its the exact opposite, because oil is thicker cold, it can starve the engine when cold because the oil is thicker and doesnt flow as well as a thinner oil

I'm running redline 5w-30. You're right on the viscosity. It's thicker at lower temps. Maybe not as much with a 0 weight, but still thicker than when it's warm. Oil pressure will be a lot higher, but flow will be lower.

180 degrees is when I feel comfortable romping on it. That's out of habit and OCD. If Phunk feels comfortable getting on it at 140-160, then its ok.

yep, trade off with running a 0 weight oil is that you will burn some of it(more than you would burn a 5 weight oil at least) when it is cold(or so i have been told)

either way gunning your car when it is cold is just a bad idea

lol thicker as in has a higher viscosity. you didn't read what i said i guess.

i'm running mobil 1 0w-40. the thermostatic plate on my z1 kit is rated at 169 degrees by the way. maybe thats a little too early for street driving?

Oops. Thanks for the corrections.

Quit worrying about it. As long as you are keeping your temps around 180 during normal driving, temps don't rise too much when driving hard, and it's warming up properly, it doesn't really matter where the t'stat is set.

Yes its more viscous. Viscosity is how well it flows, higher viscosity means it won't flow as well as warm oil with a lower viscosity.

Think of it like water and maple syrup, maple syrup takes longer to flow anywhere because it has a higher viscosity than water does

I have a 34row and it takes quite a while for my temps to get up to 180. Even this week, its been in the upper 90's every single day, and after my 10 mile drive home, my oil temps STILL weren't at 180.

someone said don't go over 3k until your temps are at 180degrees? That can't be completely true....

I said I don't. I'm at 180 degrees in 4-5 miles on my morning commute. Just long enough to get out of the neighborhood and onto the freeway. Light throttle, no boost until the oil is at running temp. It's just a habit. Phunk doesn't do this, and his motor is obviously doing just fine.

Its hanging in there! ;)

I've always thought the reason you don't rev the engine when the oil temperature is cold is due to the high oil pressure this would result. The higher the viscosity, the higher the oil pressure will be for a given RPM. Higher oil pressure can pop oil seals/gaskets and those lines to/from your cooler.

At the bottom of the oil pressure gauge DIY, the OP mentioned his observation after installing the gauge:

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...ml#post1027089

So the key at the low temperature end is less oil temperature than oil pressure. If you really need to stomp on it going an average of 15-18 MPH (5-6 mi in 20 mins), you could in theory switch to a lower viscosity oil just to be safe or get an oil pressure gauge.

There is a regulator in the oil pump that will prevent oil pressure from getting to high

there is a tiny regulator in the pump that attempts to keep the oil pressure from getting to high, can't remember which team it was but one of the HR race cars was noting over 110psi at 8000rpm.it's to bad the pump is located on the crank snout or it would be a great pump for a wet sump system, unfortunately high rpm's still effect it similar to the issues the old rb26's had when the crank nose vibrates it puts a huge strain on the tight clearances in the pump, imo this is what most likely killed megan370's motor not the vvel. the pickup has a screen in it so it is unlikely that a pin from the vvel got sucked into the pump and more likely that the pump blew cuz his rev limiter was raised, which lead to his vvel roasting and blowing.

I have a 19-row oil cooler, and when I first installed it, I suffered extremely long oil warm-up times. I like to see at least 180°F on my oil temp's before I shut her off again because I want to make sure that any water residue from the internal combustion reaction that made it into the oil is evaporated out and not remain in the sump contaminating it. My solution was to place a thin aluminum plate as an air-barrier on the front of the cooler blocking off all but 4-5 rows on top. I secured it with industrial strength double stick tape to hold it in place.

Even now, during winter time in 40-ish degree weather, my commute to work (9 mile trip) I am barely at 180°F even though I'm driving in traffic conditions with a few lights. During the summer, with 80/90°F temps, it still takes about 5-8 minutes before temps reach 180, and then stabilize around 200°F under normal driving conditions. Under spirited driving, oil temps climb to 210 - 220°F depending on ambient temp and how hard I'm pushing, but cool off relatively quickly afterwards when I return to normal driving (steady speed, no hard acceleration).

Hope this helps in better understanding what you might want to do.

Well.........I start my car well before I need to leave to go to PT. I am talking like 10-15 mins ahead of time. I live in an apartment complex where a lot of other folks in my profession live, so no one gets pissed off when she is growling at 0515-0530 in the morning, lol. When I lived in a housing development, it was a different story.

In the winter, I have a much harder time getting up to temp. I let it run for at least 15 mins before I get in to take off. A lot of times, the temp never goes above 160 when it is cold out. I have seen 150-170 while on the highway on my way home to Baltimore. I just set the cruise and stay outta boost. I have a 34-row; non-thermostatic, no block-off.......for reference.

try driving the Z at lower gears longer that would warm up the oil faster...I drive mostly freeway early mornings at 5th gear only for 5 to 7mins around rpm's lower than 4K at a speed of 75 -79miles. 190F is reached faster... then gun it like a mad man....:tup:

City driving would play mostly 2nd and 3rd gear rpms running at 3K+ longer that should do it faster.

I'm in Dallas and just bought the Z1 34 Row kit to be able to take it to the track. The 34 will be overkill for daily driving as I've only hit about 230 even on the hottest days. Nonetheless, I figure its always better to have too much cooling as I can always block it off.

I've seen the OPs using velcro to attach block-off plate, but I wanted something different. I went to Home Depot today and bought J-channel used for mount mirrors for $10. Then I cut some black foam board from Office Depot I had sitting around from another project that sits in the channel nicely and won't rattle around. Also very easy to cut in case I just want to partially block. Here's photos with and without

I gotta get mine installed. Temps in the low 90's. Driving across a long bridge in 5th at 5K RPM's, my oil hit 235!

If I let it rev over 3k even at low throttle, it starts making boost. I feel you though, lol.

I agree. VQ pumps have been notorious for failure. But our VHR's 7500rpm redline was enough to grenade the classic DE pump. So we are better off than the VQ was around 2003. I believe that the VR38 took the pump off the crank and put it down on a chain. But, the Toyota 2JZ seemed to have no problems with the oil pump drive gear interfacing directly on the crankshaft... so there is hope in working with it.

This is why I won't put a lightweight dampener on my Z. The change in vibration pitch on the end of the crankshaft.

Did you have a thermostatic plate when you initially installed ur oil cooler?

What size Oil Cooler do you guys recommend for DD and Spirited/Weekend Tracking? A friend of mine had a 25 Row and told me it was good for DD but that his Temps hit 240 after a few rounds at the track. Would a 34 Row be more suffice?

depends on what kind of oil cooler it is. the z1 kits use the setrab 6 series cooler. i'd say just get the z1 34 row with the thermostatic plate since it looks like you're in a hot climate.

No - was not very well aware of all the options at the time. I just chose the Stillen Kit thinking I can't go wrong, and I did not see an option for a thermostatic plate, so I had no clue. Don't get me wrong, I trust the hoses and fittings knowing they are Stillen and they won't blow apart on the road somewhere, I just wish they had an option for the thermo-plate...

the thermo plate they charge you 50 bucks for is made by Hayden automotive. it's like 25-30 bucks online.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hda-243/overview/

It takes @ least 10' for my oil temp to see 80°C holding the RPMs around 1,500 RPM, on a cold start in mid 80s F. I wait ‘till the water temp is @ 50°C ‘till I Roll Out.

yeah i had a thermostatic plate it was one of those bad lines/ defect things.

Gtr has 2 stage one scavenges from the turbos and sprays toward the pickup the other goes from the pickup through the cooler and to the engine, driven from it's own timing chain.

The vk56vd also has the pump driven by a separate timing chain, but it is the traditional one stage from there.

shouldn't forget to mention that they do this so they can run the pump slower than the crank between .5-.75x crank rpm

I'm beginning to think either my thermo plate did not get installed or it's not working properly. This morning it was 64 degrees and it took 18 miles just for my oil temp to hit 180, and once I started cruising on the hwy at 80mph it started going below 180. That is ridiculous! I almost wish I didn't have this cooler, I should not have to wait that long before I can go wot with piece of mind.

My guess is that somehow you got the non-thermostatic plate. 18 miles is way too long. I'd contact the vendor and ask them what's going on.

I did, here is his response.....

Brandon,

That sounds about right to me as the cooling will begin as soon as it opens. We will be releasing a block off plate when the company that we’re going through can finalize the production cost.

Thanks,

Well, looks like it's time to DIY a blockoff plate and put it over the cooler. Leave it on unless ambient temps are in the 90s. There's a pretty good walkthrough here from what I remember.

I was under the impression that the thermo plate should allow me to not need a block off plate. I'm starting to second guess my purchase of this cooler, since I'll only be doing street driving.

Making the blockoff plate isn't the worst thing in the world. Personally, I'd rather have to throw a block off plate on it in cooler temps than have to baby the car all summer long without an oil cooler. If it really bothers you, take it off. Someone will buy it from you.

I still think there was some kind of snafu with the plate. The way I understand it, it would close back up again as it cools down, so you shouldn't have temps under 180 on the freeway. Again, this is all hypothetical to me since I live in a place where summer goes until October. Someone from a more normal climate may be able to help more.

The Z1 plate is rated at 169, so having it dip below 180 degrees on the hwy doesn't cause me to question its functionality, what is causing me to question it is the long oil warm up times.

I think you're basically at the point where you need to fashion some type of cover for colder months, or take the cooler off.

I'll see how it goes, the Z will be stored during the winter months. Will continuously driving the car taking 18 miles to reach 180 degree oil temp be bad for the engine?

As per others, put something in front of the cooler to block flow (doesn't have to be permanent for this test; a piece of cardboard will work) and see what happens. If temp rises faster, you may have a thermostat problem.

I doubt you'll have a problem with the oil being too cold, although your fuel economy may take a bit of a hit since you're in the cold start part of the map more.