Bulletproof Oil Cooler +/- Aluminess bumper- you experience

Ketcham · 04-24-2015, 07:23 PM

I am about to undergo my last major overhaul of my engine. My mechanic injured his back and recommended NW Powerstroke in Vancouver, WA. He believes I would be foolish to not place a Bulletproof oil cooler. I debated this years ago and had decided at that time against it because of low air flow during slow steep climbing 4x4. He argues the radiator fan is sufficient.

Anyone here who has done this modification with or without an Aluminess bumper wish to chime in? Did you modify your Aluminess? Strengths/weaknesses or your thoughts in general would be welcome.

Appreciate your thoughts.

-j

outopawn · 04-24-2015, 08:17 PM

This is the single best thing the I did to keep the EOT and ECT down. This system works great. I went from running around town with ECTs about 210 to 190 and while towing my 8500lb trailer I rarely had the fan kick on even on steep grades. I did lose my winch in the front but it was well worth the loss. I tried everything to keep the temps down while towing before the BPD oil cooler install. Front air damn, snow performance ethanol injection. Nothing made a difference but the oil cooler change. Even at a slow 4x4 crawl the temps stayed much lower. If you are worried about ECT temps I would highly recommend this upgrade. EOT also stayed well within the appropriate delta and much lower being cooled by air than hot coolant.

Steve

Ketcham · 04-24-2015, 08:28 PM

Wow. Thank you for the quick reply. Did you use the Heavy Duty cooler or was this the standard E350 kit? Are you running your Amsoil oil filter or Bulletproof? My van weighs 12,500 loaded. Temps can reach 210-220 but the auxiliary fan cools quickly.

The mechanic over the phone said the parts alone were $4500. So I will need clarity. Otherwise I have one other recommendation Rob's Fleet Service Northwest, Hubbard, OR.

outopawn · 04-24-2015, 08:51 PM

My mechanic charged me just over $2000 for the standard kit which is what is listed on there website.
I did not have a Amsoil system and the new oil filter location was mounted very close to the front drive shaft. Their first attempt was so close that the first time I used 4wd it punched a whole in the filter. So make sure there is enough clearance wherever they mount the oil filter bracket.

http://www.bulletproofdiesel.com/product_p/90408000.htm

Some video to watch also

I do not own the van anymore so I can not send a picture of the oil filter placement. This was on a SMB 4x4 conversion.

Steve

JoeH · 04-24-2015, 08:52 PM

I'm not sure how it differs from what outopawn had done but my friend Zack in Sedona just had his rig at BPD HQ in Mesa for a couple of weeks. They retro-fitted their air to oil cooler setup for his Quigley 4X4 van. They modified the aluminess bumper and installed the HD Cooler with a trick electric fan and custom shroud assembly to aid in low speed, high engine load conditions. He's rather stoked and wasn't too keen on a winch anyway.

If your interested talk to Andrew at BPD. andrew@bulletproofdiesel.com

Ketcham · 04-24-2015, 09:13 PM

Steve, I have to ask. What do you have now? Gas motor, new SMB?

I will email BPD next week. Thank you for the contact information.

I need to keep the wench.

-j

outopawn · 04-24-2015, 10:01 PM

I wasn't using the camping part of the SMB very often (kids are all to busy now) but enjoying the trails still. I decided to sell while the prices where still good. I was going to get a used V10 because they're much more affordable than the diesel and convert it to 4x4 but ended up finding a 2009 V10 Quigley. I only went about 2 two weeks without. I am having fun adding all the cool things my SMB had. I enjoyed the SMB for the seven years I owned it and still love the purr of a diesel.

Steve

PatO · 04-25-2015, 12:08 PM

I have the BPD Oil Cooler and the Amsoil bypass filler system. I do not have the Aluminess front bumper. Since installing the BPD Oil Cooler I have never heard the fan once, even on the slow twisty drive up Mt Evans to 14,000' http://www.mountevans.com/. Since they are independent now on cool days and easy roads my delta can be negative (ECT > EOT). Going 4x4 slow in the desert washes on hot days will get me to 215 EOT but that is 15 degrees cooler than what it was before the BPD cooler. I have the 185 thermostat installed. East Count Diesel here in San Diego has performed all of the engine work including engineering the custom Amsoil Bypass connection. The only negative I have is that with the stock bumper the cooler is not protected very well.

Here is the BDP Oil Filter Adapter modified to supply the Amsoil Bypass.

Ketcham · 04-26-2015, 01:01 PM

Steve, that van is an awesome family van! Has the advantage that it can fit more people and toys. As my kids are getting older, they now are relegated to the tent and often fight in the back.

Interestingly, after my first consult DFI Performance in Scappoose, OR I filled up at Fred Meyer and on a 1200 ft climb up Old Germantown Road the engine started running rough and got a #3 injector (?failure). Unfortunately the mechanic had a health issue. Consulted NW Powerstroke and they insisted on the Air-Oil Cooler. Which prompted my posting here. Yesterday I visited http://musicarnw.com/ for some stereo, laser jammer, and other work, which BTW I highly recommend to anyone in this area (Oregon, Southern Washington). After that visit I received phone call from FleetserviceNW in Hubbard, OR. Really enjoyed the conversation and had a good feeling about the guy. Very knowledgeable. Immediately got on I-5 South from downtown and climbing the Tellwiligar curves and the van lost power and died!

So I towed it to Hubbard and will post the results in the next few weeks. No new unusual error codes, other than injector #2. Old common ones are the turbo underboost and fuel circuit high. The oil sign came on in the dash and the mechanic believes the HPOP fitting blew. He believes Ford placed an older version 6.0 left over into the 2010 van.

This could not have been a more perfect time and smooth transition.

Given the Aluminess bumper and front winch. I will likely just update the oil-coolent exchange.

JoeH · 04-26-2015, 01:38 PM

Man that sucks. Good luck with it.

Does it have the square EGR cooler or round? If it's the round that's the one that rarely fails and is basically what BPD "improves". You could at least save some coin ton that when doing all the other bulletproofing stuff. For some inexplicable reason Ford replaced the round one with the square one on the 2004 and 2005 version. Not sure what you mean by old since the last production date on the engine is 2007? And then a 6.0 was put in a 2010 van?