Ford 6.7L Powerstroke Performance Oil Cooler 2011-2019

Protect the Lifeblood - Performance Oil Cooler R&D, Part 2: Design

October 06, 2020

Ford 6.7L Powerstroke Performance Oil Cooler 2011-2019

Attention to detail is key to keeping any hardworking truck healthy. In our quest to protect the lifeblood of the 2011-2019 Ford 6.7L Powerstroke, we've thought of those details. But before we look at our design, let's recap our last post on the stock oil cooler.

The stock 6.7L oil cooler is a simple stacked-plate design that uses the engine coolant to warm and cool the oil. The inside of the cooler is separated into two sets of fins. Oil flows through one set of fins while coolant flows through the other. Once the oil temp exceeds the coolant temp, the coolant helps pull excess heat from the oil and releases it through the radiator. This design is adequate for a stock truck, but with more power, or heavy towing, comes more heat.

To get started on our design, we removed the stock oil coolers from our 2011 and 2017 6.7L trucks to see how we could divert oil from the engine block to our front-mounted cooler. Beneath the 2017 cooler, we found three ports on the side of the engine. Two of these

Protect the Lifeblood - Performance Oil Cooler R&D, Part 1: Stock Review

September 22, 2020

Ford 6.7L Powerstroke Performance Oil Cooler 2011-2019

Oil is the lifeblood of any engine; without it, the engine would self-destruct in a matter of seconds. But just having oil in the engine isn't enough. It needs to stay just the right temperature too. Modern synthetic oils can withstand temperatures up to about 350°F, but as engine temperature climbs, oil begins to thin and lose some of its protective properties. There's a sweet spot where oil is most effective: thin enough that it can flow into the tiny crevices of the engine, but thick enough to cushion the blows of combustion.

For a heavy-duty diesel engine like the 2011-2019 Ford 6.7L Powerstroke, ensuring the oil stays in that sweet spot is essential. Heavy towing or power-adding modifications can quickly drive oil temperatures over the useful range, sucking the life from the 6.7L's internal components. To help combat high oil temperatures, Ford equipped the 6.7L Powerstroke with a liquid-to-liquid oil cooler from the factory.