Engine oil temp in race engine.

flashgordon_nz, Apr 15, 10:57am
Yep, just another annoying gauge to look at but- 1600cc engine - gauge reading 250deg at race race- good! bad!. Time for an oil cooler!
skin1235, Apr 15, 11:03am
still inside the params for the oil!, most are rated for less aren't they
esprit, Apr 15, 11:03am
Celsius or Fahrenheit! If Celsius, you're about to go nuclear. Oil shouldn't be allowed to go above about 160, cooler if it's a crap oil.
rayzor14, Apr 15, 11:29am
160F or C.biog difference. Either way though it is getting up there.
An oil cooler is a cheap investment as is a remote filter - both add to the total oil volume so will do a lot to drop temps.
You dont mention how developed this car is but there are a number of other basics you can look at to drop temps - air flow over radiator (remove anything in the way), undertray between front bumper and radiator support panel (forces air through the radiator instead of in the front of bumper and straight out the bottom), air intake in best position for coldest air, heat wrapping of headers, same principal applied to intake hoses etc etc.
clark20, Apr 15, 11:45am
Thats about 120C, and thats OK for good oil. Worry when over 130C

Edit I assume short races, if long (over 15-20min) then yes get a cooler
bill-robinson, Apr 15, 7:11pm
I like to see oil temp about 10 degees below the watertemp best way to get this is with a oil/water intercooler.
bill-robinson, Apr 15, 8:29pm
that is 10 degees centigrade(sorry I did not specify)
socram, Apr 15, 9:03pm
In race conditions, the water never moves above 85 degrees, but the oil (with cooler) is 130c.Not sure that oil 10 degrees less than the water makes much sense on my car, given those figures!Oil temp hardly registers on the gauge trundling around, so could even be over cooled.

Somewhere in my box of bits, I have an oil temperature cooler bypass I had on my Mini years ago, as cool oil is a no-no.
esprit, Apr 15, 11:26pm
socram, 130 is okay with a cooler. A good ester synthetic can handle 150 degrees sustained and 170 for short periods. Mineral oils generally don't like sustained running above 120, although in a race car where oil is changed after every meeting or two, this is less of a concern.

I've got a cooler bypass on the Lotus now. On the road oil gets upto about 85 degrees after about 10-15 minutes of sedate driving. On track it rockets up to about 110, but will never go above 125, so the cooler is doing its work well. Water stays about 85 degrees all day long.
unclejake, Apr 16, 1:41am
I had more trouble getting the heat into and out of oil when I was dry sumped. I guess the mass storage was the problem (~ 7 ltrs), but we tried to keep it below 120C. it wasn't always possible, but on every strip down the crank journals looked mint.

Pre65 Ford engine on mineral oil
petermcg, Apr 16, 9:46am
Yeah that oil is going to be as hot as the engine is, maybe a bit cooler than the water,, the water is a heat transfer,, as the water does not cool the engine ,, the air does.donttry to make your oil to cool in a race engine,, more power when its hot.
morrisman1, Apr 16, 9:54am
on the same topic, when fitting an oil temperature gauge, where would they normally be fitted. SR20VE engine if that helps
socram, Apr 16, 10:02am
Mine is in the sump pan.
unclejake, Apr 16, 10:24am
The way I figured it ( with dry sump) was that the best place to measure the oil temp was just before it entered the engine.

I figured that was the best place to fine filter the oil too - so an aftermarket remote filter with a temperature port was perfect.

The coarse scavenge filters would hopefully pick up bits of smashed valve train etc. but not always :-(
flashgordon_nz, Apr 17, 9:08am
sorry i haven't been back to this thread. the engine is a GA16de, in a n14 sentra.
Engine pressure is 55 when under load, but drops to around 40, when the temp gets close to 250.
Gauge is in C, it held slightly over 250 for a good 3 laps on the full track of man field.
I don't know what oil it is running, but am looking at Semi Synthetic.
Am wondering about an oil cooler - any tips on the best place to plumb it in and out of!
unclejake, Apr 17, 9:50am
Mate, this all sounds a bit wrong.

The figures you are quoting are vey unlikely to be correct, and if you don't know what oil is in your/this race car then perhaps there is a bit more research to do prior to looking at an oil cooler
esprit, Apr 17, 10:56am
250 degrees sounds a bit wrong. at that temperature the oil would be smoking heavily, possibly even flashing off! Are you sure the sensor is properly calibrated to the gauge! Is it properly earthed! Is the sensor picking up radiant heat from the exhaust manifold!

I know in my car with airflow over the sump, my oil temperature reading only gets to about 65 degrees on the road, whereas my second temp sensor (which is elsewhere in the cooler circuit) registers normally. With the undertray in place it reads normally.
sr2, Apr 17, 11:18am
The hottest I??
socram, Apr 18, 1:05am
I 'd be getting nervous if my oil temp rose much above the 130c mark, but at the end of a race, I usually lift the bonnet and use the sniffometer along with the eyecrometer.It is an excellent guide and if all appears OK, just put the bonnet back down again!
Add to that, the handometer on each of the tyres and usually all good to go next time.
flashgordon_nz, Apr 18, 9:00am
LOL. after each outing, it get the lifted, a few minutes cool down, the look, the sniff, and the grope. LOL.
cuda.340, Apr 18, 10:49am
my oil guage has the oil about the same temp as the water & the water runs about 180*F. 12 litres of oil in my system but.
1ollie, Apr 18, 11:11am
Strait from the oil filter location with a sandwedge plate or if you want to run remote filter aswell which is a good idea then just an adaptor. I wouldint be surprised if a SR20DET or RB kit would fit as Nissans are pretty lego like.