Oil Temps

[Crazy4Honda]

Ok so i was wondering if anyone has a oil temp gauge in there car? what are your temps? i just recently installed a oil cooler and temp gauge and last week when i did a track event Temps were getting way up there, maxed out my autometer gauge, if anyone has any insight on this lmk POST UP YOUR TEMPS!!!

This ad is not displayed to registered or logged-in members. Register your free account today and become a member on Honda-Tech!

[slammed_93_hatch]

I think most of the autometer gauges I've seen top out at ~300 degrees F

It very very normal for the SOHC VTEC motors to see that kind of temp, usually the "kit" coolers aren't big enough.

The B series vtec motors also see high oil temps but usually a decent sized oil cooler will bring the temps down.

The non vtec stuff usually does see that high of temps, but it can/will happen.

What motor are you running?
What oil are you running?
Were is the temp sensor insalled?
Did you have any problems with VTEC, if its a vtec motor!

[STN_Pat]

I don't race, but I usually let go if anything goes beyond 250F. With my cooler, i can't go any higher than 220F with a non vtec B20 with 6500rpm cutoff even when it's crazy hot and humid, and with my old type R (12:1 with cams), I could never get it hotter than 250-255 after 35-40min with a 9k rpm cutoff.

Temp from the oil pan, mecanic gauge, Moroso RR pan (5.5-6L)

I've seen many gauge giving a bad reading...

[Stinkycheezmonky]

B20B with cams, FC RX7 oil cooler, and full-size C&R aluminum radiator: 240*F max on a warm day, 220*F on a cool day. Cruising around on the street at ~70-75* outside temp I usually won't see more than 190*F.

Prior to the oil cooler I was seeing +280*F on the same engine on track. My gauge stopped at 280*, so I'm not sure how much hotter than that it got.

Measured with an autometer mechanical gauge in the oil pan.

[dbang003]

interested in hearing where the OP had his temp gauge located.

is the pan the best source for oil temps? i'm going to be switching from drag racing back to autox/hpde and will be using a cooler and want to know the best location for the temp gauge.

thanks.

-drew

[slammed_93_hatch]

I don't think there is a "best place" it is just important to remember that putting it at different locations will give you different readings.

Some people like the pan, as the is the hottest the oil is going to get, that is were the oil goes after it does all its works, work=heat.

Some people like after the cooler (on the way back into the motor to do the work), as they feel it is important to know the temp of the oil before it goes and does the work.

Really BOTH places would be best, but the majority of cases either one will do fine.

[kungfuSiR]

On my car with a stock B16 and GT2871R I see a max of 260*F on the track on a warm day and a max of 250*F on a cool day.

On the street I see an average of 210*F-220*F. I'm also not running an oil cooler, which I plan to address this off season.

[scratchymaster]

I use one of these:

Its around the oil filter. Does not actually touch the oil of course, but its not like Castrol prints well defined temperature data anyway.
Running my b17 in the desert I got up to 260F.

[volcom40street2]

I was getting up to 260-280 at Cal Speedway which was a little scary.

Stock radiator and no oil cooler.
B18B turbo block all forged with sleeves. Turbo kit had been taking off prior and looking for a stock b20 bottom end.

Taped into the oil pan to side of drain plug.

[Crazy4Honda]

Thank for the Info guys, the current engine setup is a B20 Vtec stock internals, JRSC on 9psi with a LHT cooler and a 18 row oil cooler, the temp sensor is in the sandwich adapter and i am using mobile clean 5000 10-30w

[Crazy4Honda]

Originally Posted by Stinkycheezmonky

B20B with cams, FC RX7 oil cooler, and full-size C&R aluminum radiator: 240*F max on a warm day, 220*F on a cool day. Cruising around on the street at ~70-75* outside temp I usually won't see more than 190*F.

Prior to the oil cooler I was seeing +280*F on the same engine on track. My gauge stopped at 280*, so I'm not sure how much hotter than that it got.

Measured with an autometer mechanical gauge in the oil pan.

you got any pictures of this? i just picked one of these up because i really liked the size, how did it mount up? what chassis?

[Crazy4Honda]

ohh and i live in Arizona so temps are exactly cool, ambient temps were about 98 degrees that day

[Lo-Buck EF]

280* on a hot day. this past weekend it was way cool out so 240-250ish. gsr, no oil cooler, 8500 limiter, 10w40 kendell

[Stinkycheezmonky]

Originally Posted by Crazy4Honda

you got any pictures of this? i just picked one of these up because i really liked the size, how did it mount up? what chassis?

I don't currently, but a few people asked me about it, so I'll have to get some posted up.

The basic mounting:
-Sandwich plate at the oil filter, cocked so the fittings point out at ~10:00.
-Hydraulic -10 lines, running under the IM and over the driver's-side mount to the oil cooler. (I did see a small pressure drop with these, but wasn't 100% sure about using -8 lines for adequate flow).
-Cooler held in front of the radiator with brackets attached to the core support.

The only tricky part was the sandwich plate, which for whatever reason on mine required denting that metal coolant pipe on the back of the block (B-series). I just took the pipe off, banged the crap out of it with a hammer, and test-fitted.

Before doing THAT, the plate would get cocked, and not seal against the block. This resulted in 6-7qts of oil all over the garage floor

Car is a '93 Civic.

It is pretty sizeable, and it has been mistaken for an intercooler before.

[kungfuSiR]

You may also consider upgrading to a racing oil at least for when you are on the track.

I run Amsoil Dominator® Synthetic 15W-50 Racing Oil (RD50) http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/rd50.aspx

It's not cheap but I feel a lot better when I see high temperatures on my oil temp gauge knowing I have a high quality oil that won't break down.

[Lo-Buck EF]

we had 2 oil cooler failures this weekend. i definately will not be running one again. my last one is in garage #5 trash can at watkins glen.

[descartesfool]

What failed on the cooler and what brand and model? My Mocal 25 row oil cooler has been bullet-proof for years so I am wondering what caused an oil cooler failure.

[Stinkycheezmonky]

Also wondering details.

[JuanTushag]

I have had some issues with high oil temps . Previously i was running the GSR water to oil heat exchanger , and that seemed to work great in the cooler weather. ( also I have a full size Fluidyne radiator that has PERFECTLY sealed ducting , so the radiator is used at maximum efiicency ) With the radiator ducting the water temps are never over 180,,,even on the hottest days . But the oil skyrocketed. My gauge was pegging at 300 degrees measured in the pan. I tried a basic oil cooler but on the hot days the temps still got to over 300. Originally I had the cooler in the headlight duct ,, then behind a fog light. Still ran really hot on hot days. Additionally i had considerable pressure loss when not using -10 lines.

so as of late I upgraded to a Fluidyne double pass Nascar style oil cooler. It is like a small radiator. I put it NEXT to the radiator and made some simple ( but not complete ) ducting. It proved to be extremely effective. This way it sees clean air and behind the cooler is open so as not to restrict flow or send hot air into the radiator
At the nationals it was around over 90 degrees and with the decreased air density the car was harder to cool down. The car now ran at at 240 to 250. And during the 45 minuite main the temps got up to 270 in the pan. I am sure with proper ducting this would never see over 250 degrees. Keep in mind this is a pretty extreme application as this engine lives between 7500 and 9k rpm.

My reasoning behind building such a heavy duty oil cooling system was that I noticed when above 280 degrees on the oil temp the engine would backfire during downshifts ( not really backfire ,, but it would throw out a flame from the exhaust and make some noise,,, this would get worse and worse as the oil temps got higher) An engine builder told me this was a sign of valves starting to hang up. I did later blow an engine due to a failed valve spring. So i was all about adressing this for the nationals. One of the biggest increases in oil temp happens when im pushing deeper into the high RPM.

Here is a link to my nationals magazine thingy.

http://www.urbanracer.com/articles/a...asp?a=3985&z=2

There are some good pics of the set up I ran at the nationals. If you scroll down they are in the 6th block of pictures . I couldnt imagine running anything bigger than this. The drawbacks to this are the weight on the front end. The cooler is 6lbs. and it holds 1.2 quarts of oil ,,thats another 3 lbs,, then we put the big oil filter up there too,, thats got to be another 6lbs. so I added around 15lbs in the worst place possible on the car.

The cooler is expensive but really well made. It looks like a heavy duty intercooler but the insides of the tubes/passages is filled with "turbulators". I think it was around 300$ , but i will never have to worry about high oil temps again!!!!

Also I used to run Mobil One oil. i have for a long long time . But I noticed it did not hold up well to high oil temps. I switched to Valvoline Racing NON STREET LEGAL synthetic oil. ( VV854 ) This stuff did not turn color right away like mobil 1 did under extreme use. Motul was a little better and seemed to last a little longer but my oil temps seemed to run a little higher with Motul( by 10 degrees) I thought this was suprising ,,, but mabey it maintaines viscosity better or something.

thats my story, im sticking to it

[nscirocco]

hottest oil temp i've had was 335F (pre cooler) .. ran 15mins of a street circuit race without a drop of water. Motul really works, the block was completely warped after, but the bearings looked brand new .. saved the crank, rods, pistons

[Stinkycheezmonky]

Renan, I had the same experience with Mobil 1 synthetic. It was noticeably thinner to the touch after a few sessions on track. That Valvoline sounds interesting though, how much is it?

[JuanTushag]

Originally Posted by Stinkycheezmonky

Renan, I had the same experience with Mobil 1 synthetic. It was noticeably thinner to the touch after a few sessions on track. That Valvoline sounds interesting though, how much is it?

I found the valvoline on Amazon for around 8$ per quart. ( they sell them in a 6pack for 50bucks shipped ) Thats a pretty good deal to me considering it is ( in my opinion ) the next best thing to Motul. They have a 20w50 and a 10w30. I ran them mixed to make basically a 15w40.

This is probably the oil I will settle on using

r

[kungfuSiR]

I'd definitely give the Amsoil a try. I've tried the Motul and the Amsoil and have found the Amsoil to maintain its viscosity better than the Motul and it's actually cheaper than the Motul.

[Lo-Buck EF]

i dont know what jeramy was running on his 944, but im assuming a line let go causing a fire. mine started leaking somewhere in the back of the block. i honestly didnt even look for what exactly was leaking. i think it may have been the gasket on the sandwich plate. but i just took it off. it was on last years engine all season with zero issues, so im not sure what all of a sudden let go (it was only on this years engine for 2 sessions) it was a modded b&m kit. all that was left was the core. i changed to a better aeroquip line and got rid of the remote filter nonsense.
and as far as oils go, i used to run gtx till this year when i noticed that when i check my oil hot it wouldnt stick to the dipstick. which means it isnt sticking to the bearings. i tried valvoline vr1 20w50 and that worked alot better and dropped the oil temps by ~10*. now im trying the 10w40 kendell and so far so good. but the ambient temps have been alot cooler.

[rice_classic]

A how to a while back.
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=538065

The pictures are gone but go look up the parts I listed. Also, mixing gauges and senders will give you incorrect readings. A VDO sender and an autometer gauge will show you with temps over 300 degrees FYI.

If you "maxed" out your autometer gauge and you have an oil cooler I bet something is wrong.