Fuel Cooler

smokinVE

smokinVE

$$+VE=NO HP
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
1,731
Anyone running some sort of cooler on the return side? I'm thinking about getting a little transmission cooler with a fan and plumb it in the return side. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts about it and other idea's. I'm not sure it will be worth the effort but I know the cooler the fuel the better.
 
I have a buddy that has a cooler on the feed side before his Airdog on his Dmax. His truck is solely for pulling a gooseneck with a few Jeeps on it. Can't say any sort of gains were seen.
 
I was thinking about this for the vw (ve pump). Temp sensor reads 90*C in the winter months, I don't even want to check it in the summer when it's 50-80*F hotter ambient.
 
I have an aluminum manifold in the engine bay that collects a -6AN line from the fuel pressure regulator return, a -4AN from the IP return, and a -4AN from the injector return. The manifold then has a -8AN line going back the fan assisted bar & plate cooler adjacent to the fuel tank. The cooler has a -8AN line play back into the furl canister (I've modified the crap out of it as well). The cooler is ducted so as to pull cool air from under the vehicle's side, and blows it up into the space of the bed's side.

I don't have specific numbers, but cool furl is denser than hot furl. :ft:

Along with the regular weight shedding one does to race, running a couple of gallons of furl in the tank may be common. Seeing as the IP's cooled by the furl, said furl can get hot early in the evening. Having the cooler in the return line to the tank exposes the cooler to the highest furl temp in the circuit so as to make the cooler most efficient.

Works well for me anyway.

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whitneyj said:
I have a buddy that has a cooler on the feed side before his Airdog on his Dmax. His truck is solely for pulling a gooseneck with a few Jeeps on it. Can't say any sort of gains were seen.
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Duramax's have a cooler factory, not much of one but there is one factory.
 
I live in the devils oven...Arizona. it gets nasty hot!

Anyone have anything bad to say about using a little transmission cooler? I'm already really testing my generator for AMP output, with all these electrical things on my fully mechanical engine.

In the back of my mind I kinda sorta have an idea about putting a little ice box and a few coils of fuel line to be used on race/dyno days.

At any rate, thanks gents for all the input.
 
on the ve's a have built , i run a the biggest trany cooler i can fit in the front on the truck to help cool the fuel off , seems to help the fuel stay cool , no fan required . my 2 cents
 
im running a moroso cool can , i believe its called. on the return from my injection pump(12v) and the return from my airdog, with a Y tieing them together before my 10 gal fuel cell. my reason for running it was more to keep the fuel from getting to hot, as opposed to cooling it down. it still gets warm ,but not hot like it will if i dont fill it up with ice. doubt im seeing any performance gains but i use it anyways. this is a sled pull application.
 
6 speed 90 said:
Duramax's have a cooler factory, not much of one but there is one factory.
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His isn't stock. It's a 3 row 12"x12" monstrosity.

So the return line would be the most beneficial place to cool the fuel? I'd think with radiant heat off the asphalt, that the feed line would be the best option.
 
whitneyj said:
His isn't stock. It's a 3 row 12"x12" monstrosity.

So the return line would be the most beneficial place to cool the fuel? I'd think with radiant heat off the asphalt, that the feed line would be the best option.
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I was thinking you'd just want it as cool as possible before entering the injection pump and engine. I couldn't care less how hot it is in the tank.
 
I'm out of room behind my grill. Under the bed is about my only option.

I've only read about guy's using it on the return. I do see your point on cooling it on the way to the IP. Especially for me, asphalt around here in summer is around 150*.
 
madmikeismad-exactly what I'm getting at. Unless someone took the time to insulate the bejesus out of their tank...

smokinVE-you don't need to mount it to your grill if you use a cooler/fan combo. You can mount that sucker anywhere you want. Granted things are tight under the hood of most of our trucks....
 
smokinVE said:
I'm out of room behind my grill. Under the bed is about my only option.

I've only read about guy's using it on the return. I do see your point on cooling it on the way to the IP. Especially for me, asphalt around here in summer is around 150*.
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I wouldn't put the cooler on the feed line, just for the fact if you have a tank full of hot diesel your not going to get as efficient of cooling as needed vs drawing on a tank of cold fuel. The optimum temp of diesel is like 75 degrees and if it gets over 140 degrees it starts to break down, that is where your black fuel filters come from. I just replaced the factory cooler on my truck with a old transmission cooler that had has a fan when i just re did my fuel lines. It is mounted up under the cab and seem to get enough air to keep pre cooler temps under 120 with out the fan running.
 

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How and where are you verifying fuel temp?

So you're saying to cool the return side to keep the overall tank temp low?
 
whitneyj said:
How and where are you verifying fuel temp?

So you're saying to cool the return side to keep the overall tank temp low?
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter if you have the fan to cool the return line 200*, because you can't make it cooler than ambient. So I'd still prefer to cool before the injection pump, or lift pump if it's farther back and electric. In my case, the fuel is going back to the tank at 195*F, which seems really high by the way LOL, no way ambient or road temps will make it even hotter. Might as well let it sit in the tank and cool a little. If you cool before the tank, it just gives it time to warm back up before going back to the front. I think of it like anything else, cool it before you use it, not after. But if that breaking down at 140* bit is true, then I might might a feed and return cooler.
 
madmikeismad said:
Doesn't matter if you have the fan to cool the return line 200*, because you can't make it cooler than ambient. So I'd still prefer to cool before the injection pump, or lift pump if it's farther back and electric. In my case, the fuel is going back to the tank at 195*F, which seems really high by the way LOL, no way ambient or road temps will make it even hotter. Might as well let it sit in the tank and cool a little. If you cool before the tank, it just gives it time to warm back up before going back to the front. I think of it like anything else, cool it before you use it, not after. But if that breaking down at 140* bit is true, then I might might a feed and return cooler.
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I'm with you 100%, I'm just trying to figure out all the benefits of cooling the return fuel too. Cools are cheap so if there's a big enough benefit to cool the return fuel as well as the feed why not?
 
whitneyj said:
How and where are you verifying fuel temp?

So you're saying to cool the return side to keep the overall tank temp low?
Click to expand...

Duramaxs come with a temp sensor in the return block on the engine and it is being read via a Edge CTS. I want to get some more temp sensors and see what the feed line temps are in comparison to the return temps,
 
A manifold with the feed and return lines going through it with temp sensors sounds like another project for me...

So before a fuel cooler is added it would be best to know what temp the fuel is coming into the motor. That would be the deciding factor on whether or not a fuel cooler is needed and how badly.

I should stop reading threads like this, I have enough to finish on my truck.
 
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