[Guest]

Somebody might know how this engine is set up and whether the engine is adequately protected.
My question is:
With the new cooler set up the 2012, does the oil get cooled before it's filtered or after it's gone through the filter can?
Will the unit be protected against over pressure or unfiltered lube due to very cold weather and heavy oil.

Likely won't be an issue for 99% of riders but some people ride in the winter snows.

 

[greywolf]

The oil is cooled either immediately before it enters the filter or immediately after it leaves. It really makes no difference. The temperature change is not that great. In fact, the coolant heats earlier than the oil so the heat exchanger warms the oil earlier as well as cools it later in the warm up cycle. The filter has a flap that opens to bypass the filter element in case of overpressure.

 

[PTRider]

Hot thin oil filters better than cool thicker oil.

I think every oil filter has a bypass valve that allows oil to bypass the filter element, either in the filter assembly or very near it, when the differential pressure exceeds the spec. Say the input pressure is 60 psi and the output is 58 psi...just two psid--pounds per square inch differential--so the bypass valve does not open and all the oil is being filtered. Let's say you have a WIX 51359 oil filter which as an internal bypass valve rated to begin opening at 8 psid and is fully open at 11 psid. Lets say that the cold oil enters the filter at 60 psi and is so thick that there is a pressure drop down to 51 psi at the outlet. With this 9 psi differential across the filter element we know that part of the oil is bypassing the filter. This is essential. Otherwise the filter would be torn apart. A filter that would withstand the high pressure drop of cold oil would have to have pores in the filter media so big that it could not filter finely enough to do any good. (We do not know the spec of the Suzuki OEM filter. Aftermarket filter makers reverse engineer OEM filters, but sometimes list a filter that is already in their inventory that is close enough to OEM to work well.) (All the oil pressure numbers above are plucked out of thin air for illustration purposes only.)

My Toyota Tundra has a coolant-cooled oil cooler in the filter base, and my Volvo turbo has an oil cooler in the radiator hot tank (ATF cooler in the cold tank). I think every diesel engine I have worked on has a coolant-cooled oil cooler. They give more steady oil temperatures than an air cooled cooler.

 

[greywolf]

Yep. The heat exchanger means cold, thick oil will exist for a shorter time as it is warmed by the coolant which heats up faster. It's a good thing.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that explanation.
It makes sense now that you lay it all out.
I suppose they must take temperature extremes into account when they design the lube system. The newer design obviously must also be less prone to clogging and external impacts.
Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Yak]

...and it isn't like it gets very cold in PoCo!

 

[Guest]

...and it isn't like it gets very cold in PoCo!

After spending many many winters north of Prince George and being caught in autumn Alberta cold snaps I guess my mind is permanently warped.
And... it does get cold in Poco. Last year I had to wear long pants for almost a month.