The cooling system on my GTA has the oil cooler/heater set-up in it and I would like to by pass it in the summer. The coolant flows out of the head to the heater valve (TB by-passed), where it is normally directed to the oil cooler/heater then returns to the radiator. When the heater is placed in service the heater valve directs the coolant to the heater then to the oil cooler and finally to the radiator. This set-up is great in winter to preheat the oil but in the summer I fell the coolant returns to the radiator very hot and it might not provide that much cooling for the oil. My question is, how much cooling does the cooler do if any, and what effect will it have on coolant flow through the engine if I were to put a shut-off solenoid to stop the flow once the engine is warm and the T-Stat has opened and there is no chance of dead heading the pump. This would allow all coolant to flow through the radiator and not recirculated back to the pump suction in the summer but the set-up would be by-passed in winter or as needed allow the coolant to maintain oil temperature.
Any thoughts?