oil temperature too warm ? or normal Z51 RPO

[Jeroenvgfn]

Since I got a new engine in my Vette the OIL temperature is hotter than before.
I have the Z51 heavy duty RPO

( heads,intake are still the original, only block was replaced)

before Oil and coolant both were around 175 Fahrenheit

now they are much hotter see picture

 

[Moonunit 451]

What are your running conditions? Seems awfully high to me

 

[Jeroenvgfn]

This picture was taken on a trip back from work, 30 minutes drive
all 50 mph roads. no excessive speed or accelleration done,

I noticed this already earlier but now I drove home and thought, id better make a picture to ask.

I am thinking maybe the Z51 oil cooler was not installed on the new block
could this be normal temperature for a NON Z51 engine ??

 

[Moonunit 451]

This picture was taken on a trip back from work, 30 minutes drive
all 50 mph roads. no excessive speed or accelleration done,

I noticed this already earlier but now I drove home and thought, id better make a picture to ask.

I am thinking maybe the Z51 oil cooler was not installed on the new block
could this be normal temperature for a NON Z51 engine ??

I doubt it. What's your outside temp and humidity? You got a problem if it's not 120 F with high humidity IMHO. Sumpin aint raght :cry

BTW, thanks for puttin your ? in real terms F, or I couldn't even talk to ya Oh yea, and CLEAN UP THAT BEZEL, you gots ta keep your car clean, particularly when taking pics, and try to focus that camera

 

[Jeroenvgfn]

:ugh sniper eyes moonunit :L


I switched it to English just for the picture, Id rather drive 250 Km/h than 150mp/h

The picture was made with my nokia 6230 phone so stop wining :cry :L

about the bezel you are absolutaly right, I should be punished for that.

I did not clean it yet because I am planning an interiour makeover.
I ordered weatherstrips, carpetset, leather seatcovers and bezels last April.

Will promiss the car looks brand new end of June.

outside temperature would have been about 20 C which is 68F
humidity ??? dunno sorry cannot provide that info.

 

[Achilles]

Consider also the tighter engine creats greater friction. Thus greater heat. Seams my oil temp is usually comparable to my water temp, 200-220 F.

 

[Jeroenvgfn]

Consider also the tighter engine creats greater friction. Thus greater heat. Seams my oil temp is usually comparable to my water temp, 200-220 F.

thanks for your reply, 200 oil and 220 coolant ???

BTW my fan for the coolant kicks in at 230 F

 

[Jeb]

I've been running about 220 water and 215-220 oil in my stock 1987 L98 with the Z52 package. Outside temp in the high 80s and normal city/country driving.

I also note that your idle seems a tad high at 1000. Did you take that photo on the run or are ALL your numbers high?

Shame on you for the dust also.

 

[c4cruiser]

The oil cooler is an adapter between the block and the filter and engine coolant is routed thru it. If the oil cooler was not installed, then the coolant hoses would have to either be spliced or blocked off. They are a mix of rubber hoses and metal pipe. The oil filter would sit up higher without the cooler in place (the oil cooler is about 1.5" in height).

The motor in my 87 has about 12,000 miles on and in normal traffic, the oil temps (with the cooler) are either equal to the coolant temp or about 10-20 degrees higher depending on speed. For track days, I have seen oil temps around 230-240 degrees F. but that is really under road race conditions. I use Mobil-1 5W-30.

For the speed and outside temps you described, I would be looking at cooling issues. Is the radiator clean and free of debris? It's very easy to get dirt and debris sucked up into the front of the A/C condensor and radiator. That clogs the spaces around the cooling tubes and the fins and reduces the ability of the radiator to transfer heat.

With Z51, you should also have the front-mounted auxiliary cooling fan. Do both fans work??

If you don't currently use a synthetic engine oil, you can reduce oil temps and provide better protection by changing to a good synthetic. You should be able to find Mobil-1 or Castrol in your country. Go with a 5W-30 weight for both winter and summer use.

 

[1995 RedVette]

Were you running the A/C? If not, does the temp come down when you do turn on the A/C? The A/C automatically turns on cooling fan, and aux fan if you car is so equiped. Also, what temp thermostat is installed in the engine?

Brett

 

[Vettelt193]

At 50 MPH, the car should be at maximum cooling potential, no where near those temps.

Make sure the coolant is full, and also make sure there are no air bubbles in the coolant; make sure the oil is filled properly.

After that, check your thermostat (replace it?). check your waterpump. check the routing of the belt to make sure the pump is spinning the right way.

 

[Moonunit 451]

At 50 MPH, the car should be at maximum cooling potential, no where near those temps.

I agree.

check the routing of the belt to make sure the pump is spinning the right way.

Never thought of that though.

 

[Jeroenvgfn]

Thanks for your replies.

The photo was taken on the run,

the second fan on the Z51 when should it run ? how can I test it.
I have 1 big fan below the air intake which starts at 230 and stops again at 210

the space between the radiator is clean I checked this when I got the car back from the garage,

A/C is dead. It didn't work when I bought the Vette 6 years ago and since I always take the top off when it is nice weather I am not missing the A/C so thats why it is not fixed.

Thermostate is still the same as with the old engine(just replaced) sorry do not know how many degrees.

Oil level is normal and Coolant is also full.

The engine was replaced last November,then It went for winter storage untill April the first week I drove it I noticed the increased heat compared to the old engine. the same week my tranny got killed by age ( 124k miles)
and cause of metal debri. So it got revised.

now, the first week of May I started real test driving the new setup.

first week service engine troubles, this had something to do with a cable joint. it was fixed and computer resetted.

The car is just driving like a sunshine it feels good, shifts perfect, compared to the old engine I even think she has more HP available.

I will visit the garage again this weekend and let them tell me what this could be.

 

[maxrevs85]

I agree with c4 cruiser , My 85 has a 383 and runs about 180 to 190 coolant and about 220 oil temp. my fan comes on at 205 and off at 180. The chip has been changed and fans reset. I also have the aux fan. You can purchase the fan sensers that turn on the fans earlier.

 

[Aurora40]

Just a quick note. You might want to verify the oil temp sender isn't just defective and sending higher-than-actual temps back.

From the days when I had my '87 Z51, that does seem like a very high oil temp for just cruising around.

 

[scorp508]

New engine? I would make sure that the cooling system has no air pockets in it. That could easily cause this. Did you burp the system a few times? Pistons rings breaking in sure do create some more heat, but damn that seems a bit hot. My '87 Z51 has never run that hot when all systems were normal. The only time I saw temps that hot was with a big air pocket in the cooling system.

Something easy to check also is if the thermostat accidently got installed upsidedown.

 

[Jeroenvgfn]

I found something yesterday when inspecting the car.

the liquid gasket at the thermostate is leaking , and I had to fill almost half a coke bottle water to get the radiator filled up again. ( 1 liter )
after 2 weeks driving ( 100 miles total )

this morning was a hot morning with almost same conditions as with the testpicture.

oil temp 226 and coolant 189

this weekend I will bring the car to the garage and ask them to fix the gasket and burp the system , then I will test again.

thanks for your help meanwhile.

could someone tell me how I can test if the second Z51 fan is working ?

 

[Aurora40]

You mean the aux fan that's not ecm controlled? For that one, there's a fan switch in one of the cylinder heads. You can pull the connector off and ground it with the ignition on "run". That will switch the fan on. But this seems it would affect your coolant temps, not your oil temps so much.

I've just used a paper clip as the connector is a one-wire. Then just touch it to the cylinder head or something.

 

[Moonunit 451]

On the Dr side. You can D/C or splice into that as well and put a manual fan switch you control from inside. It should also come on when you turn on your A/C.

Those temps are much more in line

 

[scorp508]

Well that is good that you found that leak. It will definitely allow for liquid to be released when under pressure. It could have been such a small pinhole that you'd never notice the mess under the hood. This also in turn allows air to come into the system creating those air pockets I mentioned. Make sure the system is burped well a few times.

1. Bring car to operating temp w/radiator cap off so that the thermostat is open.
2. Raise and hold idle to ~2000 RPM
3. Fill radiator
4. Replace radiator cap
5. Allow idle to return to normal.

You may have to drive the car around a week and repeat this a couple times.