Faster Warm Up For A Dry Sump'd Engine... Oil Tank Heaters?

[T04GTR]

the method of using steam will not work. it will simply boil dry before the oil has heated up much at all. it will heat it a little. i cant see it making any flow unless you have a condensor somewhere in the system. or it is a total loss system with a popet valve on the exit of the oil cooler with less of a relief pressure than the little header tank you intend to use.

having it plumbed into the cooling system is a no go. i wouldnt want any extra air getting into the engine. either way it would have to be refilled and bled each cold start.

it would be better to just use a coolant heat exhanger instead i think.

[T04GTR]

OR.. you coild use 2 110v heaters wired in series to make up for the 240 volt here..

[GTRNUR]

It would be a seperate closed coolant system circuit from the engine. Engines cooling system works just fine when its up to temp and shouldnt be messed with, as does the engines oil cooling system. Oil temps have never been higher than 85 degrees.

Im not sure you quite follow what I mean by convection pumping. Have you ever shutdown a gtr and listened to the cooling system work when the engine isnt running? Coolant flows into the turbo's, boils, and then blows out as steam to the return line to the top radiator hose outlet. Because the turbo's are below the highest point of the cooling system, gravity again causes coolant to flow into the turbo's again, and the cycle repeats.

The heat exchanger will work as a condensor while heating the oil as the goal isnt to heat the oil beyond 100 degrees. Granted the efficency of the heat exchange AS A CONDENSOR will drop off as the optimal temperature is reached.

The line from the heater coil will probably have to be a hard line so it will survive the heat long term. It may also need to be thermally insulated to keep the heat in more, but experimentation will quickly identify that. Even if the whole system gets that hot that is boiling and full of steam, it will still heat the oil and then eventually shut itself off when 80 degrees is reached. Excess pressure would be vented to a seperate overflow container the same as a radiator.

[GTRNUR]

OR.. you coild use 2 110v heaters wired in series to make up for the 240 volt here..

Electric heaters are practical for race cars, but this is a street car. Having to plug the car into a power point for a 1/2 hour every time I drive it would be as annoying as idling it in the driveway is.

[urtwhistle]

Hey guys I haven't got any experience with dry sumped cars but I do have experience with industrial hydraulics and think your over engineering and overlooking a simple fix. That is IF the oil filter was still in the original position on the block.

Please correct me if my understanding is wrong but is your setup like the circuit in the top sketch?

If you were to able to run 2 thermostat's you would be able to quickly heat enough oil to circulate and not damage the motor and as the motor keeps heating it would slowly start purging into the sump whilst heating that too.

A very simplistic view of it but it might just work.

Chris

[GTSBoy]

I say just get one or two rather large 12V batteries, put them on a trolley and get 3 of the 12V heaters on the tank. Just use a fat cable with a big fat connector to hook the bat(s) to the heaters for the time that you need to warm it up, then take the battery trolley away and plug it into a charger while you go race.

That way you can warm it up even if you aren't in a pit where you have access to mains power.

[r33_racer]

I think from what Ian is saying its not a race car. Hence why alot of our ideas arent really practical for his application.

[STATUS]

just get an oil heater off ebay and the like, very common in the usa in sub zero climates, cheap too. Should sit tin the tank no issues.

The ones i saw were pretty much kettle elements but larger..

[urtwhistle]

you can also source oil heaters to from hydraulics suppliers like PHC (perth hydraulic centre)