Hello everyone, about a week ago my truck started to over heat, temp spikes,I have already changed the thermostat, and degas bottle and cap. I know it's time to change some parts, i have already decided which company I am going with, B.P.D oil cooler, B.P.D EGR cooler, ARP head studs, new gaskets, all that jazz. My main question here is which oil cooler from B.P.D.? The Liquid to liquid, or air to liquid? I live in south Louisiana, but travel around the U.S. From time to time. The truck is not my daily driver, and I am not trying to race the truck. I tow a 7x16 enclosed toy hauler(no more than 10,000lbs). Driving habits when the truck is being driven are 50/50 highway/city.
The only I am asking this is because I was advised that the air to liquid oil cooler it not the best cooler for places where the climate is hot, AND sitting in traffic with minimal air flow past the cooler.
Can someone with experience and knowledge on this please let me know what the facts are? I am not an expert on anything, let alone this subject.
My objective here is to over build the truck for my needs.
Thanks ya'll.

 

According to the BPD site the heavy duty air to oil cooler with filtration and possibly the cold weather option is the best choice. I am still running a stock setup so I do not have any first hand experience.

While I am sure the BPD products are good there are many stock setups running fine for years with proper care and maintenance.

BDP will bullet proof your 6.0 and certainly overbuild it for sure but it will also clean out your wallet too. If price is no concern then I would BPD every component they sell. Unfortunately I do not have endless funding. Maybe after the truck is paid off I can BPD components as needed.

 

I read that on their web Site as well. I am more inclined to believe the people over at B.P.D. just heard something from the local mechanic, and I have no idea about this stuff so I wanted to get fully informed.

 

I can't answer your question, but I'm impressed that you thought to ask it. I've always wondered the same thing about BPDs oil to air cooler in city traffic.

I'll never own any of their products. Highway robbery and dishonesty towards any competition is why.

The oil cooler on the 6.7 deisel is external. I wonder if it's bigger than the 6.0s. I also wonder if it can be used with the IPR external oil cooler kit. If I do mine again, I'll try and go that route. I think IPR is using the 6.4 oil cooler in their external kit already.

 

Thanks, the local mechanic had an idea to add an auxiliary electric fan to the air to oil cooler, with some kind of a thermostat, to turn the fan on i think, but not 100% sure.

 

Where is the air/oil cooler designed to mount? Is it supposed to mount in front of the radiator? If so then it would use the airflow from the cooling fan to keep it cool. If it is designed to mount elsewhere then maybe an aux fan would be a good idea. It is a trans cooler but plumbed for oil instead.

 

it mounts behind the condenser, the install instructions on the B.P.D. site, says that it gets sufficient air circulation to meet or exceed OEM engine oil heat removal, even in extended idle with little to no air flow, utilizing the radiator fan. So I think I am going to give that a shot. Is there anyone that has first hand experience with the air to liquid cooler from B.P.D.? Would like to hear about how it handles extended idle in heavy traffic in a city environment, please.

 

I have had the BPD air cooler for years and live in hot south Florida, it works better than stock. I do not have the thermostat as it never gets to freezing here. When A/c is running enough air is pulling through he radiator to keep it cool never had an issue in traffic

 

Installed the air oil cooler this past winter. My delta had grown gradually to 14-15 over the past few years. I had flushed according to the writeups, installed a coolant filter, etc, etc yet the delta just kept creaping up. To me, this was a sign that even with proper maintenance and coolant change intervals the stock system could become plugged. I only wanted to fix the oil cooler once, and I've seen these stories of guys on their 2nd or 3rd cooler and finally getting a BPD. How much do you think that cost with gaskets, fluids, time, etc, etc. No thanks.

So I started doing research. I got info from both IPR and BPD. There was not much info on the cooler relocation kits, and it was not that much more to go with the full air oil kit with filter relocation. Maybe you can find more info now.

Initially I felt sick spending that kind of money, and I was unsure of my decision to buy the kit. I also had to relocate the power steering cooler. Installing the kit was a lot of work. Once installed i was not happy with my lower than normal oil temps. I wished they had sold me the thermostat. I was told i didn't need it, and i do have to give props to BPD for not trying to sell me stuff i don't need. My solution was cardboard. I put it in between the cooler and condenser coil. Tried different sizes and shapes and eventually achieved a reasonable oil temp. Once outside temps went above 65-70 i took it out. I also removed it for towing.

What had really changed my mind about the kit has been driving and towing with it in the heat. I am no longer worried about a delta which took a while to get used to. The ac still works great, and i have not noticed the temperature creap up while sitting in traffic or in heavy traffic. Not at all, and i was very worried about that. BPD told me it would not happen, and that with some of the older style kits with different mounting locations there were some complaints - that's what i took away from their answer.

I recommend using a tune that changes the parameters for fan operation if you are going to get the air oil. I would imagine the relocation kit will be nearly identical to stock, so no tune necessary. Again, you may want to ask BPD about that.

So using the relocation kit will save you some dollars because it's cheaper, you won't have to relocate the power steering cooler and you shouldn't need to buy tunes or a tuner. But if the cooler plugs, you will have to replace it. A lot easier to do on the relocation kit, but something i will never have to worry about.

Also, while towing in high temps (100+) up steep grades do not expect EOT or ECT to be much less than stock. They will roughly be the same, maybe a little lower. Again, you can ask BPD, but i was basically told they would be similar to a stock setup. When it was cooler outside, i noticed cooler temps towing, and on flat land i notice lower temps.

 

Awesome, thanks for the input, I am going to be using the SCT live wire with a tow tune. Again, I am over building as to stress the vehicle as little as possible. The part that interests me the most is the part about sitting in traffic. i have a no idea what the truck is suppose to run like normal, since I got the truck, it has been drinking coolant. I am excited to have a properly working truck soon. Lol

 

Where I am the temps this past week or so have been consistently above 90 degrees. Driving in traffic my BPD air to oil cooler (with remote filter) has been perfect. On average, my oil temps run about 100 plus the outside temperature. Doesn't get cold here much and I haven't had it but about 4 months so I cant say about winter driving. The highest I saw this past week was 186 oil temp (A/C on) and it was 94 outside -- in local stop and go traffic. I am very pleased thus far. I hope this helps.
Doug

 

I have been running the BPD oil cooler with factory filtration for about 2 yrs. now. This is my personal experience living in the panhandle of Florida. My cooler has the standard duty cooler so I did not have to change my trans cooler location. I did have to change my power steering cooler location (not hard at all by the way). Now a few things I would suggest if you go this route and the reasons why. Also depending on your area. First off, choose the heavy duty cooler (the tall version) it will help your temp come down quicker if you end up pulling a real long heavy grade. Now, while the BPD cooler will average lower temp (usually) it takes quite a bit longer to cool down if it gets high. The tall cooler will aid in the cooling process much better. More cooling area=faster cooling. Secondly, again depending on your location, get the thermostat. I don't have or really need one. We get about 10 total fairly cold days here. Having said that, on those days I will be hard pressed to get my oil temp up above 175-180, even sitting running high idle. Next, if you are gonna go this route and spend the money on the kit, spend a little more and get the bypass oil filtration with the amsoil filter. You will be amazed out how much better over the stock cartridge filter it is and also the ease of changing filters is a plus. It helps get rid of the plastic oil standpipe and the plastic oil drain back that will always eventually break. Moving on, do not pay attention to your delta once you get this kit installed. It doesn't apply once you have the kit. You will sometimes see a spread of 40* when its warming up. Again, you have no stock cooler to plug and its of no concern. Once warmed up both ECT and EOT will level off. Will like some are apprehensive to spend the money on this kit with justifying just getting a stock system numerous times before it equals in cost to the BPD kit, while I do all the wrenching I can on my truck, my time with my family is exponentially more important. This kit gives me piece of mind by eliminating one of the main pitfalls of the 6.0. That's worth every penny to me. Lastly, after two years I would do the same thing again. It has definitely paid for itself, (may take a while) but piece of mind has different value to everyone. To me it's priceless to check off that failure point.

 

Thanks guys, I ambling to stick with my gut and do it the proper way, only once. Thanks for the information, truck will be going into the shop on Monday.

 

I've had the 'original' BPD condenser mount air/oil cooler for 40k miles and 4 years.
No issues in Orlando FL with hot weather most of the year and cool moments in the winter. Pulling off the interstate after hours of driving the temps rise for 30 seconds or so and then return to normal - I figure that's the t-stat doing it's job. I've not had any issues with A/C in stop-n-go traffic.

In 40-50 degree weather I use a cold-weather front cover to help get the oil up to temp and keep it there. I've driven in 85* degree weather on the highway with the cold weather front on and only got to 200, when I stopped at a rest area we removed it (drove from NC to GA). The 6L gets better MPG with the coolant/oil 200-205 based on the SG readings..
I'll be moving to Colorado next year, and will use the cold-weather cover more often but don't really worry too much since it'll get a good workout in the mountains.

 

All great info. I just installed my BPD oil cooler relocate opting for the relocate behind the passenger battery and using the truck coolant version. I just didn't see the need to go that big for the air cooled as well as worried about being in this stupid Hampton Roads parking lot traffic.... We like to park on 64/264 to look at other wrecks, birds, road kill, etc.... So I was worried with that combined with our pleasant summers of 95+. Just decide on your usage and where you normally drive. Big tow, mtns, heavy usage... I'd go with the air cooled probably. That's just not what I normally use my ex for.


Good luck, either way you will be happy with the product. They are well designed and seem to be well manufactured.