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Thread: Adding a sandwich type oil warmer to the Mirage

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    Adding a sandwich type oil warmer to the Mirage

    I am thinking about adding a VW TDI sandwich type oil warmer/cooler to my 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage.

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    Of course, the first question to ask is why? Short and simple, for increasing fuel economy. We know warmer oil is thinner. Thinner oil is easier to pump, and it reduces friction more when thicker oil. This is why OEMs continue to design engines for thinner and thinner oils over the years. There is efficiency to be had by thinning out the oil. Add that to the fact that all the Honda high fuel economy vehicles had these (Civic VX, HX, Insight), and it lends some credibility that there is a benefit to be had. There is actually a pretty lengthy thread on EcoModder that talks about the benefits of this mod.

    Great, so warm oil is good. Why do we need a heater? Oil flows through the engine block and should warm up with the rest of things, right? Wrong. Oil temperature warm up lags considerably behind engine coolant temperatures during warm up. Below shows some testing from a BMW forum user. I'm not sure why he was testing this, but it is useful to me. You can see that the engine coolant temperature is maxed out within the first 10 minutes (600 seconds) of driving. However, the oil temperature takes a full 25 minutes to max out. By the time 25 minutes have passed, my car is parked in the parking lot at work.





    Testing from a member of EcoModder also showed that oil pressure didn't drop until well after the engine was fully up to temperature. The whole time your oil pressure is high, your pump is doing more work, and that consumes more fuel. This also means your piston rings are scraping thicker oil off the walls of the cylinders, your crankshaft and camshafts are spinning through thicker oil, and more.

    The final reason to try this mod is because I already have a VW sandwich style heater kicking around. A few years ago, I swapped out the engine in my sister's Jetta TDI with one that didn't have a broken timing belt. I kept a bunch of parts off the old engine, and parted out the rest of it. Amongst those parts was the sandwich style oil warmer/cooler that all TDIs of that era (ALH engine) have. So, I am thinking about slapping it on the 'ol Mirage.


    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

    Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member 01-7700's Avatar
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    how does it mount?
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        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage 1.2 manual: 38.0 mpg (US) ... 16.1 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Administrator Daox's Avatar
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    They mount between the engine block and the oil filter. Here is a picture off of a Honda. The barbed ends connect to engine coolant lines.

    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

    Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)


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    I had a stick-on oil pan heater on my Smart Car. I just connected it to a timer and it kicked on for 30 min before I had to drive. It really seemed to help with fuel economy.

    The interesting thing about this would be to see if the graph changes that much, and to make sure you're getting 'engine' coolant as opposed to 'radiator' coolant.

    I would mount it in tandem with a remote oil filter kit, might be REALLY tight in there, otherwise?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 36.9 mpg (US) ... 15.7 km/L ... 6.4 L/100 km ... 44.3 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member 01-7700's Avatar
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    data is so beautiful! I would expect the coolant temp to diminish slightly and the oil temp to increase slightly with that rig. Both fluids travelling so fast and so little interface that heat transfer would be minimal. Take into account that the rig may also introduce an oil leak at the filter. Is there enough room for that heater in the stock filter location?
    Skills: Cage fighting, computer chatting, making sweet moula

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage 1.2 manual: 38.0 mpg (US) ... 16.1 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Cobrajet's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tyrelirwin View Post
    I would mount it in tandem with a remote oil filter kit, might be REALLY tight in there, otherwise?
    I agree with this. It might be hard...or impossible...to remove your oil filter with this installed if you leave the filter in the stock location. Plus, there is that little drain spout below the filter that may interfere with this installation. I do believe it can be removed?

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    All excellent points guys! Thanks for the input. One of my biggest concerns is mounting it as well. Looking at this picture posted in this thread, it looks like the square bodied warmer may not mount up flush? I'll have to mess around and see. The oil drip chute thingy may have to come off.





    Quote Originally Posted by 01-7700 View Post
    data is so beautiful! I would expect the coolant temp to diminish slightly and the oil temp to increase slightly with that rig. Both fluids travelling so fast and so little interface that heat transfer would be minimal.
    Yes, during warm up it would take the engine a bit longer to get up to temperature coolant wise. However, I do think the sandwich cooler has a decent amount of internal surface area. Its kind of like a brazed plate heat exchanger inside it.

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    Take into account that the rig may also introduce an oil leak at the filter.
    This is absolutely true.
    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

    Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)


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    Another problem I have with this setup is I need a fancy bolt to hold the oil warmer to the block, but also hold the oil filter to the oil warmer. What I have looks like this. Notice, there is no filter attached, just a huge bolt.





    So, I need to find a bold that looks something like this, so I can mount the warmer to the block, and still allow for the oil filter to spin on to the warmer.





    Currently, my best idea is to get a really cheap oil filter sandwich plate off amazon. I can use the adapter included with the plate. I would have to cut it, and extend it. However, I am looking into alternatives.

    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

    Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member 01-7700's Avatar
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    That would be a great little lathe project to make that connector. If you ever had the idea that you might want to get a lathe someday - -this would be a great excuse. You wouldn't need an expensive rig - one of those 7x14 harbor freight lathes would be adequate to make this up in brass.
    Skills: Cage fighting, computer chatting, making sweet moula

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage 1.2 manual: 38.0 mpg (US) ... 16.1 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Would just like to add the oil cooler/warmer is actually a heat exchanger!

    Its purpose as a heat exchanger in VW is two fold.
    Firstly, by exchanging heat the oil gets warmed up quicker, which is particularly good in winter.
    Secondly, on long and fast highway trips, the engine oil does not increase and increase its oil temperature, but stays below a max of about 100°C. That prevents extremes in oil temperature, such as 150°C or more. That again makes engines autobahn-proof, meaning they can run at max power and high revs without blowing up.


    On my 1.0L I did some oil temperature measurements. After driving over an hour at over 150km/h, the oil temp was barely higher than coolant temp. It surprised me, and I conclude our engines are a sound construction that don't need additional oil cooling. Since they are comparatively efficient, they don't produce much waste heat, which is why a grill block makes so much difference in winter.

    Motor oil temperature


    Last edited by foama; 11-01-2018 at 06:09 PM.

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