A new member with a 1987 Carrera, trying to make it live in hot climate.

[kamaro]

Hi Guys,

I'm a proud owner of this 1987 Carrera, its bone stock with nice factory options (electric sunroof, electric seats, ocean blue with white ivory interior and dark blue dash) :



I'm not new in this forum, in a matter of fact, I always buy my parts from Pelican, and I just got a large consignment from them :



I live in a very hot climate, where in summer the temps could be as high as 110F, and when in drive in these days I can see the temps will rise upto 2/3 of the sweep (but it will not reach the red area), my car came with a factory oil cooler with fan in the front, but I still feel its not enough, is there any kit that can improve the cooling capacity of the engine in hot climate?, I want my car to live long and yet I want to drive it when ever I want to. I'm thinking about a second oil cooler maybe? or an updated engine cooling fan that could flow more air?

[TheSt|G]

There certainly are dual oil cooler setups out there. Example:

https://www.elephantracing.com/porsche/911/oil-cooling-for-911/oil-cooler-kits/

[Jesse16]

I personally think that you'll be fine with the stock set-up if its working as designed and you have no rodent nests behind the fan on top of the cylinders. I think your fan is as good as it gets. Our cars cool very well in my opinion and its not a problem unless the temp actually gets too high. I suggest you "wait and see" vs fixing what may not be broke. More modern oil surely helps some also. No problem getting that motor hot !
Bigger problem is that heat cooking you inside. Factory AC not likely to help at 110 outside.
Quick added point. I've done track days at AMP when ambient temps were near 100 and I've never had temps go red. Our cars are not quite that delicate.

[HaroldMHedge]

Great looking car.

For my car an 87 Carrera coupe which is venetian blue I needed additional cooling and used a lower temperature oil cooler switch without a manual switch. The background and it's use is explained here - low oil temp front oil cooler sensor p/n please.

Another good thread oil cooler fan t'stat and switch installation.

Before adding the lower temperature thermostat oil temperatures would get up to about 260 F on the hottest days now only to about 230 F.

[T77911S]

take note if the temp drops when driving vs sitting. the engine tstat is often overlooked and this can be an indication of one that is stuck if the temp does not go down while driving. it can take 5+ miles for it to drop.

[universeman]

Be careful, I agree - drive the car a while to see what happens next summer so at least you can establish a baseline. Not clear from your post whether you've had the car for a while, or if it's new to you.

Lots on here are fanatical about oil and oil temps. Porsche put the red on the oil temp gauge for the same reason they put the red on the tach - that's the danger zone. Below the red is not the danger zone. So if you occasionally go into the area above the 2/3 mark you're not going to blow up your car. Remember, modern oils hold up much much better to high heat than did the old ones. However, all things equal it's ideal to keep your temps stable and in the "green zone" so if you see excessive heat then and only then should you attack it, IMO.

I'm not an expert, just an owner. My car has 320k miles on it, though, in Texas with stock cooling (was a Central Valley CA car for most of its life, also hot), so I think that's worth noting about my experience.

[86 911 Targa]

^^^^^
Nason temp switch.
210F Close.
197F Open.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1T4GUEA_enUS570US570&q=nason+switch&spell=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2_ujPmeTXAhUGr1QKHXr2CdgQvwUIJigA&biw=1202&bih=774

Also, change out your temp gauge face to a numerical value.

pm me for ideas to upgrade your A/C.

Best,

Gerry

[69porsche]

Since you live in hot climate and addressing the oil temperature issue, you might want to address the Air Condition and have your car tinted...

[hoss4659]

I too live in a hot climate. As a precaution I removed the Carerra fog lights and installed the X-factory's perforated alum panels in the holes to get more air to the oil radiator.

I had the Griffiths updated AC system (with the additional condensors and fans in the left rear fender space) installed. It cools quicker than the system in my Lexus. $3.6k for parts and $1.8k for labor. A previous owner had the side and rear windows tinted which probably helps a bit.

[75 911s]

[3Ddesigns911]

Originally Posted by kamaro

Hi Guys,

I'm a proud owner of this 1987 Carrera, its bone stock with nice factory options (electric sunroof, electric seats, ocean blue with white ivory interior and dark blue dash) :



I'm not new in this forum, in a matter of fact, I always buy my parts from Pelican, and I just got a large consignment from them :



I live in a very hot climate, where in summer the temps could be as high as 110F, and when in drive in these days I can see the temps will rise upto 2/3 of the sweep (but it will not reach the red area), my car came with a factory oil cooler with fan in the front, but I still feel its not enough, is there any kit that can improve the cooling capacity of the engine in hot climate?, I want my car to live long and yet I want to drive it when ever I want to. I'm thinking about a second oil cooler maybe? or an updated engine cooling fan that could flow more air?

I used to live in the desert in California where it did get pretty hot in the summer. 110 was normal and it did get up over 120 easily on warm days. At the time I had an 84 Carrera which was my daily driver. The car was a European model with an oil cooler on the transmission also, and I never had any over heating issues, except the one time when my fan belt broke as I was crossing the Mojave desert.

I'd leave it as is if I were you.


Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[Tremelune]

The first thing you should do is check to see if your external thermostat is working with an IR gun. The next thing you should do is check for rodent nests behind your fan with a borescope. The next thing you should do is figure out when your cooler fan kicks on (I think the stock fan controller is set to engage well over 210°F).

When do your temps become excessive? Is it when you're hard on the throttle or stuck in traffic? If it's the former, cooling will benefit from an additional oil cooler (but this would be surprising if all is working correctly). If it's the latter, cooling will benefit from a better fan. The stock fan has been monstrously outclassed by some $50 modern fans.

Changing gauges will not increase accuracy—they all come marked with temps. 180°F is a bit below the first tick. 210°F is a bit above the first tick.



Before you install that AC stuff...Griffith makes a system that is far superior to the factory setup. Classic Retrofit just came out with an electric cooler that (by anecdotal accounts) is somewhere between stock and Griffth in terms of performance, but moves all weight to the front of the car where you want it. Both are $3-5k installed.

[GH85Carrera]

Get a bore hole camera and look around under the fan on the top of the cylinders. Even without a rodent problem there is often 30 years of crud built up on top of the cooling fins and the heads.

My engine was rodent free, but it had several oil leaks over the years. There was a decent coating of oily crud on what was supposed to be the cooling areas on the top of the engine.

I ended up doing a rebuild on my engine and that got everything nice and clean. With the Griffith's dual kheul AC I was comfortable driving out to California from Oklahoma through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Needles & Barstow, California in the middle of summer. It was 118 in Needles and my AC did struggle, but the temp gauge never got about 225.

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by kamaro

Hi Guys,

I'm a proud owner of this 1987 Carrera, its bone stock with nice factory options (electric sunroof, electric seats, ocean blue with white ivory interior and dark blue dash)

Hello and welcome to the forum! As you can see, we have a very welcoming and knowledgeable community - so you're definitely in the right place. I'm attaching a link to our site's DIY tech articles to help you with any maintenance or repairs down the line. Please let us know if you have any questions or if we can assist with any part needs.

Porsche 911 (1965-1989) Technical Articles - Pelican Parts

[Reiver]

Originally Posted by kamaro

Hi Guys,

I'm a proud owner of this 1987 Carrera, its bone stock with nice factory options (electric sunroof, electric seats, ocean blue with white ivory interior and dark blue dash) :



I'm not new in this forum, in a matter of fact, I always buy my parts from Pelican, and I just got a large consignment from them :



I live in a very hot climate, where in summer the temps could be as high as 110F, and when in drive in these days I can see the temps will rise upto 2/3 of the sweep (but it will not reach the red area), my car came with a factory oil cooler with fan in the front, but I still feel its not enough, is there any kit that can improve the cooling capacity of the engine in hot climate?, I want my car to live long and yet I want to drive it when ever I want to. I'm thinking about a second oil cooler maybe? or an updated engine cooling fan that could flow more air?

I live in Az and have an 83 Euro 911....I have the Carrera fender radiator and fan set up as in your car.
It is often 110 degree's here and the car runs fine....I might hit 210 if I am doing WOT runs....usually 195-200.
You may be on overkill here....or have another issue...

[pmax]

Great choice. The 3.2 w/G50 is the best 😊

Have you tried using a higher weight oil e.g. Porsche 10w60 ?

Someone mentioned tracking under similar condition. The constant airflow on the track no doubt helps with the cooling.

[Dkennel]

Live in West Texas, Hot summers over 110 not that rare, no problems with engine overheating, weak AC is another subject, upgrading a/c to rennaire helped with that, have never considered any upgrades to the engine cooling, overheating has just not been an issue for me.

[Barrpete]

I haven't had any issues with overheating with overheating in AZ summers which can easily hit 110 - 115. The only upgrade I've done is add a fan to the front fender oil cooler - which your '87 has from the factory. So if you're overheating something is wrong. Like T77911S said, you're thermostat could be the problem. Check the oil lines to front cooler after the car is warmed up. If they are still cold you thermostat isn't letting oil flow to the cooler.

As for air conditioning, there are many, many threads on this. A search will give you hours of reading.

[p911dad]

Make sure to check the integrity and condition of the 2 brass oil lines that run up to the oil cooler under the right hand door. With the age of the car it seems possible some mechanic or garage in the past crushed one or both with the jack or lift. The garage that crushed mine paid for a new one. If crushed the flow will be impeded. Also the oil thermostat on the engine should be checked (be very careful with this piece as the plug can corrode into the thermostat housing.) Also I second GH85Carrera's comment the rodent nests on top of the cylinders. That can be an engine killer.

[kuehl]

"temps could be as high as 110F, and when in drive in these days I can see the temps will rise up to 2/3 of the sweep"

2/3 turds is not that bad at 110F, and I'll assume you are not doing that every day.
The challenge is how to keep you cool at 110F while not dumping more heat in the motor.

My 87 black top cab was up'd to a 3.5 liter with a supercharger. On 90+F days I occasionally see it rise to 2/3 when its under a long boost, however it never goes past; I have modified the stock cooler.

When you experience the 2/3 are you driving local town or out on the highway cruising at 70 mph ? And what are your engine rpm's ?