Oil: 230+, Water: 210+ ... Is this right?

[racersedge52]

OIL 230+ Water 210+ IS THIS RIGHT?

My stock (at the moment) 94 Coupe LT1 is running a water temp of about 200-235 most of the time. But what really concerns me is the OIL TEMP, was completely warm, seems to stay at around 230, and can go up to 240+ sustained in around town stop and go. Here in Dallas, it's been about 100F for the last few days, and the other day, running errands, lots of stop and go, it sustained up to 257F for Oil temp.

This seems high. Fluids normal. Just changed oil. I hear fan coming on, etc.

Any comments, suggestions?

What about running a cooler stat? Reprogramming? I'm obviously concerned about heat wear!

Thanks.

 

[vetteboy86]

I have an 86 with the L-98. My coolant stays at 160 to 180. I have a 160 thermostat. My oil temp hardly ever goes above 210 on really hot days. I did however have the car get really hot, it turned out to be a low coolant level. I would check the coolant, maybe water pump, and check again on that fan. In town driving would require the use of that fan. My fan comes on at 175. Hope this helps out.

 

[Ken]

Run a search on this subject, it might surprise you what you find.

This was in a thread about oil temps and loading an engine (nailing it):

extensive testing by smokey yunick for G.M. conclusively proved that most engines make the best power in the 220F-240F oil temp range and that oil protects the bearings best at temps in the 230f-250f range,most mineral oils start to break down at about 260f so synthetic oil is the better choice if wide swings in engine temps durring competion are normal with your engine set up. do what you want to, but Ill take SMOKEYs advise gathered from THOUSANDS OF HOURS OF DYNO testing over theory any day!

You can find much more reading on oil systems in that thread by going here: Oil Temp before nailing it!

We have many wise contributors here at the

 

[ErnieN85]

Not bad for Dallas and your current air temps!
You might want to check between the air conditioner condensor and the radiator for junk! Leaves grass plastic bags, ocassional mustang or two!
Kind of hard to do though you need to pull the cover to get in there! I do it every year in the spring.

 

[Magmotor]

Owner's manual says an "out of normal range" indicator light (underneath gauge) will come on at 300 deg's & up...what kind of oil are you using? I would suggest Mobile 1 15/50 Syn.....

 

[92ghost]

My LT1 runs 190 - 196 water temp and factory T stat. Oil is 200 - 205 and normally will run hotter than the water temp but both are consistantly within those ranges (outside temp around 75 -80). Considering your ambient temps in TX. being over 100 degrees those temps would be normal but on the high end of normal. It's the 257 oil temp that worries me too. I doubt putting in a lower T stat will make that big of a difference. Your current T stat is probably wide open by 200 degrees, and there is little affect on the oil temps (between 160 and 200 degree T states) once the T stats are wide open. In other words your oil temp will still rise regardless of the temp the T stat is set to open. (Your fans should also be "on" well below 250 degrees) However, it won't hurt to replace the T stat with a new stock one just to see if it is openning properly. Make sure your radiator is clean especially between the AC heat transfer and the radiator. If your still getting upwards of 250 degrees on the oil temp and everything is working properly, I would consider an oil cooler if it doesn't already have one. I dont think a lower T state and reprogrammed fan to kick in earlier will do much. It will help slightly but eventually your temps will climb due to the high Texas heat.

 

[Ken]

You might want to check between the air conditioner condensor and the radiator for junk! Leaves, grass, plastic bags, ...

Yes, it does collect a lot of debris in there! Good idea to clean it up if you can.

_ken

 

[JRMaroon]

Racer,

I have a stock 94 LT1 as well. On hot days here in Atlanta I see my coolant temperature climb to 228 very quickly when I'm in stop and go or slower. This is the factory setting for the fans to turn on when the AC is off. Very rarely does the temp still rise above 228. When and if the temp gets back down to 217 and the fans turn off, it will immediately hit 228 and repeat the cycle until I'm moving again.

If you stay within this range while in slow traffic I would say your cooling system is working the way it was designed to. This is still too hot in my opinion but I won't be surprised to see many others chime in on this subject. Your coolant temp should consistently run below 200 when in motion though. Regardless of outside air temperature, my guage is in the 186-192 range while cruising at speed.

As far as the oil temperatures you mention, I have never seen mine in the 250's or even upper 240's.

I don't have a solution here but just wanted to give you a baseline for the coolant temps. Good Luck keeping it cool.

Jeff

 

[vader86]

As long as youre running Mobil 1 oil, you dont need to really worry about those oil temperatures.

The problem is with the coolant temps, coolant staying that high tends to cause blown head gaskets over time.

Flush the coolant, and refill.
At least replace the current tstat, you may switch to 160 if you want.
CLEAN the area between the radiator and the condensor, its clogged up with debris, this should drop the temps considerably. The only way to get at it is removing the radiator shroud.
Buy a fan switch and wire it to the main fan, so they come on sooner.

 

[FordNoMore!]

Well I run about 180-190, in 110 heat here in vegas, ever since I installed a manual fan switch(easy 21 dollar upgrade),also with Ed Wrights Fast chip, it turns the fans on at 180 anyway, but that and a 160 stat, no temp problems here to speak of, remember the factory fan sensor kicks in at 228, bit high, but thats the way the engineered it withthe LT-1, your temps are not drastic, but a couple cheap mods can get ya down some degrees, Oh ya and the Coolant has a lot to do with heat dispertion, More water then Antifreez, water has the est temp dispertion over any antifreez, unless ya live a a cold climate , well then things change, but Distilled water and Water Wetter additive will keep ya kool.