40 Miles, 50 Minutes. Lukewarm Oil

[RayCJ]

Drove this morning on a nice cool day (about 50 degrees) for about 40 miles of brisk expressway driving. The ride was about 50 minutes. Pulled into driveway and just felt like popping the hood and looking the engine over. Decided to look at the dip-stick even though the oil was not settled and much to my surprise, I can easily grab hold of the submerged end of the dip-stick with no fear of burning my skin. I thought maybe the dip-stick cooled off quickly so, I put it back in, waited a few moments and once again, the oil is no-where near as hot as I would expect. Maybe, it was 140 or 150 degrees...

This is a brand new vehicle with 3,300 miles and have no suspicions that something is wrong. I'm sure the engine was designed to keep the oil cool -and I'd say they met their goal. Kinda makes me wonder though, how will this thing ever boil off moisture or blow-by fuel?

This is a 2018 Mazda 3, 2.5L. Outstanding vehicle so far and gets fantastic fuel economy.

I'm curious, under similar driving conditions, about what oil temperatures are other folks getting in their cars?


Ray

 

[cjcride]

What is the oil capacity?
A larger sump should run a bit cooler.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Does this vehicle have a coolant to oil cooler? If not, then the oil could run cooler on cold days if not driven for a very long time.

 

[PimTac]

Sump capacity is just over 5 quarts.

Interesting that the temperature is like that. Maybe a digital thermometer might show something?

 

[RayCJ]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Sump capacity is just over 5 quarts.

Interesting that the temperature is like that. Maybe a digital thermometer might show something?


I put my hand on many places of the exposed engine and had no concerns of burning myself. The radiator and radiator hoses were fairly warm but not off-the-charts. Since my fingers are indeed digits, the "digital temperature" reading was "not really hot".

I watched the series of Mazda engineering videos about the entire SkyActive effort. They claim to have designed the engine to keep the heat around critical areas and everything else stays cool. The area they pay attention to is immediately around the cylinders; to keep the combustion process very well controlled. Also, they take steps to keep the valves at a constant temperature.

I drove 40 miles (expressway) to a location, parked for 20 minutes and came back. The return trip was about 50 minutes. The onboard computer was showing 41.2 MPG which is on-par when the car is driven at smooth highway speeds. Once again, I don't suspect anything is wrong... I was just surprised at how cool the overall engine was after a solid run. I'm curious if most all new-production cars are running that way. I have a 4cyl Kubota diesel generator engine and when I run it at speed for a 1 hour warm-up, you can't put your hands on it -and it has an oversized radiator.

 

[PimTac]

These SkyActiv engines are very efficient. You may notice that it kicks into a Miller cycle at a certain throttle position at speed. I'm not sure if you have the same info screen as the cx5 but there is a mpg viewer. I can watch the needle jump from say 30 to 40 mpg without any influence on my part. This happens when you are at a steady cruise.

We recently took a decent trip that included three mountain passes. The ending reading was 35.7mpg and the ac was running as well.

 

[gathermewool]

I've never pulled a dipstick and had it be too hot to handle. The two cars in my signature have oil temp monitors, and even at close 200F, they feel only warm to the touch. The temperature of the dipstick, after pulling it, is not relevant for any metric, IMHO.

 

[dbias]

What does the oil temp gauge say?

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by dbias
What does the oil temp gauge say?





There is no oil temp gauge. Most cars don't have one these days.

 

[Carbon12]

I had a 2004 Chevy Cavalier 2.2L. Drove 70 miles home from work that afternoon in a hurry to change oil while a little daylight remained. Temp was about 40 to 45F. Pulled car on ramps then quickly changed shirts and changed oil. Got oil on me and it didn't burn. It was bath water warm as it drained.

 

[Imp4]

Is yer oil thermostat stuck open.....

 

[oldhp]

According to the oil temp gauge in my 2018 RAM 1500 3.6\8 speed auto, when I go 25 miles to work, 3 stops, 3 slow down turns the temp today got up to 188° on a 50° day. This past summer temp would get to 200° to 225°.

 

[Patman]

I only have a 10 mile drive to work but even on these cool mornings in the 35-40F range, the oil temp in my Corvette still gets into the 180-185F range about 4 or 5 miles into the journey.

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted by gathermewool
I've never pulled a dipstick and had it be too hot to handle. The two cars in my signature have oil temp monitors, and even at close 200F, they feel only warm to the touch. The temperature of the dipstick, after pulling it, is not relevant for any metric, IMHO.



The dipstick, oil fill cap, heck...everything under the hood of my Fiat 500 is lava hot after driving around on a hot summer day with the AC on...just nuts!

 

[Schmoe]

The new Honda 1.5 Turbo engines are having this problem. It's not every one, but certain localities it seems like, especially in Canada. Honda has issued a voluntary recall on certain VIN numbers.

 

[Cujet]

If the pan is black, a non contact thermometer will give you a fair reading.

 

[Garak]

You wouldn't want to try it on my G37, even in the cold. A couple winters ago, I did an oil change after a 15-20 minute drive in -34 C weather. I couldn't touch the oil filter without gloves, and even then, it was dicey. With the Chevy small block taxis, I could change oil with my bare hands on the hottest summer days, with the taxi engine running all day.