Improved Cooling for
your Porsche—Cheap!

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UPDATE: Cool Collars are no longer available. The entire product line has been discontinued by the manufacturer.

     Pelican Parts has introduced a new item that will improve cooling on almost any engine that has an external oil filter—it is one of those products that makes you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”  The “Cool Collar” is a finned aluminum jacket that slips over the oil filter(Figure 1).  It is secured by a clamp to the outside of the filter, which provides full surface contact and allows maximum heat transfer.  Considering that all of the oil in your Porsche goes through the filter more than once a minute at freeway speeds, the oil filter is an excellent location to add cooling capacity.  Bench tests, as well as road tests on both water- and air-cooled engines, have demonstrated oil temperature reduction of 18 to 23 degrees with the Cool Collar.  This is a tremendous cooling improvement for a very small expenditure, and a few minutes’ work.

     At first look, it appears that the Cool Collar cannot be installed with the AC compressor in place (Figure 2).   However, the installation is very easy.  Remove the clamp from the Cool Collar, and place the split in the collar over the top AC hose (Figure 3).   Now rotate the collar, and pull it downward off the hose into the open space next to the oil filter (Figure 4).  Slip the collar onto the oil filter, and push it until it seats against the filter mount (Figure 5).  Secure the collar with the clamp provided, and you are done (Figure 6).  Be prepared for hot weather, high-performance driving, and prolong the life of your engine.  Also be prepared for some “whatthehellisthat” questions whenever you open the engine compartment.

-Bob

From the Manufacturer: Cool Collar Lab Test Results:

Test Results Laboratory Test

     Castrol GTX 10W30 motor oil was heated to a temperature of 220 degrees F. and pumped simultaneously through two identical oil filters.  One oil filter had a Cool Collar attached, the other did not.  A fan was used to direct seventy degree F. ambient air over both oil filters at a velocity of fifty miles per hour.  The oil exiting the filter having the Cool Collar installed indicated a heat removal approximately equal to two degrees per minute. Whereas the oil temperature exiting the filter without the Cool Collar showed no change.  (Typically an automotive engine passes all the oil through the filter more than once per minute).

     Summary: With a constant heat source applied to the oil, the temperature dropped to 202 degrees F (from 220 degrees F.) with five minutes.  This translates to a 12% temperature decrease of the heat added to ambient temperature.

Liquid Cooled Automotive Engine (Road Test)

     This test was an actual highway test.  The car used was a late model Corvette equipped with digital readout oil temperature and coolant temperature gauges.  On a 72 degree F. day, at 65 miles per hour, the oil temperature read a constant 221 degrees F.  The water temperature was 195 degrees.  The corvette was then pulled off the road and a Cool Collar was installed.  Testing was then resumed.  Within a distance of five miles the Cool Collar was responsible for lowering and maintaining the oil temperature at 203 degrees F.

     Summary: Our tests again indicated a 12% approximate reduction above ambient temperature of oil heat.  On similar testes, it was found that after installation of the Cool Collar the oil temperature will typically drop near to the level of the engine coolant temperature.

Air Cooled Engine (Road Test)

     The test vehicle used was a 1978, 911SC Porsche, equipped with a Carrera style oil cooler.  The car was driven 65 MPH on a 85 degree day for approximately 35 miles.   The car was then stopped and a I.R. thermometer was used to check the temperatures at various points along the oil lines, tank and cooler.  In addition, the reading on the dash temperature gauge was noted.  An average temperature of 220 degrees was logged.