Oil Temp needed to activate additives?

[Threeofnine]

My Ferrari Testarossa has large oil coolers with no thermostat. This is how hot my oil gets after driving 40+ miles at speeds between 80 and 110 mph on a 90F day. I’ve never seen the temp go higher than this. I’m told, by Ferrari techs, this is normal for a Testarossa.

During the winter the needle usually won’t get past the 140 mark. If you let the car idle for a while the oil temperature will rise, but as soon as you start moving the needle will drop back down to the first line.

Is this hot enough to activate the additives in the oil and burn off condensation? I use Mobil 1 15w50 and it holds 17qts .

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

My Ferrari Testarossa has large oil coolers with no thermostat. This is how hot my oil gets after driving 40+ miles at speeds between 80 and 110 mph on a 90F day. I’ve never seen the temp go higher than this. I’m told, by Ferrari techs, this is normal for a Testarossa.
View attachment 298083
During the winter the needle usually won’t get past the 140 mark. If you let the car idle for a while the oil temperature will rise, but as soon as you start moving the needle will drop back down to the first line.

Is this hot enough to activate the additives in the oil and burn off condensation? I use Mobil 1 15w50 and it holds 17qts .

S

Thread 'Engine Heat and the Additive Pack'

Jan 25, 2023

It's been written here that some engine oil additives (in the formulated ad-pack) are activated by heat. Which additives need heat to work properly, to their designed capacity, and how much heat is needed? Would short tripping activate these additives? Thanks!

• Shel_B
• Replies: 34
• Forum: Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Vehicles

• 

 

[ripcord]

Your gauge is showing you the sump temperatures, but the oil will be hotter at the internal engine locations where the tribofilm is needed once the engine is warmed up. You should be more than fine if you drive sedately until it warms up.

 

[twX]

The parts of an engine that are sensitive to anti-wear additives like ZDDP, such as cams and tappets, have so much friction and viscous heating that the oil films will be much hotter than the sump temperature. The oil films will also be hotter with a thicker grade of oil. Still, those additives might work better when the oil temperature is higher than 140 F.

Water will boil off more quickly at oil temperatures higher than 140 F, but that should still be hot enough to prevent excess moisture as long as you aren't doing a lot of short trips. The engine will just need to spend a bit longer at temperature in order to boil off the moisture that was introduced to the crankcase during warm up.

I'd try covering up at least one of the oil cooler radiators for winter. Strap a fire blanket over it or install a piece of insulation in front of it and see how much it helps.

 

[eljefino]

My concern would be one of instrumentation: If someone decided they needed temperature B and measured the sump temperature, as you yourself are doing, getting Temp A isn't going to cut it. In other words you can only infer the bearing oil temp from your best guess, the sump.

You'd think Ferarri would use a thermostat to make it a little more "streetable" but maybe they don't care and would rather it be the driver's fault. I like the fire blanket-over-cooler idea. Also analyze your used oil for fuel & water.