20wt oils, higher temperatures and oil coolers

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
Yeah however I'm all about tweaking it somewhere cooler for engine longevity but not too cool that the oil can't do it's job effectively.

Those temperatures are pretty much normal for something like the G37 (well, a 370Z, since the G37 doesn't have an oil temperature gauge). And yes, I was freaked out, too, at first. But, I ran PYB 5w-30 for a long time.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
My dad's 2012 Pentastar has 300K on it and still going strong without a cylinder head failure yet.

Knock on wood!

But yeah I agree heat is the enemy past a certain point.


Nice! They weren't all bad that's for sure!

 

[StevieC]

Thanks Garak, that makes me feel better.

 

[Garak]

It took me a while. It certainly was a lot different than the way the old Audi was with the giant oil cooler, never even hitting 100 C on oil temperatures, even with the turbo at full boost for a while. The G37 oil filter is hotter after half an hour running in the dead of winter than the filters were on the taxis after running all day in July.

Of course, that's not to say an oil cooler for you (or me) isn't an option down the road, but if it's not hitting limp mode, that's a plus. Some G and Z owners were having trouble with them hitting limp mode on the track. Then others went overboard with cooling.

 

[StevieC]

On the gauge it shows Low/Hot denotations as well as the actual temperature. When it's at 250F (120c) it is about 3/4 of the way in this gauges range. In normal traffic or street driving I'm lucky if it gets to 212F (100c) and that's on the hot of weather days of 100F outside.

Unfortunately the manual doesn't tell you what temperature the limp mode kicks in, just that a "Hot Oil" message will appear and the maximum speed will be restricted to 45mph (75km/hr).

When I drove this to Florida last summer it was really hot and we were going through all kinds of hills in in Virginia and it didn't get any hotter than 250F.

Then you add in my mums running Dino Juice and sees the same temperatures (more or less) under the same conditions and it seems to be surviving. So again...

 

[Garak]

I haven't hit limp either, and have no idea where it kicks in. I drive like a grandmother, so it doesn't matter much.

 

[danielLD]

Originally Posted By: StevieC

Maybe a UOA is in order since discovering this.


That would be awesome!!!

 

[friendly_jacek]

maybe it's a way to save fuel? personally I would use synthetic oil and +1 grade during summer.

 

[zeng]

Go for an ACEA A3B4 xW30 or xW40 without a cooler expense.

 

[StevieC]

I'm using SSO 5w20 now. Nothing but superb UOA's as you can see from the link in my signature. But I'm worried about the heat taxing components over time.

 

[zeng]

Then, SS xW30 or amsoil euro formula xW40 for higher MOFT.

 

[StevieC]

I did try the 30wt version of SSO and saw almost no decrease in temperature. My mom runs conventional 5w30 and same thing... It's just a poor design in my opinion.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

If anything, running a thicker oil should give you higher temps, not lower...my typical oil temps went up a bit when I switched from M1 5W30 to M1 5W30 ESP, which has a higher HTHS and is also substantially thicker at 100C.

 

[StevieC]

I actually saw a few degrees cooler. But I mean anything could affect that like outside temperature not being exactly the same as the day before, slightly different driving pattern. etc. My mom runs 5w30 conventional and I run 5w20 synthetic and they are pretty much the same under as best as I can control driving circumstances. They live in the country so I did a good long test on back roads the same both times for comparison.

 

[OVERKILL]

Higher oil temperature means less propensity for moisture build-up and should also more readily get rid of fuel. This is in moderation of course, but the oil you are using is more than suitable for the temperatures seen and I doubt you will experience any issues. Your UOA seems to confirm this.

 

[dwendt44]

Engine temp is, of course, controlled by the
thermostat, and many engines are now designed to
run at 205°F or maybe a bit more.
Oil temps follow suit.
I would think any modern synthetic oil should
handle that temp.

There are 'cooler' thermostats, if it really
concerns you.

 

[StevieC]

I know but I worry at those higher temperatures that the timing chain and guides could be prematurely wearing and I wan't my 500,000km

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: dwendt44
Engine temp is, of course, controlled by the
thermostat, and many engines are now designed to
run at 205°F or maybe a bit more.
Oil temps follow suit.
I would think any modern synthetic oil should
handle that temp.

There are 'cooler' thermostats, if it really
concerns you.


Oil temperature that is not thermostatically controlled can and will vary significantly from coolant temperature, it is just the nature of the beast and the OP's experience is in-line with that.

User Shannow experimented with this on his Holden, where he put a thermocoupler down the dipstick tube and ran it in different gears on the highway and was able to significantly drive up oil temperature just by using a lower gear (raising RPM).

 

[StevieC]

Yeah which is why this problem only seems to exist on the highway when the RPM is 2500-3000RPM consistently depending on my lead food of course.

I would put a thermostatically controlled Sandwich adapter in-place that is tuned not to open up to the cooler to early so that it has a chance to burn off moisture etc.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
Yeah which is why this problem only seems to exist on the highway when the RPM is 2500-3000RPM consistently depending on my lead food of course.

I would put a thermostatically controlled Sandwich adapter in-place that is tuned not to open up to the cooler to early so that it has a chance to burn off moisture etc.

If you use a factory-style one that plumbs into the coolant, then it should keep oil temperature around coolant temperature. This has the benefit of not only lowering overall oil temperature, but also bringing the oil up to temperature much quicker than would normally be the case.