Oil temp

[Dammit man]

I was at the track and oil temp got up to 267
Water was 215

Is that normal?????

 

[Ken]

What do you mean by "at the track"? What conditions was the car experiencing when you noticed the 267° temperatures? Were they high demand conditions, as in the car was on the track and competing, or at least, "pushing it", or were you simply a spectator experiencing high temperatures in traffic as you left the facility? Sorry, but I had to ask.

The temperatures are not at all out of line, for hard driving at higher rpms. The oil has to work harder and the engine is making a lot more heat when it makes power. The coolant temperature is not at all high, as a matter of fact, it's doing pretty good if you were working it any. Congratulations on having a clean and efficient cooling system - you must be doing something right.

 

[TrackDayLT4]

Those temps are normal for the track. I usually see water temps of 210 to 220 and oil temps of 265 to 285.

Cheers,

Lawrence

 

[Tuna]

Give me a month and I'll have a temperature report on the Tuna Sport after we make the Open Road run at Ft. Stockton, Tx. We're doing the 120 MPH class and I have a Big Mouth installed, so I'm itching to see just how it does. We'll be pushing 135 in the straights and 100 in the turns. It will not be the same as lapping a road course as we don't use full throttle much at all.

 

[Dammit man]

Thanks,
I was driving on a peanut shape track about 3/4 mile long. I never got out of 2nd.
The RPM range was 3000 to redline all the way around the track.
I feel better about the temp.

Cooling system
165 thermostat
Electric water pump
Water wetter with a 1/4 of the amount of antifreeze and the rest water.

 

[Hib Halverson]

At the track, between 3000 rpm and the rev limit, I'd say 267 deg. F oil temp as the maximum would be expected. That said, if you're running 5W30 engine oil, change oil immediately.

If you're going to run like that on a regular basis, you need to:
1) switch to a 10W30. Mobil 1 is ok but, with those high oil temps, you need Red Line. In fact, going to Red Line 10W30 will probably reduce oil temp 5-10 deg.
2) if you use Mobil 1, I'd halve your oil drain interval.

Your coolant temperature, if it's a sustained 215 is not excessive but you're engine is probably going to run better and have better durability if it's a bit cooler. For that duty cycle, provided the cooling system and cooling air flow is in good condition, the only choices are to change the radiator to a Fluidyne and run straight distilled water and a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter.

Other durability issues, if you run track day stuff regularly...you need to put either Red Line MTL or Light Shockproof in your ZF six-speed and, if you've not changed the rear axle lube recently, you need to use either Red Line 75W80 or Heavy Shockproof in the axle. Lastly, C4s sometimes have trouble with power steering pump reliability in autocross or road race duty-cycles. Red Line Power Steering Fluid will extend the pump's life on the race track.