Im trying to get some feedback on the Mocal units as well, for what its worth the technical people at Setrab said there very reliable. If I understand it right the cooler is bypased until oil temp reaches approx. 180 deg. then opens to the cooler. So even if the bypass valve fails in the closed position you still have oil flow through the filter.
Who's cooler are you looking at? Im told the Setrab units flow real well.
So far the MoCal thermostat has been fine and its been in the car for 6 years now.
My Setrab oil cooler has been in for just as long and I picked it up used from some Nascar guy.
I've been doing some research and I'm really looking for some real world experience. I've seen some failures with both t stats but you just never really know if it was the stat or the user. I do know that ALL the oil stats flow some oil ALL the time. I'm thinking it's for the oil coolers benefit. Meaning, no thermal problems and keeping the oil in the loop. I like the Canton unit but I'm looking for the oil cooler to aid my cooling in say, 90-105 heat hear in Vegas. That's why I'm leaning towards a 180 or the Mocal 203. My major concern is even lower oil temps during the cold months. I can easily run 150 coolant and not even register oil temp in the winter here. From my understanding, the Canton unit flows 10-15% in the closed position. This is the main reason I went with a heat exchanger in the first place. Not to have ice cold oil in the colder months. I could plumb it through the heat exchanger but that would aid cold operation but defeat the purpose of my upgrade.(Road racing in higher temps) I'm going to call and see how much oil Earl and Mocal bypass ALL the time.