I've been debating putting an oil cooler on my car (98 Camaro Z-28). I use Mobil-1 5W30 religously. I was just wondering if the cooler would do me any good. My oil stays around 210 - 220 unless I'm beating on it. Then it goes up to abvout 280.
What is the optimum oil temp?
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Oils actually start failing somewhere on the high side of 300.
On normal intervals, you should be fine without a cooler.
On normal intervals, you should be fine without a cooler.
As it has been noted around here, localized temperatures of the oil in the engine could be +50 deg.c of the sump temp. If a max of 280deg.c is taken at the sump, than what does that translate to interms of Oil condition?
IIRC, the hottest temps are around the rings and piston undersides, which I guess will present less critical states as one atleast is sacrificial (ring zones). Increased rates of oxidation however will occur due to elevated temperatures...I would be lead to conclude.
IIRC, the hottest temps are around the rings and piston undersides, which I guess will present less critical states as one atleast is sacrificial (ring zones). Increased rates of oxidation however will occur due to elevated temperatures...I would be lead to conclude.
I was just reading about a related subject, water temps. Seems like about 180-190 is ideal for several reasons. Of course, the oil is somwhat hotter. Further, by measuring oil temps in a couple of cars, as well as some Harley motorcycles, I'd say I never really saw indications of problems until the oil temps got above about 250. So, to answer your question, I'd GUESS somewhere in the lower 200's is ideal for a passsenger vehicle.
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I'll throw my opinion in the mix. 180-220F I would call normal and preferred. Anything outside of that you're bridging viscosity ranges (or the equivalent span of a viscosity range).
What is your water temp while at your stated oil temps of 210 - 220F?
GR, in a Harley, there is no water temp
of course, but, in the only two cars I monitored both, water temp was a little lower than oil temp. You have to take into consideration where tha temps were taken, it makes a lot of difference. I do not know where these sensors were located, nor if they were similarly calibrated, so I'm of little real help...
Where'd the Harley Davidson come from?
I thought we were talking about a Chevy with both water temp and oil temp gages. BTW, now that you mention it, what is the oil temp on an HD anyway?
Thats nornal cruising in daily traffic. It gets up closer to 230 at highway speeds (85mph).
Ok then, can you PLEASE tell me what your water temp is while at the 230F oil temp? I'm on to something here, but I still need to drag the water temp info out of you.
Considering seasonal temperature variations, I'd peg the average sump oil temperature as 190F to 220F, with the typical PCMO oil formulated to operate at 210F.
Heat tends to accelerate the aging effects on a motor oil and the less exposure to extreme temps over 220F, the longer the life of the oil.
Racing is a different application, as the oil gets abused from fuel loading, high rpm heat & mechanical shearing and gets dumped at the end of the track session.
Heat tends to accelerate the aging effects on a motor oil and the less exposure to extreme temps over 220F, the longer the life of the oil.
Racing is a different application, as the oil gets abused from fuel loading, high rpm heat & mechanical shearing and gets dumped at the end of the track session.
GR, I threw the Harley in there simply because it was one of the few vehicles that I've had with an oil temp thermometer.
The Harley would start pinging when the temp got close to 240-250, and I'd shut it down to cool for a while. FWIW.
It stays at 190 unless I turn off the A/C (which turns off the fans until 210) and stop in traffic. That doesn't happen much here in TX.quote:
Originally posted by GoldenRod:
Ok then, can you PLEASE tell me what your water temp is while at the 230F oil temp? I'm on to something here, but I still need to drag the water temp info out of you.
JTK
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Optimum oil temp? Wouldn't that be just warm enough to easily flow where it's needed and at a temperature long enough to evaporate/vaporize water? I guess it all depends on the application.
Joel
Joel
Your water temp is a little high. You should be down to 185 with the A/C on and fans running. You should be no higher than 195 with the A/C off, fans off, and catching clean air.
What kind of coolant are you running? You should be using Dex-Cool mixed 50/50 with distilled water. You should also keep the coolant clean by changing it out every 6 months.
With clean coolant, working thermostat, dedicated water pump, clean radiator coils with no bugs, your water temp should be between 180 and 195, depending on the outside temps. I would say 187 tops with the fans on, and 195 tops with the fans off.
Once you establish that your cooling system is keeping things as cool as possible, then you can start talking about things like a larger radiator. The point I'm making here is, once you get your water temp down, your oil temp will come down with it.
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Hmm ..wouldn't any current (or anything past the early 70's) have a 195F thermostat
Call it close enough with the inaccuracies that chevy built into the Camaro temp gauge.
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