oil coolers???

[Coach]

What do they do? (besides keep the oil cooler) What type of applications are they used. A neighbor was telling me I need one, but I have not heard people using them on a stock 454 mag. He has a 468 dual carb, twin turbo set up pushing over 600 HP. I am running a stock 380 HP. Any technical help is great

[Moneypitt]

Do you need an oil cooler????
There are several factors to consider. oil pan size, type of boat, primary useage, ETC. these are questions you need to ask yourself.. For a standard run of the mill boat, with a factory type engine you can probably get by without cooling the oil. However, it is just another way to help protect your investment..Also oil coolers are a good way to pre heat the water going into the motor to help maintain a desired temperature.
If you're worried, look for a deal in the future, unless you plan to really wring its neck, you should be ok......Mooneypitt

[SleekPanther]

I'd say there was only one factor, OIL TEMP. If you don't have a guage, it's gonna be hard to tell if you need a cooler or not. I can tell you that a Chevy 502/502 crate motor needs one because without it, I was seeing oil temps at 300 degrees. If you do find you need one, get a bigger one than I did, I got a 2" by 12" core and found it didn't quite get the oil as cool as I'd like (240 degrees).
Good luck,
Paul
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[diggler]

I have an oil coller on mine. Without an oil temp gauge, you really have no idea how hot the oil is getting. For one thing, the temperature gauge is based on the cooling water on primarily the block and top half of the engine. The oil can easily exceed this recorded water temp.
Another reason for an oil cooler is that it will keep the oil more viscous, thus keeping oil pressure up.
Finally, it makes changing the filter a lot easier since you'll have to install a remote oil filter. http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/142Oil_cooler_4-med.JPG
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/142Oil_cooler_1-med.jpg