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R380 Oil Cooler


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Neither are bad ideas - my 5 series had a water/coolant gearbox cooler so presumably that box was happy at about 88C. I dont know what the ideal temp for the R380 is - any ideas anyone??

 

I will change the oil more frequently - current use, every 10,000 miles is every 5 months!

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The cow on the line with the cooler take off on the stumpy 380 is the seat box has to be adjusted to allow the adapter and pipes to fit... I have a housing with a thermostat here Richard, and yes, it's another project on my growing list to make something so I don't have to cut my seatbox on my 110.

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On 7/15/2019 at 10:30 AM, toenden said:

Could the non thermostat approach not work nicely combined with a water to oil heatexchanger? That way your gearboxoil would always be sort of the right temp?

/mads    

Good idea!

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On 7/15/2019 at 10:56 AM, Gazzar said:

Or, don't fit one, and change the oil every year, 10,000 miles if driven south of the channel?

 

That deals with fluid degradation, but not the operating viscosity, which is why the crunch gears on change up to second when warm if you’re a bit swift on the lever.

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On 7/16/2019 at 4:14 AM, vulcan bomber said:

The cow on the line with the cooler take off on the stumpy 380 is the seat box has to be adjusted to allow the adapter and pipes to fit... I have a housing with a thermostat here Richard, and yes, it's another project on my growing list to make something so I don't have to cut my seatbox on my 110.

You have the LR unit spare?  How much silver would I need to persuade you to part with it? 😉

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'll say it here as I say every time;

Spend £5 on a pack of temperature tell-tale stickers before going to all the trouble of an oil cooler!

temp_label.jpg

We've just done ~2300 miles in the ambulance in hot weather (record European heatwave no less), blatting about in a 3-ton vehicle with a big V8 and overdrive up & down mountains, and neither the R380, the LT230 nor the Roamerdrive have gotten above ~99deg which is well within the comfortable operating range of the gear oil.

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My R380 has smooth gear changes cold, but gets the classic notch and rough 1st-2nd change when warm, John, so a cooler should help. Yes, I plan to rebuild the box anyway, but the rest of it seems to be absolutely fine and this is a common problem, so if cooler oil helps, it seems a reasonable addition.

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52 minutes ago, Snagger said:

My R380 has smooth gear changes cold, but gets the classic notch and rough 1st-2nd change when warm, John, so a cooler should help. Yes, I plan to rebuild the box anyway, but the rest of it seems to be absolutely fine and this is a common problem, so if cooler oil helps, it seems a reasonable addition.

Depends if the cooler makes your oil cold or just stops it going above "too warm" surely - cold gear oil isn't working properly, it needs to be in it's happy temperature range.

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Would it not be possible to look at oil quality/grade

I've moved over to commercial/plant grade oils on my Disco; for example 10-40 non synthetic engine oil and non synthetic ATF....  I find that these are far better quality and much longer lasting (as well as being available in 200litre drums). Gearbox and t box run quieter and smoother, as well as cooler (I followed fridges suggestion some years ago).

 

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On 8/1/2019 at 5:37 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

Spend £5 on a pack of temperature tell-tale stickers before going to all the trouble of an oil cooler!

I gave Rich a few of these stickers last week so he can monitor temps in his R380..... :)

 

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  • 2 years later...

I notice the Ashcroft oil cooler kits are supplied with simple rubber hose.

https://ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/product/r380-oil-cooler-kit/

Wouldn't the simplest solution for any body wanting to fit a thermostat be to use A Mocal engine oil cooler unit?

http://www.mocal.co.uk/products-oilstats.html

Apologies if I missed somebody else saying that already...

But does anybody know what sort of pressure the R380 pump puts out. I worry about the use of un-reinforced rubber hose...

Will go and buy some temperature stickers. They're going everywhere

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5 hours ago, Phill S said:

I notice the Ashcroft oil cooler kits are supplied with simple rubber hose.

https://ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/product/r380-oil-cooler-kit/

Wouldn't the simplest solution for any body wanting to fit a thermostat be to use A Mocal engine oil cooler unit?

http://www.mocal.co.uk/products-oilstats.html

Apologies if I missed somebody else saying that already...

But does anybody know what sort of pressure the R380 pump puts out. I worry about the use of un-reinforced rubber hose...

Will go and buy some temperature stickers. They're going everywhere

Again, you are very unlikely to need a cooler in your 110, run the temp labels and worry about it if it ever gets above the oil's happy temp (which is well over 100C).

The Ashcroft kit looks like a few standard hydraulic fittings and a universal cooler - if you're not friends with your local hydraulics shop already, you need to change that if you're doing a conversion as they can solve a lot of problems for you, and using off-the-shelf bits rather than an expensive kit. They're great for push-fit nylon tube & fittings too, ideal for all your extended breathers etc.

That rubber hose looks like standard low-pressure hydraulic / oil hose which is way above anything an engine or gearbox is putting out - it's what's on my remote engine oil filter. Proper high-pressure hydraulic hose has steel braid cast into it, withstands 1000's of PSI and needs fittings hydraulically crimped on by the hydraulics shop - you need it for the high-pressure side of the power steering but that's about it.

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On 12/30/2021 at 11:03 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

Again, you are very unlikely to need a cooler in your 110

Yeah yeah - I know, I know. Thing is the loved one has started making noises about Egypt via Cyprus and Israel, and with a lot of bits about to be lying around on the Disco demolition plus what's on my shelves from previous projects, I'm not wanting to ditch anything too quickly. Temperature stickers are great, I've used them before on avionics gear in a previous life. Great for monitoring but they'll only tell you when it's too late if there's a problem. If I had the dash space I'd have have a gauge for the temperature and pressure of every oily bit that goes round!

In danger of going off topic on this thread now though...

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