Hey guys, got a question about engine oil. I run 10W-30 in my car and do quite a bit of driving. As the summer is here and engine temps overall go up, I've noticed at highway driving my oil is pretty good at 150-160F, but when I'm at idle the oil temps will go up to like 180-195F when sitting still for like 10 minutes. Once I start moving it cools down pretty quick (with the help of the dual oil coolers that is). Have done quite a bit of homeworks on water temps and pretty much have that under control now, but while my water temps will stay at about 180-190, my oild temps will also go to this point, sometimes a little higher like 195 or so. What I was curious about was at what temp of the oil should I start getting worried? What's the limit I should never let me car go over? Also, I use purely non-synthetic, you think going to 20W-50 for the summer would help this?

 

When they hit 230F, start being concerned. If you ran a good synthetic oil, you would have a much bigger cushion. Below 220F is no concern whatsoever, even with dino juice.

 

Gotcha, thanks rynberg. Never had oil really go that high, got close once when I was having problems with my rad, but haven't seen anything close to 230 since I swapped out the radiator (the water temp was like 220). Thanks again dude.

 

Yep...220F is no biggie.

I've read about alot of piston powered race cars not shutting down until 300F on Mobil1/Redline/Amsoil. Whoo...screw that noise.

 

Be sure and consider where you're measuring the oil temperature; before or after the oil cooler would change the significants of the values.

 

All temps I posted are post cooler(s).

 

yeah, I guess that's right, my water temp sensor is located by the filler neck on the block, and my oil temp gauge is on a line right after the coolers. that should still be right, right?

 

below table direct from MMSD

This data follows more the older 12A /13b N/a engines. My 12A runs about 190 with mobil 1 was about 210 with dino oil.

My Fd R2 runs 160 to 195 with refurbished oil coolers and M1 oil. I mounted my gauge to show 220 at needle up, refering to upper end of non concern range but as I rarely see above 190 I would be concerned that something is not right if I got a 220 reading, like I am dumped my oil on the road/ hell the pressure gauge is always telling me that so it is worthless. As to the oil, It is one hell of a lot hotter in the bearings that it is lubing. The key is to have enough to carry the heat away, and heat it above water boiling to keep the water out .. the low pan temps in the Fd concern me more that the lack of high temps.

No temp sensor position will tell you the peak temp in the oil Inlet temp tells you taht your coolers are working and you have oil, well dah! outlet temp can not be measured, so then we get to the pan. a combo of oil temp cooled by windage, but before oil cooler cooling and discharged hot oil. Advantage of pan temp over inlet temp is that a sudden extreme raise in temp means that something in engine right then is not right, whereas measureing at filter before entering engine has a huge time delay in what makes the oil hot.

RECOMMENDED TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE & COMPRESSION
BREAK-IN RANGE NORMAL RANGE MAXIMUM LIMIT

Coolant Temperature
(Outlet Side) 160° - 175° F 160° - 195° F 205° F

Oil Temperature
(Oil Pan) 160° - 175° F 195° - 230° F 250° F

 

Rob Golden(sp?) at Pineapple Racing said that you don't want your oil temps to go beyond 260F.

 

Slightly off topic, but how do you keep your water temps between 180-190 at a stop for ten minutes? I just installed a huge radiator, second oil cooler (r1), and closed all the gaps which helped immensely while moving. However, if I'm in stop and go traffic or getting dirty air from the car in front of me, my water temps will rise to between 195 and 210. FYI - I'm measuring water temps at the throttle body coolant line.

 

The only way to do that would be to have an effective cooling system and run the fans starting at 185F or so. A radiator can't do **** when there's no air moving through it, no matter how big it is. That's why cars have fans.

 

Fan mod to keep coolant temps down when not moving:

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/fan_mod.html

 

also, when stuck in traffic, turn on your interior lights (the dash display lights), turn the ac on, and set the fans at 1 if you want the fans on low and at 4 if you want them on mid/high. i do this every time I'm about to enter traffic and haven't had my water temps go above 195 yet (usually stays at 180, but I had started the fans at 190 that day).

 

FYI, I also heard the PFC can control when the fans come on (you can change the temp at which the fans kick in).

 

Cool, I was just wondering if you were manually controlling the fans or had some other way to control temps without them.

 

FC thermoswitch - Dale Clark posted a writeup on this.

 

I posted this in another thread. I have mine set to 90 C, 95 C, 100 C, respectively and have not seen water temps over 97 C (207 F) on the stock radiator. I live in N.C. and while summers here may not be as hot as CA or FL we still see temps in the high 90's and triple digits in the summer.

 

I run my fans all the time, Im in central FL. and not flying a space shuttle , dont want to be botherd by when there on and when there not, simply easier, now in alaska might be different story. opinion only. RON

 

My battery dripped acid on my fan motor and now it's dead. What is a common upgrade or replacement for the stock fans and where is the best place to buy them? What cfm do the stock fans operate? I have a Koyo radiator, so it is bigger than the stock one.

Thanks for the help!

 

The stock fans are very high flowing, the 99 fans flow even more, check the classifieds, I think Turbojeff is selling a set.