oil temp debate

mchang1988

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?

Nick911sc

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

SPOHN

Wow, another oil thread to fill up our server.

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mchang1988

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

SPOHN

Just whining for I am right though.

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Jamaica

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

Red__Zed

ummm...no thanks. Sounds painful.

ChrisSlicks

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.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

cossie1600

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.

Red__Zed

Trips

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.

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Jamaica

Gotta have pain for an oil thread!

Vaughanabe13

I have a major beef with the logic of "You should have used the search function!!!!" I don't know how many times I have been searching for an answer to something on google and I get pointed toward a forum thread where the OP asks essentially the same question(s) I have. And instead of receiving information, usually that person will get berated and mocked by everyone on the forum for asking such a dumb/common/simple/unpopular/whatever question and that person will be told to use the search feature. The problem I have with this is that I got to this page in the first place by searching for my problem! Do you people not realize that this thread is now going to show up in future searches for oil coolers and oil temp issues? You might as well stop berating the OP and just start talking about useful stuff that people might actually be able to use in the future. It looks like this thread has taken a turn toward the 'useful' direction but I'm speaking generally. There is very little resource used for these threads so just make the best of it and stop making someone feel bad for asking questions, and keep in mind that future searchers will be seeing what we're talking about right now.

/end mini-rant.

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2009 Nissan 370Z Touring, w/sport, 6MT, chicane yellow/black.

wstar

My avg oil temps have gone up around 10 degrees on the street since installing my FI LTHs. It's because I love the sound of the exhaust at slightly higher revs than I used to cruise at, so now I'm always down a gear from where I should be just to listen

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Baer383

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

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2013 ZL1

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