hydraulic oil cooler

[pah]

when my 422 is at normal operating temp I can place my hand over the cooler fan and the air blowing thru is hot, no surprise there. However if I raise the hood so that it is in a vertical position and then check the air temp coming off the fan it is barely warm. Seems the fan is just drawing hot air from the engine and probably increasing the temp of the hydraulic oil rather than lowering same when the hood is down in normal position. make sense?

 

[BobRip]

Very interesting. I have a suggestion. Looking at the oil cooler there are two hoses, one towards the back of the PT and one toward the front. I don't know which is in an which is out. I would think that the outlet would be cooler. I have noticed that the air is warmer at some places on the fan outlet than others. Could you have put your hand at one of the cooler places once it is open and a warmer place when it is cold?

My other thought is that you have two heat sources. Both are hotter than the air. If you open the cover then one (the engine) is eliminated and the outlet air is cooler. The cooler probably does not heat the air up to the oil temp, so it is probably still cooling the oil even when the cover is down. If you have an appropriate thermometer (infrared might work), measure the oil at the inlet and outlet of the oil cooler. I will try this later in the week.

Bob Rip

 

[MossRoad]

Yes, the heat from the engine will rise up through the hydraulic oil cooler and will start to heat the cooler. The fan draws it up even faster. But it also draws fresh air in across the engine, so it helps cool that, too. If there was some sort of baffle that would prevent engine heat from getting to the hydraulic cooler while still allowing outside air into it, that might keep the hydraulic oil cooler, but may be at the expense of heating the engine more.

 

[pah]

the engine is of course cooled by it's own fan/shroud design. in the case of the 422 there is a heat deflector that directs that engine heat away from the gas tank and directly up thru the oil cooler. I think this is poor design, and does little if anything to cool the oil, if anything it's an oil heater.

 

[PTRich]

I wonder what would happen if you reversed the fan? Would it fit inside so you could mount it underneath? Then you could put a heavy duty screen on to to protect the cooler. (just a thought)

 

[J_J]

Your fan motor is a 12 volt DC motor, and should run in reverse if you reverse the wires. I believe this is correct.

 

[maujer422]

I mounted a 10 inch fan on the right side of the hood to pull the engine heat out. I mounted a switch for the fan so I can turn it on or off, don't need it in the winter. This fan helps out a lot, when mowing and the oil cooler comes on the right side to the middle of the oil cooler has cool air coming out of it, and you can hold your hand on the oil tank longer than 5 seconds. I talked to Terry about this and he thought it was a good idea he even suggested hooking the 2 fans together.

 

[BobRip]

On my 422 the exhaust goes out through the mesh on the side. I used a dremel tool and widened the openings in the mesh. I think this decreases back pressure on the engine and helps get the exhaust heat out of the enclosure. As yet I have had no vapor lock. Your fan probably helps a lot. As the fins in the engine get dirty, the engine probably runs hotter. The enclosure will help trap the heat. I would advise not running both fans for a long time at idle since they will run the battery down over time.

Bob Rip