460 oil cooler ?

Any of you guys know if an early 80s. 460 engine oil coooler had a thermostat anywhere in the system, or did they just direct oil flow to the cooler all the time? I am replacing my 93 cooler that circulated water. And installing a older version that was air cooled. I can not see where the engine oil was thermostatically controlled in the earlier models? I knkw there isnt a thermostat in the housing. Curious if anyonew if there was somewhere else.

There was no thermostat in either kind. It just flowed thru the cooler as normal.

Wtrfwl havoc wrote:Any of you guys know if an early 80s. 460 engine oil coooler had a thermostat anywhere in the system, or did they just direct oil flow to the cooler all the time?

Yes, the oil cooler adaptor from that era does have a temperature-controlled bypass port in it. Here's how it functions:

• If you look at the filter-side of the adaptor, it has a spiral-wound piece of metal pinned next to an oil port. This spiral-wound piece of metal looks a lot like the coiled up spiral-wound material found inside a thermostatically controlled automatic choke on a carburetor, except that on the outer end of the spiral winding it becomes straight and flat like an extended "flap" of the coiled material.
  
• While the engine is cold, the extended flap is away from the nearby oil port and so the oil is allowed to enter straight to into the oil filter, pass through the filter media, and on into the engine. This enables quick warm-up of the engine oil.
  
• As the engine oil rises to temperature, the temperature of that coiled up metal increases as well, which expands the coil (just like in the thermostatic choke), and the "flap" on the end of the expanding coil shuts flush against the adjacent oil port. And so now, instead of allowing the oil into the filter, the oil is first being directed through the oil cooler (which is mounted in front of the radiator) and afterwards enters the filter OD (though its own return port) upon its return.
  
• The system works as described above and during normal operating temperatures. It is not intended to divert oil to the cooler only during exceedingly high temps (such as towing or climbing a steep hill). I confirmed this simply by observing the temperature controlled flap open with the engine cold, then running the engine up to temp and then removing the oil filter and verifying that the flap was already shut upon intitial warm-up.
  

None of the ports in mine have a thermostat in it.

Then it must be a true "open" system.  You did say, "early 80s," and the one I inspected and tested was from a 1985 model F250.

By the way I'm not sure I'd call this gizmo a "thermostat" since it doesn't altogether regulate and maintain the temperature of the oil.  It's more of a "cold oil bypass" which aids in getting the engine oil to operating temperature more quickly.

I took it off a square nose ford. So it would of had to been. 80-86ish. Didnt really look at year

It does have a spring and ball in it. That appears to be a cooler bypass between the outlet and inlet ports. Like maybe if the oil was could the oil pressure would overcome the spring, and direct more flow to the filter?

So, is there really a need for an oil cooler in a towing situation? How many coolers can you put in front of the rad before the rad experiences restricted flow and ceases to cool sufficiently? With an A/C condenser , BIG trans cooler and now an oil cooler in front , how do you know when extra coolers become counter-productive?

have you ever seen under the hood of a 6.4l powerstroke?

condenser, intercooler, transcooler, p/s cooler, fuel cooler, radiator