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driveless
09-08-2001, 04:12 PM
How hot is too hot for oil? I put an oil cooler and oil temp gauge on my small block chevy. I see ~140 degrees at idle and 240 degrees at WOT (4250 rpm). I put the temp sender between the oil pump and the oil cooler. I was told that I should put the sender in the pan. http://free.***boat.net/ubb/rolleyes.gif Does it matter?
-driveless

ponponracing
09-09-2001, 09:17 PM
Yes.

Hustler
09-09-2001, 09:21 PM
popon can you elaberate a little for us. are those temps normal? what is too hot?
Hustler

moomba
09-10-2001, 03:38 AM
You want your oil to be above 135, to get rid of any condensation and fuel. For best performance you want the oil to be at 220. Sounds like you are right in there. You should move the sender to the pan. What engine and oil type and vis are you running?

ponponracing
09-10-2001, 08:51 AM
A lot of differents opinions on the subject and it seems there is no litterature telling exactly what to do.
The way I work and recommend, for performance engines is as following: The max. oil temp, in the oil pan, should be around 250. I like it at 230-240. When you play hard with your motor, oil temp. should be at a minimum of 220. Good set up are usually 190-200 running mid-trottle 240-250 wide opened throttle. Over 250, keep an eye on it, some brand will loose their viscosity (viscosity breakdown). Synthetic oil stand more heat, while regular oil will be destroyed at 250. Better quality oil will last long time at those number. Performance oil need temp. to run good, since they are too tick at low temp. and they need heat to work properly. If your oil is too cold (particularly high grade), it wont be liquid enough to lubricate (by splash) cylinders at idle. That's why I highly recommend multigrade oil: thin at low temp. and react like tick oil at high temp..
You should put the oil temp sender in the oil pan. You don't want to know the oil temp. after cooling, you need to know where it is after going through the motor so it is not destroyed by heat. If you reach viscosity breakdown, the oil looses it's lubrication capacities and, in the worst case, it becomes like water and you won't have any pressure.
By the way, if your motor is build with too wide clearance, tick oil will help you keeping good oil pressure without emptying the oil pan. If you run high oil pressure, make sure you run a large capacity oil pan so it's not getting empty.
By the way, thank's for asking a little more. I always wonder if what I write is usefull to anyone. And remember that what I write is only my personnal opinion and since I'm not God or anyone related to Him, I can goof also. (The proof of it is that I never won the lottery). But when I answer any post, I do it if I had any trial or experience on the subject.

Boater Bill
09-10-2001, 01:18 PM
Ponpon, your comments always seem well within reason and I hope everyone reading and participating in these forums understand that each situation or problem encountered is unique. The more information/opinions posted allows all of us to hopefully make better decisions.

Hustler
09-10-2001, 01:51 PM
ponpon thanks for the info. that is alot more info than i got from teague or rex when looking into this subject other than them telling me you need to have it. i have alot better understanding of it now.
Hustler

driveless
09-10-2001, 02:53 PM
ponpon - thanks for the info. I put my temp sensor on the pressure side of the pump, but before it goes to the cooler... It was easy to plumb and I didn't want to pull the pan and put any holes in it. My concern was that the temp reading would be artificially high because it's on the pressure side of the pump. Does the pump add any heat to the oil as it compresses it??
Also, I thought that I was making a mistake when I put a multi-visc oil in my motor, but it was all I had in stock at the time. It seems to work ok, and based on your comments it should be alright.
Hustler - thanks for telling me about this board. It's worth it's weight in... OIL!

ponponracing
09-10-2001, 05:45 PM
Driveless, it's ok to put the sender in the block at the exit fitting, I mean just before it goes out toward the oil cooler and I guess to the remote oil filter bracket. Just make sure you understand the oil routine in your block so it's really not were the oil is coming back from the cooler.
Since the block temp. is lower than the oil temp., you will have a lower oil temp. reading, but not by that much.
Being on the pressure side of the oiling system won't affect the reading. And whatever you compress get warmer, but it's no big deal in this situation. Blower get very hot by just compressing air, that's why you need chiller with big boost. More compression (or boost) means hotter mixture.
Personal opinion, I love 5W50 or 10W60 synthetic oil, both full synthetics-no blend-. They really gave better results with big hp motors.