Upgrade oil cooler

[Lykkegaard76]

Hello All

 

Have any of you upgraded your engine oil cooler?

Would very much appreciate advice on oil cooler type and placement. 
 

The issue I have is that my skoda over heat when towing my caravan. Only a problem in hot weather and steep terrain. 
 

My skoda is a 4x4 190 2.0 TDI L&K DSG. Car is chipped to 225Hp. 
 

During last vacation I noticed oil temp. at 138C and water temp. 115-120C. 
 

I have looked in many forums but no apparent solutions. 
 

Appreciate any guidance 

[J.R.]

You should start with the water temperature problem, that is far more serious and no matter how much of an upgraded oil cooler you fit, water at 120°c if it really is that hot is not going to cool your oil sufficiently. Oil is the primary coolant and the coolant system is rated higher than necessary to maintain a constant 90°c to have the capacity to cool the oil.

 

Given your increased engine power and the conditions where you experienced overheating you should drive slower up these hills in a lower gear using partial throttle, the speeds an unmodified vehicle would achieve, secondly fit an uprated coolant radiator and then only when the coolant temperature is a constant 90°c should consider the oil cooler if the oil temp is above 125°c.

 

How were the measurements taken? Did the vehicle lose coolant?

Edited 28 December, 2023 by J.R.

[Lykkegaard76]

Thanks for your reply J.R. 
 

I actually experienced the oil temperature to be the biggest issue. 
 

What I noticed was, that oil temperature would continuously increase, but water temperature would stay at 90. Then I would gear down for higher revs., but then the water temperature would start to increase above 90. If I then geared back up, water temperature would start to drop but oil temperature again start to rise. 
 

It was particularly bad in mountainous,  but also over longer but not as steep climbs. 
In the mountains I did not do more than 80. Over the longer climbs not more than 90-100. 
 

I did not loose coolant. Temps were from dash. 
 

regarding radiator upgrade. I suppose radiator is upgraded with factory fitted tow bar? Or how would I see if it is? Or what radiator would you recommend?

 

I am of course also a bit concerned about the DSG. I don’t have a read out of the oil temperature here!

[JoaoVr]

I had the same question here:

 

[Lykkegaard76]

Thanks - seems no reply 🙂

 

I can only find this, that might fit: https://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/products/darkside-front-mounted-engine-oil-cooler-kit-for-2-0-tdi-mk7-platform-engines.html

 

The kit above does not have a thermostat, where other kits for other cars do come with a thermostat that opens to the external cooler at 90 degrees. Sounds to me like a better solution with a thermostat. 

[Bap33]

9 hours ago, Lykkegaard76 said:

I suppose radiator is upgraded with factory fitted tow bar?

If you have an OEM first mount tow bar, then your Superb is fitted with a dual fan to vent the coolant radiator. 
This can be checked easily. 😉

BTW, do they both blow when necessary? 
A fan failure could also be a cause of your high temps… 🤔

[JoaoVr]

Is there a possibility to upgrade 1 fan to 2 fans?

[Bap33]

Yes, buy the two-fan radiator from tow bar configuration, I would say…🤔

[IulianE]

I think the engine is pushed by the remap way over and adding a caravan is killing it.

Reputable tunner in my country said to me there is little room to remap this engine (wich I also have) safely and reliable.

His advice was for best reliability was:"don't do it" or max 205 HP if you really want 

 

[Lykkegaard76]

9 hours ago, Bap33 said:

If you have an OEM first mount tow bar, then your Superb is fitted with a dual fan to vent the coolant radiator. 
This can be checked easily. 😉

BTW, do they both blow when necessary? 
A fan failure could also be a cause of your high temps… 🤔

Thanks 🙂

It is the dual fan version, and I had them checked by a mechanic. Recently bought an ODBII scanner, and will check myself. However, that type of check really don’t check if the temperature sensor actually works and start the fans? 🤷

 

However, I newer have overheating issues under any other circumstances so I assume that it works. 

19 hours ago, J.R. said:

You should start with the water temperature problem, that is far more serious and no matter how much of an upgraded oil cooler you fit, water at 120°c if it really is that hot is not going to cool your oil sufficiently. Oil is the primary coolant and the coolant system is rated higher than necessary to maintain a constant 90°c to have the capacity to cool the oil.

 

Given your increased engine power and the conditions where you experienced overheating you should drive slower up these hills in a lower gear using partial throttle, the speeds an unmodified vehicle would achieve, secondly fit an uprated coolant radiator and then only when the coolant temperature is a constant 90°c should consider the oil cooler if the oil temp is above 125°c.

 

How were the measurements taken? Did the vehicle lose coolant?

Thanks for your reply J.R. 
 

I actually experienced the oil temperature to be the biggest issue. 
 

What I noticed was, that oil temperature would continuously increase, but water temperature would stay at 90. Then I would gear down for higher revs., but then the water temperature would start to increase above 90. If I then geared back up, water temperature would start to drop but oil temperature again start to rise. 
 

It was particularly bad in mountainous,  but also over longer but not as steep climbs. 
In the mountains I did not do more than 80. Over the longer climbs not more than 90-100. 
 

I did not loose coolant. Temps were from dash. 
 

regarding radiator upgrade. I suppose radiator is upgraded with factory fitted tow bar? Or how would I see if it is? Or what radiator would you recommend?

 

I am of course also a bit concerned about the DSG. I don’t have a read out of the oil temperature here!

[Lykkegaard76]

2 hours ago, IulianE said:

I think the engine is pushed by the remap way over and adding a caravan is killing it.

Reputable tunner in my country said to me there is little room to remap this engine (wich I also have) safely and reliable.

His advice was for best reliability was:"don't do it" or max 205 HP if you really want 

 

I am not sure I agree with that.

 

I don’t have overheating issues under any other circumstances. 
 

While towing up a mountain I only do max. 80 km/h - that does not release all 225hp!

 

In my opinion 225hp for a 2.0 is not crazy power, however the cooling might not be able to handle it in peak situations - hence my question on upgrading the cooling system. 

[Esseesse200]

27 minutes ago, Lykkegaard76 said:

I am not sure I agree with that.

 

I don’t have overheating issues under any other circumstances. 
 

While towing up a mountain I only do max. 80 km/h - that does not release all 225hp!

 

In my opinion 225hp for a 2.0 is not crazy power, however the cooling might not be able to handle it in peak situations - hence my question on upgrading the cooling system. 

If it’s a good reputable map then it’ll be fine. If the map was the problem the engine would throw a code and it would go into safe mode. I had a superb sportline 4x4 mapped to 235bhp 530nm and never had an issue fully loaded etc !!

Uprated rad and fan set would be the thing here I think and if you wanted to an Uprated oil cooler would certainly not do any harm.

 

[ZacDaMan72]

3 hours ago, Lykkegaard76 said:

While towing up a mountain I only do max. 80 km/h - that does not release all 225hp!

 

You mentioned on hot weather and steep terrain - you might not be using the peak power but you'll be using the peak torque and working that turbo.

 

Definitely will need to upgrade the cooling - a lot of tunes aren't exactly tested towing in hot weather with increased load like the manufacturers do.

Edited 29 December, 2023 by ZacDaMan72

[MarkyG82]

As above, if the tune is otherwise good then it should be ok with increased load and I'd expect the car to be overheating in the same conditions but without the tune. Where it could be an issue is that you have more torque low dow making it easier to tow in a higher gear. This is causing the turbo to work harder and, if an engine driven water pump (?), the water flow will be reduced making it less effective at cooling.

I would suggest starting the climb at higher revs. This will load the clutch less (torque wise) and keep the flow of fluids up. If you are still having overheating issues then start looking at upgrading rads etc. then oil cooler.

Might also be worth checking that the coolant is topped up and there are no blocks for both air flow and fluid.

[Lykkegaard76]

3 hours ago, MarkyG82 said:

As above, if the tune is otherwise good then it should be ok with increased load and I'd expect the car to be overheating in the same conditions but without the tune. Where it could be an issue is that you have more torque low dow making it easier to tow in a higher gear. This is causing the turbo to work harder and, if an engine driven water pump (?), the water flow will be reduced making it less effective at cooling.

I would suggest starting the climb at higher revs. This will load the clutch less (torque wise) and keep the flow of fluids up. If you are still having overheating issues then start looking at upgrading rads etc. then oil cooler.

Might also be worth checking that the coolant is topped up and there are no blocks for both air flow and fluid.

Also my thoughts. I assume no difference is in torque driving up at 80 km/h in 3rd tuned or not. Same load + same gear must be the same torque. 
however, boost might be higher with the tune, but I don’t know. 
Therefore I would also expect overheating tune or not. 
 

I did try and gear down and get higher revs, but this is where water temperature start to increase! This was actually the problem all along. Oil temperature started increasing too much, with water at 90. Then I would gear down to about increase revs., but then water temperature would increase! Gearing back up would stabilize water, but then oil again would increase!

[Lykkegaard76]

6 hours ago, ZacDaMan72 said:

 

You mentioned on hot weather and steep terrain - you might not be using the peak power but you'll be using the peak torque and working that turbo.

 

Definitely will need to upgrade the cooling - a lot of tunes aren't exactly tested towing in hot weather with increased load like the manufacturers do.

I agree - but I guess going up hill at 80 in 3rd gear would mean same torque tuned or not!

 

but maybe boost is higher. 
 

I am also looking to upgrade the cooling, but seeing advice from people who actually upgraded the cooling on same car as mine. I can’t seem to find upgrade cooling packs for the superb ?

[Lykkegaard76]

9 hours ago, Esseesse200 said:

If it’s a good reputable map then it’ll be fine. If the map was the problem the engine would throw a code and it would go into safe mode. I had a superb sportline 4x4 mapped to 235bhp 530nm and never had an issue fully loaded etc !!

Uprated rad and fan set would be the thing here I think and if you wanted to an Uprated oil cooler would certainly not do any harm.

 

Agree - if I could find any upgrades!

would really like to avoid too much customization!

[MarkyG82]

8 minutes ago, Lykkegaard76 said:

 

I did try and gear down and get higher revs, but this is where water temperature start to increase! This was actually the problem all along. Oil temperature started increasing too much, with water at 90. Then I would gear down to about increase revs., but then water temperature would increase! Gearing back up would stabilize water, but then oil again would increase!

 

My point was to start the climb already geared down. Not gearing up to manage the heating. If that means slowing down a bit then so be it.

[Lykkegaard76]

29 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

 

My point was to start the climb already geared down. Not gearing up to manage the heating. If that means slowing down a bit then so be it.

Got it. Good point. 
 

I am just annoyed that people with smaller cars and engines can tow the same caravan in similar terrain no problem!