Engine oil temps?

[Fman]

Happy new year to everyone, hope we all can make 2022 the best one yet.

Looking for some advice on oil temps, I recently just swapped out my clock with oil temp gauge that runs directly off the Champ oil pan. Went out for a drive yesterday and oil temps were in the 170-190 F degree range, assuming this is about normal with engine temp 185 F. What would be considered "hot" oil temperature? I do not drive the car that hard around town so assuming higher RPMs would equate to higher oil temps?

[Ted G]

Happy new year to everyone, hope we all can make 2022 the best one yet.

Looking for some advice on oil temps, I recently just swapped out my clock with oil temp gauge that runs directly off the Champ oil pan. Went out for a drive yesterday and oil temps were in the 170-190 F degree range, assuming this is about normal with engine temp 185 F. What would be considered "hot" oil temperature? I do not drive the car that hard around town so assuming higher RPMs would equate to higher oil temps?

Hi Travis and Happy New Year to you. I got this from Motor Trend Magazine. Seems you are running too cool and I'm wondering how you would up the temp??


"Engine oil needs to be at least 220 degrees F to burn off all the deposits and accumulated water vapor. For every pound of fuel burned in an engine, the combustion process also generates a pound of water! If engine sump temperatures rarely exceed 212 degrees (water's boiling point), the water will mix with sulfur (another combustion by-product) and create acids that can eventually damage bearings.

As for ultimate power potential, the general consensus among most racers is that hot oil and cool water make more power in most engines. Cold engine oil causes excessive frictional drag on the bearings and cylinder walls. A quality conventional motor oil will tolerate oil sump temperatures of up to 250 degrees, but starts breaking down over 275 degrees. The traditional approach is to try to hold oil temperatures between 230 and 260 degrees. Even on a short-duration, drag-only combo where oil is frequently changed, I would not want to routinely see under-200-degree oil temps.

A full-synthetic oil will withstand sump temperatures in excess of 300 degrees, and for hard-core professional racing, some oval-track race teams are experimenting with ultra-thin, specially formulated, race-only synthetics operating at 350 degrees or even higher."

I also have ordered an Oil Temp gauge with my gauge set up.

Ted

[Fman]

Ted thanks for the info and happy new year to you, I am glad I did not run oil cooler! Not sure how "accurate" the gauge is, the sending unit comes in off the top area of the oil pan where the dipstick hole is mounted.

[Ted G]

This has been good info for me too as I am now reconsidering the Oil Cooler in mine. However I love the look so may go with a fake one, but I hate the idea of anything non-functional. You may want to play with a different viscosity oil to up the temperature. I read something that just changing the oil type/viscosity can move the oil temp by 10 degrees either way.

[GWL]

It may depend on where your Oil Temperature gauge is. After splashing up against the bottom of the piston which will be around 600º, it will fall back into the oil pan and begin cooling or dissipating its heat.

Best place to measure oil temperature is in the oil pan where it will read the hottest. If it is after the oil pump it will read cooler depending on where it is read.

From a 2013 Motor Trend article:
For a dual-purpose car, engine oil needs to be at least 220 degrees F to burn off all the deposits and accumulated water vapor. For every pound of fuel burned in an engine, the combustion process also generates a pound of water! If engine sump temperatures rarely exceed 212 degrees (water's boiling point), the water will mix with sulfur (another combustion by-product) and create acids that can eventually damage bearings.

As I said above, your oil will reach way above 212º when splashing against the bottom of the pistons thus boiling off water from the oil.

If your oil begins to get above 250º it will then begin to break down your conventional oil. Synthetics will withstand higher temperatures.

George

[johnnybgoode]

2X what GWL said. Your temps sound pretty normal. Spin the motor to 3K for a few minutes in 3rd or 4th gear and your oil temp. should get over 200*. The main thing is to wait until the oil is up to temp. before you start beating on the motor, especially if you are running a thicker weight oil. My water will be up to temp (180*). in 5 min. but oil temp is still not even registering on the gauge. It will still require another 10-15 minutes before the oil is fully warmed up.

I run a cooler as well but just cover it with a piece of duct tape that I leave on until daytime temps are in the 70's. My 2 cents. Scott

[GoDadGo]

I too had the same concerns about oil temps because cruising around simply doesn't do much for the oil temps unless it's summertime or I'm driving the car hard.
My sending unit is mounted in a sandwich adapter so the oil gauge will swing quickly because it is located in the oil flow and not in the pan.
Cruising down the interstate is where things cool off quickly, even with no oil cooler, because I'm only turning 1,700 RPM at 70 MPH.
I'm simply not making much heat so just the air circulating under the car cools the pan off a lot more than I thought it would.

Thanks For Posting This Thread Because I Found It To Be Quite Helpful!

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Have a pan gauge sender with no cooler & 180*F is pretty consistent. Coolant 180/200*F. Takes a good while for the oil to come up to temperature even in the summer. Coolant rises fairly quickly, sender is in the block.

[Hoooper]

If you use a thermostat with your cooler, which you should if its a street car, you will still get oil up to the same temps but also bring in the cooling potential when needed.

[rich grsc]

Want to raise the oil temp, then run 5qts of oil. Almost 100% of new factory cars use around 5 qts, not the 8 or 9 in these big pans.

[Rdone585]

While a lower quantity of oil will raise the temps quicker, you must make sure the oil pickup is low enough to stay in the oil. Example - don't run 5 quarts for track days or your engine may starve for oil in the corners.

[rich grsc]

While a lower quantity of oil will raise the temps quicker, you must make sure the oil pickup is low enough to stay in the oil. Example - don't run 5 quarts for track days or your engine may starve for oil in the corners.
I wasn't really advocating you run less oil. I have a 9qt pan, so I understand why my oil doesn't get hot. Almost everyone installs big pans because it's a "race car", but in reality most just get driven around town on cruises. Then they don't know why the oil is "too"cold.
Even when I had it on the track, the oil never came close to being too hot.

[J R Jones]

I wasn't really advocating you run less oil. I have a 9qt pan, so I understand why my oil doesn't get hot. Almost everyone installs big pans because it's a "race car", but in reality most just get driven around town on cruises. Then they don't know why the oil is "too"cold.
Even when I had it on the track, the oil never came close to being too hot.

I have had cars and bikes with oil level sensing. Under hard acceleration the "level light" would illuminate. Wheel standing was a sure trigger. Alarming and distracting under those circumstances.
An acceleration event is likely to last longer than most turns and use higher RPM/pump flow rate.
jim

[Fman]

Thanks for all the feedback, I am going to just drive it as is and keep monitoring the oil temp. One thing I have noticed is it definitely does take the oil to heat up to the 180-200 temp much past the heat cycle of the water temperature, so good to have the gauge as indicator when it is safe to rev up engine if desired.

[TMartinLVNV]

My Autometer gauge reading during normal cruising is usually around 160 and will get to 180 when having fun. My sensor is in a Moroso 7 qt pan. I use 5w-30 and don't have a cooler. Any ideas as to why my temps seem to be so much lower than what is described on here? Engine coolant temp is 185.

[NAZ]

My Autometer gauge reading during normal cruising is usually around 160 and will get to 180 when having fun. My sensor is in a Moroso 7 qt pan. I use 5w-30 and don't have a cooler. Any ideas as to why my temps seem to be so much lower than what is described on here? Engine coolant temp is 185.

Lower horsepower engines and lower RPMs produce less heat. Our IC engines are not just water cooled, they are water/oil cooled. The more horsepower you make requires burning more fuel and fuel contributes most of the heat energy an engine produces. Friction is also a significant contributor to heat generation. Rings are a major contributor to friction losses in an IC engine, Between 40% and 80% of the friction comes from the piston rings. Thinner rings and less ring tension create less friction and thicker rings with greater tension like used with power adders create a bunch of friction and that creates heat. Also, that large 7qt pan has a lot of surface area exposed to the air which aids in cooling the oil.

[Bob Cowan]

There is this persistent myth that oil has to get up above 220* to evaporate the water. That is clearly not true. Water will evaporate at much lower temps than that. If that were not true, your kitchen floor would never be dry.

Max oil temp depends on a lot of factors. Minimum temp is much harder to find, as it's generally not a published number. But 180* seems to be about minimum. And closer to 200* is preferred.

Oil is heated mostly by RPM's. High rpm's lap after lap will require the use of an oil cooler. Otherwise, an oil cooler will be detrimental to the engine. Even with a thermostat, the oil will really struggle to get up in to operating range.

For most street cars, oil temp will generally be pretty close to water temp. If you've set your car up to run at 160*, don't expect to see oil temps more than 170'ish.

[rich grsc]

I have had cars and bikes with oil level sensing. Under hard acceleration the "level light" would illuminate. Wheel standing was a sure trigger. Alarming and distracting under those circumstances.
An acceleration event is likely to last longer than most turns and use higher RPM/pump flow rate.
jim
Well geees, no sh-t. The OP isn't talking about a wheel standing drag car, he has a street driven car.