| Author |
Message |
    
Sloppy
| | Posted on Thursday, September 25, 2008 - 11:52 am: | 
|
The cooling fins in the XL engine provide more than adequate cooling for the engine. Oil cooling is not required for this engine.
Only in the extreme circumstances (parade duty) does one "need" an oil cooler. I don't see too many Buells on parade duty. 
How do we "know" this? Easy - check your oil temperature after a hard ride with an instant read thermometer. Experience also indicates to us that oil sludge or tarnishing is not a problem in the XL engine.
On the XB engine, it's a different story as they have oil injectors that draw heat off the piston which does cause the oil to run warm... |
Phelan
| | Posted on Thursday, September 25, 2008 - 12:37 pm: |
|
Mine goes in parade duty Sunday. "Biker Sunday" in Amarillo with a Toys For Tots run. We usually have about 1,000 bikes and 4-5,000 people. |
Djkaplan
| | Posted on Thursday, September 25, 2008 - 02:28 pm: |
|
"On the XB engine, it's a different story as they have oil injectors that draw heat off the piston which does cause the oil to run warm..."
I read a pretty interesting article on Harley's newest generation twin-cam engine. Engineers struggled to get the oil temperatures under control (without an auxillary cooler) when they used oil injector cooling on the new engines. A lot of rethinking and revision went into the internal passages of the engine before they could release it to production. |
Djkaplan
| | Posted on Thursday, September 25, 2008 - 02:40 pm: |
|
"Just think what an aluminum tank with cooling fins on it would do for the oil temp."
Blake and I had a rousing discussion on this very subject. The fun starts with the phrase, "The concept of adding cooling fins to an oil sump or tank sounds compelling but really doesn't work as well as you would think.".
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/19865.html?1047941161
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/24650.html?1048719290
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/25097.html?1052409634
If you indeed check the references I posted, you'll see that I learned this from people much smarter than me. |
Eshardball
| | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2008 - 12:47 pm: |
|
Just like fluting a rifle barrel, the fins would increase the surface area and henceforth the ability to dissapate heat. I would imagine that small fins welded on the inside of the tank would increase the heat transfer further by increasing the contact area between the oil and the surface that we are hoping will act as a radiator. I am not looking to cool the oil down below 213F but to extend the life of the motor as much as possible. I guess this would be a good time to get some aluminum filler rod and try out my new TIG on aluminum. |
Eshardball
| | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2008 - 01:02 pm: |
|
I should have read all of the links before responding. I guess the question would be: will an aluminum tank with cooling fins on it, cool the oil down below 212 in the winter causing condensation not to boil off.The point that the tank would then function like an unregulated is valid. I guess I will try making my own oversize oil tank and not worry so much about the ancilliary cooling issues. |
|
