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L98 oil temps with OEM cooler?

Joined
Oct 30, 2001
Messages
2,273
Location
Glen Burnie, MD, USA
Corvette
1986 Bright Red Coupe
This is addressed to anyone with an L98 and the factory oil cooler option...

Real quick, what oil temps do you see after both prolonged highway and fast-sprint driving?

I'm still trying to determine whether my cooler is working right. I see oil temps that usually hover around 20-25 degrees higher than coolant temps until the coolant hits about 205. The oil stays around 230 at that point.

Thanks.
[RICHR]
 
Sounds about right Rich. At least with my old engine it was that way, although I did see 271° once last year! :eek

_ken :w
 
Rich,

mine has never gotten over 230 and that was one night doing some street racing most of time oil runs between 190-210

i run castrol 5w30 syntec
 
Hm. Maybe I should be asking what temps are like for those WITHOUT the cooler. 215-230 seems awfully high; I had been told that non-synth oil begins to break down around 250 (yes, I run synth, though it's getting expensive with leaking valve covers :( ).
[RICHR]
 
With the cooler

10-15 degrees hotter than Coolant temp

But I'm a cruiser.

Vig!
 
I have seen about 25 degrees F over coolant temp. The oil temp lags the coolant temp as everything warms up. It typically takes about 15 miles or so for the oil temp to stabilize at around 225 on a hot day. And yes, I do have the factory oil cooler option.

Have a great day,
Doc
 
Ok, good. My temps sound about normal, then. When I first got the car, it was winter and oil temps stayed right around 200 or within a degree or two of coolant. Then I did some work on the car and feared I'd muffed something up.

Mic, valve cover help would probably be appreciated. I'm going to switch to roller rockers (I know, I know, been saying that for about two months now) at the same time so it'll be at least an all-day project.

Thanks for the info, guys.
[RICHR]
 
I ditched my factory oil cooler and have not noticed any major change in oil Temps without it.. I also run Synthetic Oil.
 
Like most everyone else, I see oil temps 10 - 15 degrees hotter than coolant temps most of the time. At 70 mph level road cruising, right about 100 degrees higher than ambient air temp, when the coolant is right about 90 degrees above ambient.
And unfortunately, conventional oils are breaking down at these temperatures. Figure a 50% reduction in oil useful life for every 20 degree increase above 160 F.
Our "oil cooler" is of course also an oil heater in cold weather, which can be a good thing for those making short trips, or in very cold climates.
- R
 
I see 5 - 15 degrees higher oil temps than coolant when fully warmed up and just driving easy. I run 200-205 oil/197-202 coolant which is up 10+ degrees from my previous stock engine.
With the new ZZ4/Mini Ram/CAm/Headers/etc set-up as soon as I beat on it oil temps climb fast to the 210-215 range with water running behind. Turn on the A/C in 90+ degree Chicago weather and run it 30 miles in stop and go the coolant runs up to 230-240 and the oil goes to about 217-227. I don't worry until coolant temps get to about 250 but that hasn't happened yet. Haven't had an opportunity to really jump on it long term like in a high speed auto X so I don't know how it will react.

Be Cool - Phil (aka 89ZZ4)
 
I will make a slight correction to my temp statement in earlier post.

I drove my Vette about 400 miles this week in ambient temp of 100 degrees F. My coolant temp was typically 192 to 203 and my Oil temp, once stabilized, was about 212 to 220. So this is more like a 20 degree Delta.

Have a great day,
 
My oil temps are about 214 with the stock cooler . Coolant @ about 183 to 208 range......180 thermostat and fans come on at 205.
 

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