Oil Temp Question

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I am rumming GC in my Evolution. It normally runs at 70 Deg/C when ambient temperatures are below 80 Deg/F out of boost. I saw 90 Deg/C oil temp driving quickly up (Hwy 74 from Palm Desert) a mountain. At what Maximum oil temp would you be willing to slow down and let the oil cool. I have a 13 row external oil cooler. I expect to see 100 110 Deg/C oil temps in the summer. The oil temp sensor is at the drain plug.
Thanks.
 
I have run my Focus for over 2000 miles with 137°+ on Mobil 1. Assuming GC is as good, I cannot imagine you thinking about slowing down before 120°. That would leave a lot of cushion.
 
I am expecting the GC to be able to perform. I just hope that being a 35wt it will provide the protection I need in the Summer Desert Heat. The Aussies run 15W-50/20w-50 Wts. I need a 30w for warranty reasons. I will post Summer oil Temps soon.
 
The stuff isn't even at the spec's weight til it reaches 100°C ...what's the worry??
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quote:

Originally posted by SyntheticShield:
Oil temperature usually doesnt become problematic I believe until around 250 degrees at which point its the oxygen inhibitors that start to fail I believe it is.

That's good advice. I don't think anything of it when the oil is 220°-230°. Over 230°-240° I'll run it gently the last few miles of the trip to cool down a little, or idle for 30 seconds or so before I shut it down. If it ever goes over 250°, then I'll start to back off. With an A1 rated oil like M1, I wouldn't like to see much over 250°. With an A3 rated oil like GC, I wouldn't genuinley start worry until it hits 275°.

Is it just me or does 70°C (158°F) seem awfully cool for oil?
 
I was also thinking that 70 deg/C was cool the oil is still thick. on a cool night it drops to between 50-60 deg/C. I wonder what they people who live in the midwest do to warm the engine?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Palut:

quote:

Originally posted by SyntheticShield:
Oil temperature usually doesnt become problematic I believe until around 250 degrees at which point its the oxygen inhibitors that start to fail I believe it is.

That's good advice. I don't think anything of it when the oil is 220°-230°. Over 230°-240° I'll run it gently the last few miles of the trip to cool down a little, or idle for 30 seconds or so before I shut it down. If it ever goes over 250°, then I'll start to back off. With an A1 rated oil like M1, I wouldn't like to see much over 250°. With an A3 rated oil like GC, I wouldn't genuinley start worry until it hits 275°.

Is it just me or does 70°C (158°F) seem awfully cool for oil?


I have run Motorcraft 5w-20, Valvoline 5w-20 and 5w-30, M1 0w-20, 5w-30 and 0w-40 all over 275°(F). The engine has 72,500 street miles and 2,500 track miles (the high temp miles) and does not burn oil or have any mechanical problems. The high temp preiods have been for 30 minute runs, 5-10 of which is need to get to that temp. This is a very small data sample, but I think that a modern engine with close tolerances and good metallurgy, running a good quality oil can withstand temperatures heretofore unthinkable. While the turbocharger on the Lancer Evolution introduces a variable outside of my experience, I do not think that the temps the poster references are cause for concern.
 
quote:

Originally posted by teamDFL:
I have run Motorcraft 5w-20, Valvoline 5w-20 and 5w-30, M1 0w-20, 5w-30 and 0w-40 all over 275°(F). The engine has 72,500 street miles and 2,500 track miles (the high temp miles) and does not burn oil or have any mechanical problems. The high temp preiods have been for 30 minute runs, 5-10 of which is need to get to that temp. This is a very small data sample, but I think that a modern engine with close tolerances and good metallurgy, running a good quality oil can withstand temperatures heretofore unthinkable. While the turbocharger on the Lancer Evolution introduces a variable outside of my experience, I do not think that the temps the poster references are cause for concern.

I do agree that you can probably go higher with temps, I just used the numbers for what I'd do with my particular car. I did a pretty rough run through some mountains in 70° weather (not hot, but not cold) this December. Heavy load at high rpms for quite a while. My oil temp peaked in the 230's. Maybe I wasn't being that hard on it, but its harder than I'm used to!

Since my oil doesn't seem to get that hot, I figure that if I'd been driving hard enough to get the temp up into the high 200's, I must REALLY be doing something! I'll know more after a summer with an oil temp gauge though!
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I'd back off if the temps got over 275F (135C). I think the biggest issue is not to shut off the engine when at this temp but let it cool down a bit. That's especially important for the turbo, unless you have an after-run oil/coolant pump. You don't want your oil to coke in the turbo cooling lines.

That said, no matter how hard I drive my 1.8T, I cannot get the oil temp past around 200F (93C). And during regular street driving it stays around 175F (80C).

The 0w-30 SLX has been no different in this respect from M1 5w-30 and M1 0w-40 that I ran in the past.
 
When I had my 1997 VW Passat GLX VR6, the manual said oil temp of 292* F was the point where you should pull over and idle until cool down. In the middle of the 90* and humid summer running 80+ mph for hours, the highest temps was 232*F running SynPower 5W-40.
 
Also remember that 100C at the sensor does not mean that your engine oil isn't a bit warmer somewhere else in the engine. Each engine is different and a better decision is made with more knowledge about your specific situation. Maybe contact with a performance tuner for your brand is a good idea. We had an engine in our shop that would read 110C but oil returning to the pan was 150C, so it got a better cooler and some improved plumbing which got us 105C at the gauge and 120C returning to the pan, a useful improvement. The benefits were reflected in a much improved uoa.
 
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