California 914-4 2.4 with front oil cooler runs too cold in Seattle Options

[98101]

I just bought a 914-4 from California with a carbureted 2.4 motor and a Patrick Motorsports front oil cooler. Here in Seattle it doesn't run well at part throttle when it's cold. It seems to take a long time to warm up, and even then the highest I've gotten the oil temperature is 80C. The oil pressure gauge reading also takes a long time to come down. Complicating matters, it's a new engine and the previous owner hadn't dialed in the carbs to his satisfaction.

The car has the bellows air thermostat installed and I observed it in the cold "do women know about shrinkage?" position. Is there a way to tell if the flaps are working properly without taking off all the engine tin?

The Patrick Motorsports front oil cooler kit includes an oil thermostat. Per the previous owner it's installed where the oil lines return to the engine. I'm not sure how this works exactly, but I would have expected it to take the front oil cooler completely out of the loop until it's needed. Is this a correct assumption? Is there an easy way to test the oil thermostat?

[GregAmy]

A quick way to check the bellows is with a propane pipe torch. Start with it cold and it should be shrunken. CAREFULLY wave the torch back and forth across the bellows - don't try to weld the damn thing, just heat it up - and you should see it extend. If it doesn't then obviously it's not working.

Do you have something in the oil lines that looks kinda like the below? That's an oil thermostat. It internally bypasses oil flow away from the cooler and back to the engine until it reaches a set temperature (180F-ish?) You verify it's working by touch, feeling of there's heat before it, and the cooler is still cool/cold.


(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/static.summitracing.com-15565-1511104626.1.jpg)


Edit: just caught this topic below on the bellows:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=311795

[98101]

No front cooler T-stat completely shuts off the cooler loop, when cold it will close about 90%.

Do you still have the stock cooler?
If you do you could block the front cooler off a bit or completely in cold weather.

Yes, the stock cooler is retained. After the 10 minute test below, both lines at the front cooler felt cool to me and the stock cooler felt warm.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOHJaivPk9M


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f4gmWWCf50


However from below the engine one of the lines to the front cooler felt warm. Does this mean the oil thermostat doesn't completely cut off the front oil cooler?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wRjO4OmDwQ

Do you have something in the oil lines that looks kinda like the below? That's an oil thermostat.

Unfortunately I live in an apartment and don't have jackstands and stuff! The car is a little lower than stock I think. I could try to take more phone camera pictures if it's not visible in the videos above.