After a few weeks of testing, here are my results..
I bought a "new used" Killerbee cooler from a member local in AZ. Before I had the cooler, on the hills my oil pressure would flucuate between 35 and 65psi. I knew it was because of the oil heat from the twins. I didnt put a oil temp gauge in till it cooled down some ( was 115* outside air temp). My gooseneck is 4500 lbs or so, not a heavy load, but puts some weight behind the truck for a good test. Anyone who lives in AZ knows the hills between PHX and Flagstaff, the
highest oil temp I saw going 60-65mph mph up the grades
pre OEM oil cooler was 274*, at this time the oil pressure gauge was doing the :dancenana:
Around town was a different story; coolant temps follow the oil temps, untill I get on the freeway, then the oil temps start to climb; unloaded. Normal oil temps at cruise @ 65 were about 195-215. Coolant would remain at 187-190.
I decided it was time to invest in a cooler. If my oil temps are out of control towing a unloaded trailer what happens if I load 12k behind it...
Cooler installtion was cake, mount the huge cooler, and plumb the cooler lines form the oil filter assembly. New cooler took a little over 3.5 qts, so I throw in 14qts on a oil change and call it good. Took me 2 hours. Cooler measurements are 28" long, 7" tall and just over 4" thick, it's a huge cooler...
Retested the route I took a month earlier, outside temps did drop about 15* or so, but the same hills at the same speed, here is the oil temp crusing up the hill at 60mph, pulling the same trailer.. Sorry camera is a bit out of focus.
I have regained control of my oil temps and oil pressures. Ive gained back a few PSI at hot idle, and I would say 5-8psi at 2000rpm cruise. This lower oil temp allowed my to run a max gauge of 250* instead of 300*
Coolant temp is more stable, since the OEM oil cooler isnt working so hard offloading the oil heat into the coolant. Oil temp comes up slower, as well as the coolant. I do not have any mor eoil pressure and flucuation issues, which was my main concern. I think any sort of engine oil cooler should be on every twin'd duramax, simply because of this issue. We only have 10 qts of oil to cool a lot of the engine, and a undersized cooler to deal with it. If you dont have a oil temp gauge with twins, I would higly suggest putting one in. Takes 20 mins to install one using the hex plugs in the oil filter assembly.