Oil temperature concerns

[adamred]

Ahh the glorious spring weather in NJ, 80 deg, beautiful. Had a spirited ride home from work yesterday and noticed the oil temperature creeping a bit, a constant and I'm sure most of the time needless concern but when it moves beyond what I'm used to I raise a red flag.

Some recent history, motor was just out, did a new clutch, fixed up some big leaks, thermo o ring, sender, breather hose, etc, the biggies, new tranny oil and obviously a full oil/filter change. This was 2 weeks ago

New tires all around, 2 weeks ago, at a shop that does a ton of Porsche's

October of 2002, valves adjusted, new cap, wires, rotor, oil change, etc.

When I reached under the car to feel the lines running to the front trombone one was hot, one cool, is this normal? Should both be hot? They were both a bit dented prior to these service's but the oil flow seemed to be OK as I haven't had this issue since the weeks leading up to the valve adjustment..

Thoughts? am I just being nervous?

Adam

[masraum]

How high did the temp go?

One will be too hot to touch or very nearly, and the other will be much cooler, but not cool, more like very warm. Which did you have.

[adamred]

I'm pretty sure one was hot, I guess the other warmish, not stone cold, temperature really wasn't out of control hot but I was just starting to have flashbacks from last summer/fall when it would regularly climb to the 225 range after 1/2 hour of highway driving.

Since the valve adjust is has stayed pegged at 185/190 no matter how long or aggressive. This was the first time it crept above 200...

[Chuck Moreland]

What temperature where you seeing?

When closed, the thermostat only valves off one side of the cooler loop. So if you put your hand on the lines near the thermostat it is normal to feel one hot line and one cold (provided the temperature is low enough to keep the thermostat closed).

If you feel them at the oil cooler end you should find they are both cold.

On the other hand, if the engine was warm enough to open the tstat, then you do have a problem. Could be failed thermostat or those dented oil lines. Minor denting is okay, but if the flow is substantially restricted you need to fix that problem. I've seen them crushed completely flat by cleverly placed floor jacks.

[Chuck Moreland]

If your temp was 200 the external thermostat should have been open.

So you likely have either crushed lines or a failed thermostat.

[adamred]

So if the engine was heated up beyond the thermo opening threshold then both should feel hot, or still just one?

I need to re-examine the lines after this round of service to make sure they were not dented any more if they have remained the same and it happens again my next target would be the thermostat.

Easy part to replace?

[Chuck Moreland]

Yes, if the tstat was opend they should both be hot.

[rfix'n]

Easy part to replace?

If your replacing the lines, yes, then you can cut them off the t-stat with a dremel or similar cutoff tool.

If your replacing the t-stat and not the lines it can be difficult to get the connections /fittings apart. Not much room in the fender, I dropped the lines and t-stat as a unit for better access. Still ended up buggering one line, the upside of that was I got to replace it with one of Chuck's finned lines!

[adamred]

Mmmmm, finned lines, mmmmmmm, yeah a possibility although I've sort of blown the $ load this year.....

[adamred]

Another question, if the tstat is shot wouldn't the car continue to heat up until major overheating occurs or engine shut down? Or if the engine is in a good state of tune will it keep itself reasonably cool for a while?

Just curious b/c it didn't peg into the red it just seemed to be running a bit hotter then usual.

Adam