tw0wheelin Said: ?How about cooling off the oil filter that sits right next to the exhaust manifold.?
I?ve been thinking the same thing. I was surprised to see how short a drain interval Ford specs for this engine (3K). Makes me think they know its hard on oil. The only thing that?s going to break down oil that fast is heat.
I have an ATX and do a lot of stop and go driving in hot weather. So I got to thinking that it would be good to put an auxiliary trans cooler on the car. (The type that looks like an oil cooler. Tap into the fluid where it comes out of the radiator cooler and send it on to get even cooler.) So last weekend I?m looking around where to put it. THERE?S NO ROOM!
The air flow is restricted behind the radiator. I?m thinking back about the old WW2 liquid cooled fighters. Many controlled the air flow through the radiator by opening up or closing down the OUTLET. It seems to me the solution isn?t to try to cram more air into the engine bay, but instead work on trying to get the hot air out expeditiously.
Toward that end, I think that working with the air dam and air management around the radiator will yield better results. I?m going to try to lower the air pressure immediately behind and below the radiator by fiddling with the air dam.
I have no empirical evidence, but I think that removing the precats and going to headers would significantly lower the underhood temps, and help the oil hold up longer. Just a guess.
My .02
Richard
