Oil Temperature Observations......

[Marauderjack]

I installed an AutoMeter oil temp gauge yesterday and was very surprised at oil temps relative to water temps!!??:confused:

Can anyone with both gauges tell me what they are getting as far as temperature comparison between water and oil??:cool:

I'll tell ya what I have found when I hear from others!!:beer:

Marauderjack:burnout:

PS: Hint.....NO OIL COOLER NEEDED!!:shake:

[ROB502]

On my Corvette oil temp runs less than 10 degrees hotter than water.:coolman:

[Marauderjack]

To my amazement the oil temp never reached the water temp high of 193* yesterday!!:shake::eek: BTW, the ambient temp was 70*-75*.

Funny thing is that the oil cools off extremely fast.....it dropped 15* in less than 10 minutes while I stopped to pick up a part!!:cool:

My gauge scale starts at 100*F and the pointer doesn't even move off 100* after a cold start until the water temp reaches 180*??:confused:

Based on what I'm seeing so far you really don't need an oil cooler on a street car!!:shake:

I'm still collecting data but this is really interesting since I assumed the oil temps were a good deal higher than water temp!!:cool:

Marauderjack:burnout:

[MitchB]

On another vehicle, I have an oil-to-water (older Cobra) heat exchanger and a thermostatically controlled oil-to-air cooler mounted in series. The Cobra style cooler heats the oil up fast on warm-up and the oil-to-air keeps temps below 190 degrees. I have had this set-up for years. I can tell you it takes a long time for oil temp to stabilize at normal operating temp from a cold start. Once there, temp depends on load and RPM. If you are not pushing the car, your oil temp will stay close to your coolant temp. But it does not take much abuse to quickly raise the oil temp. My temp sender measures the oil temp after the heat exchangers before going into the engine.

Where is your sender mounted? Drive at a steady 80+ mph or up a long incline and then tell us what you see.

Mitch

[RF Overlord]

Funny thing is that the oil cools off extremely fast.....it dropped 15* in less than 10 minutes while I stopped to pick up a part!!

My gauge scale starts at 100*F and the pointer doesn't even move off 100* after a cold start until the water temp reaches 180*??

this is really interesting since I assumed the oil temps were a good deal higher than water temp!This is exactly why cars that make many short trips in cool weather need the oil changed more often than those that see a lot of highway miles. The oil never gets hot enough for moisture to evaporate and the chemical reaction of the water with combustion by-products forms sludge and acids in the oil.

[Joe Walsh]

Oil temperature: @ 180 degrees (sender is mounted in the oil filter to block adapter plate)

Water temperature: @ 195-200 degrees (sender is mounted in the 'lifter valley' of the engine block right between the two banks of cylinders)

[Marauderjack]

Oil temperature: @ 180 degrees (sender is mounted in the oil filter to block adapter plate)

Water temperature: @ 195-200 degrees (sender is mounted in the 'lifter valley' of the engine block right between the two banks of cylinders)

Mine is almost identical Joe......I saw it a hair above 190* yesterday....water temp the same as yours!!:D

Today the oil temp got only to 170*.....30 mile round trip.....ambient at 55*!!!:cool:

What temp is too cool??:confused: We may need an oil heater!!:beer:

Marauderjack:burnout:

[Glenn]

My oil temp rarely goes above 180 degrees even on hot days or at the track. It is the trans temp that can shoot up very fast with little effort.

Glenn :burnout:

[Marauderjack]

I drove to Charlotte and back this week and in 40* air had a rock solid 160* oil temp for about 100 miles at 75-78 MPH!!!:cool:

As the outside temp rose to 50*+ the oil temp worked it's way up to 170*-175* at the same speed.....never went above 180* even with 73* ambient temp returning to Beaufort!!:beer: BTW, I wonder if my remote filter provides any cooling since it is in front of my left front wheel??:cool4:

I had to drive to town yesterday PM and sitting in traffic I finally saw 190* with water temp of 193* but the oil temp went down to 180* when moving......I am anxious to see what the oil temp will be in the 100* Summer heat around here??:confused:

Marauderjack:burnout: