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Oil Temp?

827 views 20 replies 12 participants last post by  the_Scholar  
#1 ·
I recently went to a road course for my first time and I noticed that I could only do a couple laps at a time since my oil temperature was going into the red on my SVT. Is this normal? I wasn't expecting it to happen at all, at least that fast. I understand that running at 7000 rpm's for a prolonged time like that will heat up the engine pretty quickly but I did not know that it would only take a few laps to do so.

For the sake of knowledge, the course I was at was Gingerman in South Haven, MI.
 
#3 ·
I have an Autometer mechanical oil temp gauge in my car, and despite unsubstantiated dispersion against that brand by a rather prominent sponsor, I believe it to be accurate. I routinely run 280°+ on track, and would bet based on how far the needle has moved past the 280° mark, have eclipsed 300° many times. This is a non-SVT, FWIW.
 
#5 ·
I have an Autometer mechanical oil temp gauge in my car, and despite unsubstantiated dispersion against that brand by a rather prominent sponsor, I believe it to be accurate. I routinely run 280°+ on track, and would bet based on how far the needle has moved past the 280° mark, have eclipsed 300° many times. This is a non-SVT, FWIW.
Woah. And I just got ordered a 300°, thinking that might be sufficent. I just hope that extra quart of oil I carry in my engine will help keep it cooler.
 
#6 ·
I have an Autometer mechanical oil temp gauge in my car, and despite unsubstantiated dispersion against that brand by a rather prominent sponsor, I believe it to be accurate. I routinely run 280°+ on track, and would bet based on how far the needle has moved past the 280° mark, have eclipsed 300° many times. This is a non-SVT, FWIW.
Woah. And I just got ordered a 300°, thinking that might be sufficent. I just hope that extra quart of oil I carry in my engine will help keep it cooler.
If you mean from the big filter and a little over-oiling, nope. Anything over 300° is useless, IMO, as oils are not tested beyond 302°. If the oil is that hot, you either stop or don't care. Knowing that it is exactly 320° versus just being over 300° has little to no value that I know of.
 
#7 ·
If you mean from the big filter and a little over-oiling, nope. Anything over 300° is useless, IMO, as oils are not tested beyond 302°. If the oil is that hot, you either stop or don't care. Knowing that it is exactly 320° versus just being over 300° has little to no value that I know of.
From removing my balance shafts. Capacity went from 4.5q to 5.5q.

So, I guess consider 300° a "redline"?
 
#9 ·
300 degrees?! That's P.F. high. I'm clueless with competition rules, etc. - are you not allowed to run oil coolers?
I can run whatever I want. I just haven't found the time, money or motivation to put in a cooler. The car has 81,000 miles of which over 3000 are on track. It consumes no oil, makes good power and makes no odd noises. Since those temps haven't killed it yet, I just close my eyes and forget about them.
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#10 ·
Mine did that too. I ignored it, and just paid attention to the coolant temp one. Remember, teh oil temp one doesn't actually measure anything, it kind of guesses....
Completely correct.
not really totally...it is doing a math equation of all the cars imputs, like throttle position, mass air-basically comes up with a duty level. Its trying to tell you your running hard (like you didnt know) it has little to do with temps. We dealt with this about 2 years ago in Ca. with the Challenge guys. They had the oil analysis done and everything was fine.
 
#11 ·
300 degrees?! That's P.F. high. I'm clueless with competition rules, etc. - are you not allowed to run oil coolers?
I can run whatever I want. I just haven't found the time, money or motivation to put in a cooler. The car has 81,000 miles of which over 3000 are on track. It consumes no oil, makes good power and makes no odd noises. Since those temps haven't killed it yet, I just close my eyes and forget about them.
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I do you one better. I just don't even have a gauge!
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Ignorance is bliss.

Actually, considering a new (used) engine costs about the same as a gauge and cooler... It almost doesn't make sense to bother.
 
#12 ·
300 degrees?! That's P.F. high. I'm clueless with competition rules, etc. - are you not allowed to run oil coolers?
I can run whatever I want. I just haven't found the time, money or motivation to put in a cooler. The car has 81,000 miles of which over 3000 are on track. It consumes no oil, makes good power and makes no odd noises. Since those temps haven't killed it yet, I just close my eyes and forget about them.
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I do you one better. I just don't even have a gauge!
Image


Ignorance is bliss.

Actually, considering a new (used) engine costs about the same as a gauge and cooler... It almost doesn't make sense to bother.
Sad yet true....
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#13 ·
If one were to run a cooler and an accurate mechanical guage (like Autometer), 230 degrees F is the temp to shoot for, according to two different high-dollar vintage V8 race engine builders that I know.
 
#15 ·
Water will still evaporate at lower temps than that. Think about sweat. It's only at 220 you GUARANTEE there is no water in it.

I do remember that you need to get it hot enough so that it thins out, otherwise you'll lose milage/power.
 
#16 ·
My opinion is that if you are running a quality synthetic 200°-260° averages with peaks up to 275° should be absolutely no problem at all. There indeed might be parts of that range that are better than others, but if you are in it, I doubt that variances of any measurable category are 5% from ideal.
 
#17 ·
Water will still evaporate at lower temps than that. Think about sweat. It's only at 220 you GUARANTEE there is no water in it.
Water will vaporize below 212 degrees only to a certain point. Volatile chemicals like water have a vapor pressure dependant on the barometric pressure. If there is less water vapor in the air than the vapor pressure, liquid water will evaporate. That's why water will boil at room temperature if you put it under a vacuum pump.

On the other hand, in a pressurized system--which your engine is at operating temperature--water will need to get hotter than 212 to vaporize. Somewhere around 215 or 216, it will start bubbling out of the oil and escape either through a breather or into the cylinder (or any other holes you have in your oiling passages). Unless I'm mistaken, the chief problem with water is that it promotes oil sludging, so it's probably very good for your oil to get it up to 220 or so once in a while.

(Honestly, this is the most use I ever get out of a Chemistry degree
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)
 
#19 ·
Pitch, you're getting into a really foggy area (pun intended, haha!) Yeah, if the pressure is high, and relative humidity is high, evaporation could be slowed/stopped. I don't know what the reality of it is.

The optimum temp for auto trans oil is 180 IIRC. But it has a LOT more detergents and other junk it.
 
#20 ·
Since we're talking about water vapor in the crankcase...I find it interesting that when I empty my catch can, its typically about 75% water. The catch can is hooked up to the PCV valve. Hot water vapor from the crankcase hits the cool catchcan, condenses, and collects.

I’d hate to know what kind of oil temps I’ve run in my car back when I was non intercooled. I put 10 hours on track on the car non intercooled running 10W30 Mobil 1. My first event on track (VIR) I was a little ‘over eager and under educated’ and was shifting at 7k. I’ve since toned it down a bit and shift at 6k.
 
#21 ·
Man, I completely forgot that I posted this up here. Thanks for the responses but I still have no way to tell what my oil temp is with the stock gauge and I don't have aftermarket gauges at all.

How hard is it to mount an oil cooler, also how much do they run? Would it even be worth while?

Also, would an oil cooler be legal to stay in STS class for AutoXing?