Saw 260 F. at the track in both air and water cooled cars.

[Emission]

I ran a DE at Buttonwillow last Friday in my 930. It was hot - 96F. according to the thermometer outside.

Even with my "Oil Cooler Air Scoop", my oil temps would hit 260 F. during the heat of the day after a long run. I even pulled my fog light for more cooling - it didn't really help much at all.

Most interesting, I took a ride in a 2001 BMW 330i with an aftermarket oil temp gauge. As expected, temps were low at first, but then (after ten minutes of driving) the BMW also was indicating 260 F. for oil temp. The water temp needle remained perfectly in the middle of the gauge, as if nothing was unusual under the hood!

I was under the impression water-cooled engines kept their oil at a consistent temp. I guess I am wrong!

[k9handler]

260....ouch!

I have a rule that I follow...shut down before 250, that's just me and my little safety net.

With my ol' 2.7 I did see temps reach the 250 mark...then I added the Mocal cooler and never seen temps over 220!

With my 3.6 I have seen 230 but that's on the autobahn at 130 mph for extended periods...and if I just slow her down to 100 mph she will cool right down to 210 and stay there.

[TRE Cup]

We've had to install extra oil coolers and shrouding on DE and race cars here on the west coast. They just can't get rid of the heat fast enough when the outside temp is over 90.
Our clients report 220-230 maximum temps when it gets this hot or hotter. That is why we also strongly advise oils that don't break down until much higher temps (like synthetics)
you need that extra margin of safety when running at places like Buttonwillow or Willow

[1fastredsc]

Plus the guy in the bmw probably wasn't running 20-50. Like my mothers mercedes, the new german cars wanna see 10-40. Why i don't know, even thick synthetics seem kind of watery.

[Emission]

Thankfully, I was running brand-new Mobil 1 15W-50 (changed it the night before). On the drive home, temps were normal again. I am going to put a shroud under my fender to force the air through the cooler next time.

[74911s]

260 is way to hot unless you want to build a new motor.

[david lipman]

My daily driver 92 audi has both water and oil temp readouts. Driven fast on the highway, the oil temp will creep up from ~185 all the way to ~240, but the water temp doesn't move much at all.

I assume that 240-250 degrees is just as bad in a water cooled car as it is in an air cooled, but I've heard that new corvettes normally run hot and that the VW VR6 engines sometimes run well above that range and don't seem to have many engine problems.

[MMARSH]

I only got slightly over 210 during a two hour enduro this weekend at Buttonwillow. I have a B & B cooler mounted in the front.

[Bill Verburg]

There are several things to be concerned about w/ oil temps.

First - senders are only measuring T at one point in the oil circuit. That point is just down stream of the engine mounted oil cooler on the older(pre964 cars). You are not seeing the maximum T that is occuring in the engine. I would look for no higher than~220&degF on the gauge to leave a bit more of a safty margin. On my own car I like to keep it < 190&degFmax and change the oil more frequently as a consequence.

Second- Seals and other soft parts deteriorate at elevated rates, the deterioration is directly proportional to T. The seals in newer cars are better than they used to be but are still vulnerable.

[Harold_89_911]

With respect to the water temp gauge:

From what I've been reading in car magazines and on the clubb5 web site (for my passat), you can't put a lot of weight on the water temperature gauges in new cars. They do not really tell you what the water temperature is anymore. They have some electronics in them that will leave them at the set point if the temperature is within what it considers the normal range. It will move only if it goes way out of that range. According to Road & Track they do this to avoid people complaing about the exact operating temperature and comparing their car to other cars.

I have the same thing on our Passat. It does not matter how fast I drive, whether I have the AC on, or how hot it is outside. The temperature will rise quickly to the midpoint and stay right there for the rest of the drive. I kind of liked that info in the past as an indication how the engine was running. I gues they don't want you to know anymore.

[Emission]

Originally posted by Harold_89_911
"...they do this to avoid people complaing about the exact operating temperature and comparing their car to other cars."

Why even have the gauge?

I hate this dumbing-down process.