then Dyna cooler, which included an adaptor for the oil filter mount, two houses, four clamps, and a small, 6-row oil cooler radiator that mounted on the front rubber engine mounts. Think I added the cooler about 1 year after I started riding the bike. Immediately after adding the cooler, I noticed the temp on hot days dropped from around 220 degrees Fahrenheit to around 200 degrees, so I know the cooler made a difference and I believe it was a positive difference.

Reading Donny Peterson, I learned that Jagg was the supplier of the Harley cooler but H-D has recently switched to another cooler manufacturer and, according to Donny, the new cooler doesn't measure up to the former cooler supplied by Jagg. Like so much of what Donny writes, this caught my attention so I decided to poke around on the Jagg/Setrab web site to see what I could learn. I learned Jagg still offers a cooler designed specifically for my Dyna, but the cooler had been enlarged from six to 10 rows. Since I already had everything but the larger radiator, I continued to poke around on the site and found I could purchase a 10-row radiator. I did that and installed it in March of this year. Here's the link to the Jagg/Setrab universal oil coolers and the model #3130 is the one I purchased that directly upgraded my Harley system from 6- to 10-rows.

http://www.setrabusa.com/jagg%20file...univ_cores.htm

I believe if I were starting over today, I would definitely add an oil cooler to any air cooled H-D I will ever own and I would buy directly from Jagg. They were great to deal with and their product is top notch.

JB

Sprung · #8 04-23-2008, 11:38 AM

I agree with Frisco. I've put oil coolers on every HD I owned- Shovel,Sportser and now my TC88B. They do make a difference. Some SE Harleys come with coolers from the factory.
As far as what JB says,I find that interesting. In order to get exactly what I wanted I purchased an oil cooler kit from Harley just for the adapter. It's kind of a neat piece, a 1 piece design with a thermostat that has 2 tabs that kind of index into the oil filter mounting location. This eliminates the need for an anti-rotation device that Jagg sells for their adapter. Then I purchased a Jagg deluxe cooler and hooked that to the HD adapter. I didn't care for the mounting location of the HD cooler and thought the Jagg would work better mounted on the left down tube. It should get better air flow and won't see the heat from the front head and exhaust.
Some people may not need one depending on were they live and their riding habits. These new motors do run hot. I would'nt go as far as the say "oil coolers don't work".

Trigger87 · #9 04-23-2008, 11:43 AM

I've got oil coolers on the Heritage and on the dresser and it makes a big difference in the operating temperatures. I didn't even bat an eye about putting it on the TC when I bought it new. I'm glad I have it, as I have experienced very hot weather on most of the trips I've taken, and never had an issue with the oil temp getting too high.

Wrightturn · #10 04-23-2008, 08:02 PM

Sounds like I need some new thermometers. Laser tool sounds like fun. I have candy thermometers and a couple of bullet casting thermometers (yeah I know lead is evil) I have checked temps on TC motors in hot weather with HD and Jagg coolers and never below 195. If I could get 180 I would put them on both bikes tomorrow. Without a cooler I avg 200 with carb bikes set up rich.