What is the normal oil temp in hot weather driving?

[Maxx1]

Mine was reading 242 today. It was in the low 90s weather wise. I wonder what the limit is on organic oil before it breaks down?

[GO DAWG GO]

Maxx!

Thats hot! I try to keep mine below 230 and optimum is 190-220. Did you feel the car loosing power. Stock Intercooler? Turbo's dont like the heat. Mine certainly doesnt. I have the same problem and need to install another cooler or 1 big one in the front valance. I would avoid driving it at 240+. IMO

Bob

[DDDD]

WOW! That's hot.

My car has a passenger side fender oil cooler which comes online after 180 degrees, and if that doesn't provide enough cooling, my front mounted oil cooler comes on. My car briefly spikes to maybe 200 or 210 at the most before the front oil coolers kick in, one after the other.

In my records for my car I noticed that the previous owner had to replace the oil thermometer sensor thing at the engine bay oil tank area because the car was not sending oil to the passenger side cooler, and that might be a very simple explanation for what is going on with your car. Bad sensor?

If somebody else doesn't tell you the exact part, I will dig through my paperwork...

The stock intercooler isn't much help, but I don't think that is the problem here unless you were running your turbo the whole time and that caused your temp spike. An intercooler would help, but mainly when you are actually on boost. If you are just driving around, than your car is way too hot, IMO.

It was not an expensive part or anything. I can't say for sure that something is wrong, just seems like 240 is too hot.

I recommend getting a front mounted oil cooler, anyway.

You do have a passenger front fender cooler, don't you? You can run a plastic hose under the front of your car to force air on to your passenger side cooler. They sell ram air brake duct hoses which will work. Just strap the duct under your front bumper so that it scoops up plenty of air and blow it across the front of your cooler. Some people hook up fans, and front mount coolers often come with fans.

[Maxx1]

That's what I was thinking too.

This car has the front mounted oil cooler. I never heard the fan kick on so I am wondering what is going on with that. Is there a way to test it other than crawl under the car and jumper 12V to it? I'll have to look for the sensor.

[hobieboy]

I am pretty sure the fan is added to model year 87 and after.

Even without the fan, I didn't think the temp should go up to >240F unless you are sitting in traffic and not moving at all.

[ael911]

I am not a turbo guy so I hope I don't get blasted for posting on this forum

The fan switch is set to come on at 240. Way too high in my opinion. I wired a manual switch so I can control the fan myself. You can find the instructions on the DIY section on this site. There is also a BMW thermo switch upgrade that turns on the fan at around 210. I also blocked off the bottom of my cooler to trap the air from escaping. That and the fan helped lower the temps about 15-20 degrees.

[Gino]

before I installed a 6" Spahl fan onto my fender cooler with a 180oF thermoswitch, I used to remove my passenger fog lamp during the summer and that helped to cool down the fender cooler with a direct air flow to it; if you're looking for a quick-cheap solution. of course, doesn't do anything for sto-n-go traffic.

[DDDD]

Originally Posted by Gino

before I installed a 6" Spahl fan onto my fender cooler with a 180oF thermoswitch, I used to remove my passenger fog lamp during the summer and that helped to cool down the fender cooler with a direct air flow to it; if you're looking for a quick-cheap solution. of course, doesn't do anything for sto-n-go traffic.

Yeah, and to make it one step better, just run a hose from the fog light hole to the front of the cooler to blow air directly across it...

I am not 100% sure that your car has a fan, Maxx. I think that if it is stock than maybe all you have is a sensor which should open up the oil lines at the back of the car once a certain temperature is reached, and then the oil lines will transport oil all the way to the front fender of your car and through the cooler and back again to the engine in the rear. It is the oil lines, more than the crappy, inefficient trombone cooler, that actually cool the oil.

I don't think you have a fan, but I could be totally wrong, and also the previous owner may have installed a thing or two. Don't quote me on that!

Anyway, you can put a fan in there, or update to the Carrera oil cooler, or just bite the bullet and set up a good front cooler.

Some people simply remove the fender cooler and run a front mounted cooler directly to the oil tank in the back of the car with those same oil lines. In other words, some people bypass the trombone cooler completely and run just the front cooler. I can't vouch for how well that works, but it would work a lot better than your current set up. Most front mount coolers come with a built in fan which you can often set up to trigger manually. Mine was set up to trigger using the rear wiper switch on the dash since I don't have a rear wiper.

There are several ways you can do this....if your sensor is fine then you probably need a better set up than what you have now.

[Maxx1]

Originally Posted by DDDD

Yeah, and to make it one step better, just run a hose from the fog light hole to the front of the cooler to blow air directly across it...

I am not 100% sure that your car has a fan, Maxx. I think that if it is stock than maybe all you have is a sensor which should open up the oil lines at the back of the car once a certain temperature is reached, and then the oil lines will transport oil all the way to the front fender of your car and through the cooler and back again to the engine in the rear. It is the oil lines, more than the crappy, inefficient trombone cooler, that actually cool the oil.

I don't think you have a fan, but I could be totally wrong, and also the previous owner may have installed a thing or two. Don't quote me on that!

Anyway, you can put a fan in there, or update to the Carrera oil cooler, or just bite the bullet and set up a good front cooler.

Some people simply remove the fender cooler and run a front mounted cooler directly to the oil tank in the back of the car with those same oil lines. In other words, some people bypass the trombone cooler completely and run just the front cooler. I can't vouch for how well that works, but it would work a lot better than your current set up. Most front mount coolers come with a built in fan which you can often set up to trigger manually. Mine was set up to trigger using the rear wiper switch on the dash since I don't have a rear wiper.

There are several ways you can do this....if your sensor is fine then you probably need a better set up than what you have now.

Thanks,

I found out the next morning that the temp gage was actually reading 212, not 242.... which is good. It goes from 180 to 210 and then 250....with the needle over the 210, it looked like it was 240. I am still getting to know the car.

At any rate, 212 IMO is pretty hot so I may take your suggestion and upgrade to hopefully keep it around 200 max.

[DDDD]

Originally Posted by Maxx1

Thanks,

I found out the next morning that the temp gage was actually reading 212, not 242.... which is good. It goes from 180 to 210 and then 250....with the needle over the 210, it looked like it was 240. I am still getting to know the car.

At any rate, 212 IMO is pretty hot so I may take your suggestion and upgrade to hopefully keep it around 200 max.

It never hurts to have any extra cooling you can. 212 doesn't sound too bad, but you can probably do better with even some homemade tricks like the hose ducting and a fan. Maybe the Carrera fender cooler...

If you get a front cooler, you will need some sort of fiberglass spoiler to hang below your bumper up front and house the cooler. Since you aren't interested in the early look, you could try the RUF Yellowbird front bumper cap, which would replace your entire front bumper, but still retain all your lights and also it will look 'stock', or close to it. It is really aerodynamic. My friend has one on his car.

[RarlyL8]

212 isn't hot. The water vapor in the oil cannot evaporate until you hit that number. Unfortunately with these air cooled engines the oil does need to stay under ~220 to maximize engine life.

[Maxx1]

Originally Posted by RarlyL8

212 isn't hot. The water vapor in the oil cannot evaporate until you hit that number. Unfortunately with these air cooled engines the oil does need to stay under ~220 to maximize engine life.

That's good then, I won't even worry about it. What does concern me is everything under the hood is very hot to the touch. That MSD module is very hot ... as is the coil. I hope they are designed to run in brutal conditions. I am thinking most MSD applications ( such as on muscle cars ) have lots of open air around them and they wouldn't see the heat soak like they do in that tight sealed up compartment on the 930. I guess time will tell.