Patent ID: 8505512

Claim:
A method of modifying an oil cooling system for a vehicle having a diesel engine, the diesel engine having an engine block with an engine oil supply inlet, an engine water coolant outlet, an engine oil supply outlet located in a horizontal plane, an oil pump, and a water cooling system with a water pump, the engine having an original equipment liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger in which heat from the oil is transferred to the water cooling system, the original equipment liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger having a predetermined mounting configuration, the original equipment liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger further comprising an oil inlet, an oil outlet, a water inlet, and a water outlet each in a predetermined location, the method comprising: (a) removing the original equipment liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger from the engine block; (b) attaching a manifold to the engine block, said manifold having an oil inlet port for receiving a flow of oil from the engine oil supply outlet, the manifold further comprising an oil outlet port, the manifold being sized and shaped to match the mounting configuration of the original equipment liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger, the manifold further being configured to position said oil inlet port in a horizontal plane adjacent the engine oil supply outlet of the engine block at the location of the oil inlet of the original equipment liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger whereby the manifold is capable of receiving the flow of oil from the engine oil pump without leakage; (c) mounting a remote oil cooling heat exchanger in a location distal from the location of the original equipment liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger, the remote oil cooling heat exchanger receiving a flow of oil from said manifold and cooling the flow of oil prior to returning the flow of oil to the engine oil supply, the flow of oil being returned to the engine from the remote oil cooling heat exchanger via a passageway in said manifold; (d) the manifold further comprising a water passage providing an un-branched flow of water, the water passage having a water inlet port and a water outlet port, the manifold being configured to position the water inlet port adjacent the engine water coolant outlet of the engine block at the location of the water inlet of the original equipment liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger, the manifold further being configured to position the manifold water outlet port so that the entirety of the flow of water in the bypass water passage is discharged back to the water cooling system of the engine without passing through an oil cooling or water cooling heat exchanger.