Are there separate lines going into the radiator somewhere? I was looking at the bottom of the radiator mount and I see thin metal tubing that comes in the the back of the drivers side of the engine to the lower radiator mount. It runs along that to the passenger side and makes a loop back to the the drivers side following along the first line and then goes to the back of the engine on the drivers side again? What does this thing do?

 

the RPO code is KC4

the oil cooler is an adapter inbetween your oil filter and the block.. it has fluid that is routed from the radiator hoses... the lines are metal lines that run along the driver side of the oil pan, around and under the front part of the oil pan and meet with the heater hoses just on the pass side...

doesn't really work that good but it helps a bit

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Originally posted by VADER:

"Any oil cooling is a good thing, but the trans really needs more help if you can provide it. The "oil cooler" on many cars is a heat exchanger in the hot side of the radiator tank or a steel tube (without fins) looping under the lower radiator support. Just being able to get out of the engine and into free air can dump 30° from the oil temperature fairly quickly."

So what he is saying is that there were 2 different oil coolers used. One kind where the radiator coolant was involved and the second kind where it is just air cooled. It sounds like the looping tube on my '89 IROC is the air cooled type of oil cooler, correct?

 

The KC4 oil cooler actually served as an oil heater too. The idea was to bring the oil up to operating temperature, which is very important as cold oil doesn't work as well as warm oil. Then it acted as a cooler to maintaining that temperature. We had lube oil and fuel oil heaters on the Navy Cruiser I was stationed on. I believe the lube oil heaters kicked in if the lube temp was below 90 deg.
Supposedly GM stopped putting them on the Vettes when they shifted to factory installed Mobil One. I'm sure I heard that from more than one Vette guy.

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Rob P
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Can anyone confirm that there where 2 types of coolers used of the F-bodies?

 

No, I think that was the only one that was used. Like he said, there was a cooler that was located on the block, it attached to the block where the oil filter went. Then the filter went to it. There were two nipples where the hoses attached to. Then the hoses went around the front of the engine(I found out the hard way when I had to change my timing chain) and then up to the junction.

Like was said, the Vettes used the same set up until 1992 when the factory filled the cars with Mobil 1.