Dexos2 for the track update

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mbar1

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A few weeks ago I posted here regarding my owners manual requirement for 2016 Camaro SS to use Dexos2 5W40 for track/racing. Valvoline SynPower MST 5W40. Car comes with stock oil cooler.
High speed 2+ miles track. Weather high 80's and humid. Every session After 3 laps engine temps climb to 300F and stay there for the rest of the 25 min session.
I hope these temps do not cause any problems.
eek.gif
 
what oil is recommended for non-track use? I'd want the track oil viscosity at 300°F to be at least what non track oil gets at 212°F. But seeing that the MST will be about 5.8 cst, Id wager it's not thick enough. In the bearings temps will be much higher yet, at least 350°F.

Get a better oil cooler.
 
300F is getting up there. Obviously, any racing events are going to wear out all components much faster - including engine and transmission. Turning the heater on full blast may give you a little more cooling, driver discomfort will be minimal. What are your water temps? What RPM are you shifting at? Dropping shift points may help - higher RPM = more heat. Consider an extra oil cooler in the future. Also, unless it's a dry sump engine (doubtful), monitor your oil pressure in the hard turns if possible. If the OP is fluctuating or dropping significantly during cornering, that's even worse than the hi oil temp.
 
Interesting that GM recommends an SM rated diesel oil in a vehicle with a cat converter, with a pretty low TBN & US high sulfur gasoline. Can't believe Red Line 15W50, or Mobil 1 15W50 (or even 0W40) wouldn't be a better choice.
 
Originally Posted By: mbar1
Regular oil / stock is 5W30. On normal driving oil runs at ~200F

I doubt that, all GM gasoline engines starting in 2011 came with Dexos1 rated oil. I find that hard to believe they'd go back to regular 5w30.

GM makes bank off the Dexos licensing, I really don't see them giving that up anytime soon. Not to mention, it covers their behind if a customer has an engine problem/failure and said customer wasn't using a Dexos rated oil.
 
Originally Posted By: bigt61
300F is getting up there. Obviously, any racing events are going to wear out all components much faster - including engine and transmission. Turning the heater on full blast may give you a little more cooling, driver discomfort will be minimal. What are your water temps? What RPM are you shifting at? Dropping shift points may help - higher RPM = more heat. Consider an extra oil cooler in the future. Also, unless it's a dry sump engine (doubtful), monitor your oil pressure in the hard turns if possible. If the OP is fluctuating or dropping significantly during cornering, that's even worse than the hi oil temp.

The "funny" thing is that the water/coolant temp runs at ~190F the whole session ( 25 min). Shifting around 6000 rpm. It's an 8 speed auto , I let it do the shifting ( transmission fluid runs 220-230F)
 
Is the oil cooler in this car just a plate cooler that leads to the radiator cooling? or is it a separate independent cooling loop? My guess would be connected to the radiator, but I'm not sure. In that case an independent loop would be awesome.
 
Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
Is the oil cooler in this car just a plate cooler that leads to the radiator cooling? or is it a separate independent cooling loop? My guess would be connected to the radiator, but I'm not sure. In that case an independent loop would be awesome.

I'm afraid I do not know what type of oil cooler the car has. Here's a funny one: GM honor the warranty for track events on this car as long as you are not modifying it. So...I can't really install a better cooler :-/
I wonder how come the coolant ran so much lower (200-220)
 
Originally Posted By: mbar1
Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
Is the oil cooler in this car just a plate cooler that leads to the radiator cooling? or is it a separate independent cooling loop? My guess would be connected to the radiator, but I'm not sure. In that case an independent loop would be awesome.

I'm afraid I do not know what type of oil cooler the car has. Here's a funny one: GM honor the warranty for track events on this car as long as you are not modifying it. So...I can't really install a better cooler :-/
I wonder how come the coolant ran so much lower (200-220)


If I'm pushing my car, the oil will get hotter than coolant, as the "cooler" is just a small block that passes oil and coolant. Thats with a turbo car though that would heat the oil much more under boost. Once I'm off boost for any bit of time the temps come back down.

The other explanation is that the oil cooler IS a separate loop, and its just not efficient at cooling. At the same time, those temps at the track, with that amount of power on a warm day may not be too out of range.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
I'd be running Mobil 1 15W50 with those oil temps!

Will 15W50 cause any problems in the summer with regular street driving? Stock oil is 5W30
 
Thicker oil generally raises temps, doesn't usually lower them. Just stands up better to the heat.

Way back in 05 at my first track event with my sig car the oil temps exceeded 300 degrees. All the SRT engineers (3 present) said don't worry about it. I emailed M1 as I was running the specified 0w-40. They basically said there oil was good to much higher temps than that and not to worry.

Car has been to dozens of events all over the country, currently well over 100k miles and running stronger than ever...
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Thicker oil generally raises temps, doesn't usually lower them. Just stands up better to the heat.

Way back in 05 at my first track event with my sig car the oil temps exceeded 300 degrees. All the SRT engineers (3 present) said don't worry about it. I emailed M1 as I was running the specified 0w-40. They basically said there oil was good to much higher temps than that and not to worry.

Car has been to dozens of events all over the country, currently well over 100k miles and running stronger than ever...

Thanks guys !
 
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