how cold is too cold for oil temps?
 

so i just installed an oil cooler. this morning it is 38F outside. just finished my 50 mile freeway commute, on cruise at 82 mph, turning a little over 3k rpms, oil temp hovered right at 145. running factory ester oil. idling in the parking lot now im at a little over 150. too cold?

not really sure, i'm curious about this as well

Too cold. You want the engine to heat up to about 180 minimum, and the quicker the better.

Simple solution:
http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...ler-cover.html

I think we need a sticky on this. Here is what Dustin@Z1 had to say about the oil temp's I was seeing (about 160 after warm up):

That said, 145 is pretty low, you should probably make a metal shroud of some sort to cover the cooler in the cooler months, unless you are on a track of course. Although if you are seeing 145, in reality it is closer to 160-170, but yeah, that's still low.

I could swear the temp and pressure sensors are at the oil pan level. I see them every time I'm under the car. The gauge reading should be real close to what's sitting in the oil pan after circulation, not what's coming from the cooler.

*Confirmed. See attached image from service manual.

you can install a temp bbypass valve on your oil cooler. It will by pass the cooler until a certin set point is reached. GTM offers this solution. I have it on my car as I can see down to -56C in the winter

Thanks guys. I will look at making a cover for the cooler tomorrow. Looking at that diagram, it looks like the oil temp sensor does sit just inside the block from the oil filter, above the oil pan. If the oil level does not sit up that high above the pan, I guess I could see how Dustin @ Z1 would say that the returning oil temp is different than the oil lying down in the pan. I just don't know what the natural resting oil level is in the pan.

doesn't it flow from the cooler into the pan?

Yeah, I think that was what Dustin was saying basically.

It makes sense that it is reading off, especially since I have zero issues getting up to 160, and then once it gets there, if I'm just doing normal highway driving (even in 85 degree temps) it will stick there, even though I have a 180 degree thermostatic plate. I know the plate will always flow some oil through, but it won't completely open until 180 degrees.

Well us Canadians are screwed then.... :eek:

hmmm... does Stillen make an oil heater? :icon17:






-30 degrees Celsius here lately. That's like a bazillion below fahrenheit....

Yeah, via the engine block!

Oil cooler(colder oil)-->engine block(warmer oil)-->pan where sensors are, thus reading the warmer oil

Dustin's description follows this reasoning, but the sensors are in the oil pan...not the engine block. Thus, the sensors read the sump oil temperature where the oil collects after circulating through the motor. The outflow from the cooler passes through the engine block (where it gets heated), and that oil doesn't hit the sensors until it collects in the pan again. So it would reason that the sensor temp should reflect the oil temp in the block and not the cooler outflow.

Take a look at the picture I've attached. The temp sensors are essentially where the arrow indicating 'oil pan' point. Our cooler plumbs in-line to the right of the oil filter in that picture (courtesy of the sandwich plate). So oil from the sump goes through the filter, through our cooler, and then through the engine.

Simply put, Dustin suggests the sensors are in the area labeled 'main oil gallery' and they're actually in the pan.

Ha! Or just -22F.

Interesting spearfish. Hopefully Dustin can chime in, in case there is a misunderstanding of some sort, but your explanation sounds good too.

190-220 is about the best for oil temps for optimum performance. Spencer and Dustin has something in the works for you all.

John:
I'm running like 160 when temperatures is in the 30's. OK or no?

Below 160 F is considered too cold for the oil to provide proper lubrication.

Is there an ETA on this? It's starting to get pretty cold in various areas (yes even in Florida).

thx for the link on the diy cover, i spent an hour and made one yesterday. today outside temp is 36F, now oil temp is holding steady at 185. perfect!

:icon18::bowrofl::roflpuke2:

That's not cold. Try it at minus 35. I would think you'd have an issue then.

I've been thinking for a while now that anyone who does an oil cooler for their DD needs to get a 200* thermostat put on it. That should be about perfect -- neither too cold nor too hot, with room to fluctuate a bit.

If you guys need a block off plate for the 180* temp thermostat in the winter, it's just too cold a temp setting IMO.

Running one without a thermostat unless it is a track only car is probably counterproductive.

Based on anything I've ever read, I wouldn't beat on it until it reaches about 175*-180*. If you start to creep up over 250*-260*, let it cool down.

The 190* F - 220*F sweetspot somebody mentioned is probably about right.

It's alot easier to Velcro a cover on your cooler than swapping thermo plates in winter and summer .

Here was my solution... I went from 160 on 50-60F days (city driving hits 180) to a solid 180 at highway speeds (~220 city driving) at 20-40F days. All it takes is an old cardboard box. It's ugly and mine has melted from driving in the rain but it works. A friend was building me a more permanent cover but I haven't heard from him in a while.

http://www.reprehensible.net/~sig11/...er_cover_t.jpg
(click for full size)

Just make the one in the DIY someone posted above, it's pretty simple, and requires minimal tools. I'm going to be making mine tomorrow or Sunday.

Why would you guys swap thermostats from winter to summer. Just run a 200*F thermostat all year round :confused:

No one other than Chuckd was talking about swapping thermostatic plates, and I think he was just confused. It would just be stupid to do that based on weather conditions.

My oil cooler did not come with a thermostatic plate, and I figured that if anyone wouldn't need one it would be me; after all, isn't the Las Vegas area one of the hottest areas in the country? I guess I was wrong, but fortunately making a cover was simple and switching it in and out is a snap.

I'm puzzled that my car never gets over 200 and often shows 180 after ten minutes even back in 70 weather. I don't seeevidence of an oil cooler and the previous owner wasn't the type to mod at all.

I don't think I got over 200 on a two hour highway drive in 70 weather.

Maybe my sensor is off?

I'm puzzled that my car never gets over 200 and often shows 180 after ten minutes even back in 70 weather. I don't seeevidence of an oil cooler and the previous owner wasn't the type to mod at all.

I don't think I got over 200 on a two hour highway drive in 70 weather.

Maybe my sensor is off?

When warming up my car I allow it to go up to 5 Dots on the indicator.
Warming up your car is VERY important!
Even though it's real cold here in the north east I always wait event to turn on the heater cause I care about my baby.

Sounds like a job for a thermostat.

I don't think I've seen it over 180 - 200 F in temps below 75 F.

When it's closer to 90, absolutely, but rarely over 220.

By the way, by recommending against "beating on it", I'm talking sustained high load, like racing (i.e., keeping it at high RPM's) -- you can certainly get on it hard enough to drive normally before the oil is at optimal temps.

That said, you obviously won't break anything if you do race it before the oil is warmed up, but it will contribute to greater engine wear.

Also, I'd put the minimum temp more like 160 - 170F. Anything below is 160 is way too cold, while closer to 180 is better, and 190 to 210 is probably ideal.

well its about six thousand degrees here in guam every day of the year, even when its raining..... its just six thousand degrees and everythings wet. whenever normal commuting at the islands lame 35mph limit "or in my case 60 because i speed NORMAL" the car runs at about 210 to 220, or at least thats what the temp guage on the dash says. i thought it was established that the car goes into retard mode at 220? so why is it good to keep it in the 180-210 range? i dont understand the logic of keeping it so close to the red zone so to speak. wouldnt it depend on what type/viscosity oil your running? theres MASSIVE differences in W values, and in synthetics when even the slighest differences in temp are considered. Is my car running hot? i mean, normal city driving it sits at 210-215, cruising with no gas i can get it to lower, but against a headwind it will hover at 220 and stay there to keep a consistent speed over time.

I believe limp mode is 260*F +

has anyone managed to verify this yet? ive tried talking to my local nissan techs.... but unfortunately they seem to be suffering from the same side effects as the overheating cars....cough lol

seriously though, AK? Phelan? Socal? anyone? has anyone truely no **** actually tested this and have some sort of documentation or electronic/mechanical component that measures this? so far from what ive seen, its still kinda a "guess" as to the exact temp the motor goes into stupid mode to cool down.

Limp mode doesn't kick in until 280F, I've experienced it first hand. Engine RPM's held at 5000rpm max, basically feels like someone lowered the rev-limiter. There is a stage 2 limp mode at 300F where it will cut RPM's to 3500 and cut power as well, I've never hit this.

Prior to that if you're losing any power it is purely due to the engine pulling timing due to a hot (low density) intake charge.

I'm a little confused...if the oil temperature sensor is sensing the sump temperature a car with no oil cooler is obviously supplying close to the same temperature oil to the engine for lubrication. However, in the instance where an oil cooler is installed wouldn't the actual oil supply temperature to the engine be unknown without measuring it at the cooler outlet? It would seem to be logical that the desired temperature in the sump would be relative to the temperature drop across the oil cooler. Is the 180-220 that everyone recommends assuming some theoretical temperature drop across the cooler? If so, this would depend on cooler size, ambient temperature and engine loading. Wouldn't it be normal for oil temperature to read 20-40 degrees higher at the sump due to the effect of oil being heated up as it flows through the engine? It seems to me that the temperature of the oil being supplied to the engine should be the critical parameter or am I missing something? I guess the question I'd ask is what is the ideal supply temperature for oil supply/optimum lubrication/minimum wear? If the answer is in the neighborhood of 180 to 220, it appears to me that sump temperature of 180 opening the oil thermostat (assuming one is installed) will result in keeping the oil too cold during cooler weather and when driving like grandma. If the thermostat keeps the oil in the sump at 180 to 200 wouldn't that mean that the oil out of the cooler/supply to the engine would be significantly cooler and if so, is that acceptable? Just want to make sure I'm not missing something and have all the facts for sizing my cooler properly. Thanks!