oil temp debate
 

After reading through some posts about oil temp issues I began to wonder how big of a problem this is for us Z owners. This issue seems to be consistent with all the Z's not just some. People began to notice the oil temp rising pretty quickly in a short amount of time thus resulting in power loss and throttle lag due to the ecu limiting the cars potential. We all know there are different variables that lead to high oil temp such as weather conditions, driving at high RPMs, etc..but the rate at which the oil is heating is the main concern. Here are a few things that I noticed when I went out for a little experiement. After about 15 minutes of normal driving my oil temp was at 200, I then drove a bit more aggresively and it reached 210. After 25 minutes it was at 220. A bit later it was at 240 and this was when I noticed the first symptoms of high oil temp. I was getting lag in the throttle response but the power was still there. At 250, I felt a noticeable loss in power. I didn't want to go above 250 so I let it rest. After 30-40 minutes of fairly aggressive driving my oil temps hit 250 and I noticed a pretty big loss in power. It was around 85 F. I don't know about you guys but this is a pretty big concern for me, as my Z is a DD and I usually drive long distances on the weekends. I dont always drive aggresively but I do like to enjoy my car. Oil coolers seem to be the only fix for this but I always thought that was only for tracking. Do you guys think its necessary for me to get a oil cooler for street purposes only? Inputs? Thoughts?

If you live your life on the streets one quarter mile at a time get an oil cooler

If you're tracking the car get an oil cooler

if you're like everyone else who doesn't feed into the over reactions and drives like a normal person with spirited driving you don't need an oil cooler


Seriously though, oil coolers pretty affordable compared to the price of the car if you have any doubt in your cars performance why post about it? Just go get one

I've never had serious heat issues with my car and no cooler. I don't track it

Wow, another oil thread to fill up our server.

database error

Here's are 2 cents to the debate.. I drive an 2010 7AT 370z, 3,100 miles on the clock.. 2 oil changes w/ Ester so far. It's my weekend ride.


Here in Northern Va, it was 95 degrees and humid today.

I took out the Z for a 125 mile run from Alexandria, VA to West VA (roundtrip) started at 1pm. On the highway, got up to 85mph, and used paddle shifters no traffic, so i opened up the car pretty good. The temp got up to 210, but stayed there for the entire run..

When i went from 85mph > down to like 70mph > back up the temp came down to 190 and stayed put..

I only rested the car for a stop for drinks and gas.. and the car drove beautifully. I wasn't trying to redline the car or anything, but at high speeds, my temps were within the expected range..

I have never tracked it, so I don't know how the car will react, but, this is my weekend ride, and for type of driving i do, I don't think i will get an oil cooler..

thanks for your input nick and sucasa. I forgot to mention i was going uphill on some parts which might be the reason my temp went up faster. but yeah i was pretty much deciding if i should get a oil cooler or not. I probably wont unless it becomes annoying in the future.

Is that whining or a pointless comment? I think its both.

Uses the search button. It will answer some of your concerns.

no problem.. Two weekends ago the temps got to 105 in DC area, super hot, unheard of heat.. and i drove the car like normal 65mph to 85mph, some spirited driving all on highways, ac blasting high... temps got to 215-220 .. no limp mode or issues encountered..

Just whining for I am right though. :tiphat:

:ugh2:

I think the search button should be in Red. Yes your are right.

ummm...no thanks. Sounds painful.:roflpuke2:

:iagree:

The simple answer is if you are hard on your car get the oil cooler if you drive normal don't worry about it.

cool, free feel to troll anyone that ever mentions the words oil temp in this forum.

This is one of the most common questions of new owners that do some spirited driving. An Oil Cooler will help drop temps and give you the flexibility to do spirited driving if you wish without the oil temp worry. This topic has been beaten to death and a simple search would have yielded numerous threads with the same conclusion. :driving:

These engines produce a lot of heat. On track even with an oil cooler I can hit 280F if pushing hard for several laps on a fast track. We're not the only cars without coolers, Corvette's (non Z06) models have a similar issue and can push oil temps to 320F and coolant temps to 260F.

I don't really notice a power loss until 280F when the ECU intervenes. Prior to that there is a slight loss of throttle response and perhaps a very slight loss of power as the ECU adjusts the timing.

Gotta have pain for an oil thread!

:iagree:

Here's a start.

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...mp-issues.html

Your lucky you are not getting pounded by more people.:stirthepot:

well i just thought it would be more convenient to get feedback from people that already understand this issue instead of going to the forum like a textbook. i did mention i already went through some posts but just wanted some personal feedback with my particular situation. For those who are bothered by me posting another oil temp thread, im sorry. I didn't realize there were THAT many posts already made about this.

We are trying to help. But that's the best joy of this site is research. That's majority of what I do. Page after page. Which in turn I've learn butt loads of goods along other people mistakes. That's why I haven't had a issue with my car yet.

Np, Just get yourself an Oil Cooler and Come out and join us for some spirited driving on the weekend :ugh2:

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-p...-buy-370z.html

Same thread??:ugh2:

My non Z06 C6 had an oil cooler and it still ran 250-260s, people need to stop flipping out like little kids. I think water temp it got up to 230 or 240F.

Your 370 is not outrunning a GTR at 200F or 280F....

Just as a heads up, the OBDII system doesn't read the oil temp as one of its parameter. If you lose power, it's most likely because of the variable timing or car pulling time due to intake temp. It really isn't directly related to oil temp.

The ECU most definitely does read the oil temps. How else does it know to enable the two stages of limp mode at 280 and 300? Whether it uses coolant or oil temp to pull timing is currently a mystery to me, but it has to be doing one or the other well before 280.

Yes you are right the ECU does read it, but I meant it doesn't seem to have any direct correlation to pulling timing back like it would with coolant and air intake temp. Someone did mention it can change the VVTL, which is possible. Still from what I can see, ECU doesn't pull timing based on oil temp. Of course as oil temp goes up, your coolant and air temp already went up.

Remember limp mode is a rev limiter if I recall correctly, it doesn't just pull power

I cant drive the car in hot summer vegas weather..it easily reach 250F by that time i do feel a bit lag..oh well, still driving it though..

I hit 220 the other day doing some spirited driving on the highway in the scorching Seattle summer heat of 75 degrees. lol

I only flip out when the ECU shuts me down.

And for the record I did outrun a GT-R at NJMP by 0.4 seconds, granted he was on the stock tires and I was on slicks. :rolleyes:

I am with you, but I usually don't go long enough for my car to get to 260F. To hit 260F+, I have to go balls to the wall for 3 or 4 straight laps. I have to say my tires and brakes will get too hot before I have to worry about the engine.

I ran 2 sec slower than the only GT-R I saw at VIR. I blame it on my 255F oil temp. I must have lost 150HP with the high temp compare to my 180F on the street.

The ones who preach about how much high oil temp hurts are probably the same people who tell us VDC only slows you down if you are not a smooth driver :stirthepot:

i run a constant 220-230 on the hwy in houston. But its also 100-110f everyday!

Anyone ever datalogged the ECM and seen if it's in fact pulling timing as the oil temp increases or maybe there's something else causing it? I know on my g I can feel the car get doggier the hotter it gets but then again it's also a 108* every day so I'm sure that's not helping. Just curious.

The ECU is forced to pull timing as the engine gets hotter. My belief is that it does it in a reactionary way and isn't directly related to oil temp. Others disagree. A simple test would be to disconnect the oil temp sensor or give the ECU a false reading.

I don't think the OBDII system picks up oil temp. The oil temp gets picked up by the ECU, so I am not sure if it is an engine tuning parameter

I understand that. But has anyone logged it and seen how much timing is pulled, how it's pulled (all at once, gradually, steadily increasing as rpm's rise?), and what parameters (oil temp, coolant temp, IAT, all the above?) are used to determine when/how much is pulled? Maybe I'm trying to dig to deep on such a new platform. Just thinking that if we could actually see what the ECU is doing then we could solve a lot of these questions. An oil cooler obviously works but is it solving the problem completely or is it just prolonging the inevitable? Maybe it's still pulling timing but not as severe. See what I'm getting at? Sorry for the rambling. I just like a bunch of technical info. I'm a nerd like that.

once again, worried over nothing. ask any guys who drive on the track and has a datalogger, the top speed on lap 1 is nearly the same at the end of the session. the variance is small enough that you should have nothing to worry about. if you are getting your underwear stuck between your butt crack over 5hp, you got a problem. its a bigger problem for dyno bench and street racer because the cars have no chance to cool or breathe fresh air. once you are out driving, iat is only 5 to 15 degree warmer than ambient

I haven't logged it, you would have to do that with UpRev to really see in detail. I don't really care enough as like Cossie said, as long as you stay out of limp mode it doesn't make that much of a difference on track. It did feel like less timing was pulled when running the higher octane mix, but this could have been in my head.

I add ice cubes with tiny peices of fruit in the middle to my oil. Cools it down and adds some flavor. :tup:

Oil cubes in the sump. You might be onto something there.