Hey all, I've had an ongoing problem for quite a while now and am honestly not sure what is wrong. Problem is my oil temp it sits between 110°-120° cruising on the highway and around 95° around the city. If I'm not mistaken I'm running 10w40 penrite full synthetic. Problem is if I drive it hard the temp just goes up above 120 and then the temp gauge starts to climb to the ceiling. Would anyone have any clues as too why? Motor is running fine and no obvious issues. Any help would be appreciated. P. S This is another motor and im not sure as it's been changed for a while but I think I had a similiar issue with my old motor.
That does seem high. Where is your sender located? For reference, I've got two stock oil coolers, one feeding the other. Normal temp is 85 deg and 95-100 when pushed hard for extended periods. Could your gauge be out of whack?
Temp sensor is on oil tree. And I'd love for it to be out of whack but once it gets close to 130° it starts sending engine temp up and coolant up so temp gauge on the dash rises right up as well if it's been driven hard. I thought the oil cooler might be blocked or something but I am just not sure
That's pretty normal, 95 is definitely fine. If it's TT the problem on the highway is the oil cooler doesn't really get any oil flow until around 3krpm if your pressures are about standard so doesn't do too much on your average highway trip. Your water temp getting up there (factory gauge or do you have a number for what it's hitting?) is more of a problem, the usual cooling system service items would be a good start (flush, wash bugs off outside of core, in extreme cases have the end tanks removed and the cores cleaned), also make sure you have the stock fan shroud in place and your fan's viscous clutch is still working.
Yeah sorry it is a tt, and ok wasn't aware of that. Is it better to just grab the full flow cooler? And yeah based off factory gauge. Hasn't lead me astray yet. I've got an oversize aluminium radiator had it for several years now but doesn't really give me the room to get the fan shroud in. And the temp only rises when I'm boosting. For example if I'm driving it hard through the mountains I can only push it for about 5-10 minutes. In that time the oil temp soars then the coolant temp takes off like i said before once the oil temp gets to around 130°. What I was thinking is the oil is getting to hot and heating the block and in turn the coolant passing through is heating quicker then it can cool?
first thing you need to do is get the fan shroud to fit .. makes a huge difference then possibly look at a 19 row oil cooler full flow system with a thermostat sandwhich plate. .
Yep, definitely fit the shroud, I was running a thick core for a while and it was a pain but doable with some squishing, had to remove the overflow fitting from the rad to get it in there. Also, with a new rad those temps are less ok, they're normal for a stock system but if the rad isn't blocked with 20 years of gunk it shouldn't really be doing that. Are your mountain runs day or night, what ambient temperature? How long does it take to cool when you park up or do cool down runs? The stock temp gauge climbing is a pretty good baseline for bad news unless it only happens at absolute peak loads. If putting the shroud on doesn't help much look at replacing the fan's viscous clutch with a good Nissan unit. As for the oil heating the block, it's the other way around you're just running out thermal capacity in the cooling system so the heat builds up. Oil generally runs 10-15C hotter than the water since it isn't cooled as thoroughly as water, nothing strange in it hitting 130 first. There's a good chance past that is out of range for the sender/gauge if the needle rises unnaturally quick past 130C What other potentially relevant mods/specs do you have? Front bar type, front mount intercooler, power/boost, still have AC, light bar/aftermarket fog lights fitted etc. You're welcome to install a full flow oil cooler (I have) but in reality it's unnecessary for what you're doing and would be masking another problem, upsizing the stock cooler is also an option. There was a thread not too long ago started by Anti I think where a bunch of us had a pretty comprehensive discussion on options/benefits etc. for oil coolers.
I don't think.... ....you have an oil temperature issue. Firstly, how did you get that degree symbol (95°) in your post? What temperature gauge & what type of sensor are you using? Generally when measuring oil temperatures, measurements are taken at the sump & for consistency of readings, in close proximity to the drain plug. The minimum temperature should be around the boiling point of water. Acceptable operating temperatures should be between 110 to 127C. The oil will start to fail at about the 140C mark, however synthetic oil will go a bit higher. Personally, I'd be monitoring your coolant temperatures with the same diligence you have applied to the oil temperatures.
I made a thread recently on the best way to plumb an oil cooler. Give it a read, lots of good information.
Hey mate, I used my phone. But on pc hold alt and type 0176 or 246 then you will get the symbol. I'm using apexi gauge and sensor teed into an oil plate sandwich. Will do and thanks for the input sounds like the oil is fine I just always thought they used to hover around the 80°-90° or so. Cheers
Well I'll work out some way to get it back then and might go down that path with the cooler. Did you source one from aus or the us z sites?
Ok mods Veilside front bar but the frowning lip has been cut out and just run flat so it definitely gets air I've got a fmic been running it for many years, running 19psi on a haltech with 265kw no Ac and no fog lights. With all these things I've never had this issue. Ill check the viscous or grab a new one, as you said I must have a coolant issue somewhere or with something. Really appreciate your help. Here I was thinking I've got a oil temp problem and its really looking like a coolant problem. I just span my viscous fan by hand and it only spins half a rotation which apparently is good? Thanks
recently fitted a larger radiator with stock fan shroud.(ASI type) Remove radiator Remove fan shroud (both pieces) Remove clutch fan off pulley Remove both hoses Lay radiator on bench Fit fan shroud, both pieces ( I had to do a fair bit of trimming around the top pipe, and drill the bottom radiator plate mount to affix the shroud) Fit both hoses (remember to trim the top hose) Fit bottom hose bracket Fit top radiator air guide, you will most likely have to drill the top radiator plate Have a helper hold the fan inside the shroud while placing the radiator unit back in Once bottom radiator pegs have found there home, refit clutch fan to pulley. This is the hard part getting all 4 nuts on. I found that doing up 2 opposing ones first, then slightly turning the engine over till the next ones can be accessed. Pro tip: use a magnet on an extension to hold the nut then finger tight then use a ring spanner. Its tight and your knuckles will bleed but can be done and should be done the stock nissan fan setups are some of the best out there.
Yeah with that list you shouldn't be struggling with temps, and if you've been running this set up for ages I would expect to find a new blockage or a failed component since the problem sounds like it's newer than any of the parts you've changed. With the fan still locking up I'm stating to think maybe a dodgy thermostat, does the car seem to take a long time to warm up? Are you running an underdrive crank pulley? If so do you have the matching overdrive water pulley?
I brought a nismo thermostat and water pump about 2 years ago as my old water pump died, and more recent to then when this problem was started giving me grief i pulled the thermostat and boiled it in water with a temp gauge and it opened normally as it should. it does warm up as normal. I am running a ud pulley set have had them on for a year or so before the water pump went. It's a really annoying issue doesn't matter where i think the problem is it just doesn't seem to be. i took it for a drive today and its quite warm 40° after about an hour oil temp was sitting on 112° just casual driving and i did notice the aux fan was on when i was at a set of lights waiting to go. That fan has never ever really come on. felt the radiator it is evenly hot both inlet and outlet pipes are hot nothing blocking the radiator it is just puzzling. Im thinking i should take it to a radiator place and get them to flush the block, maybe there is a small blockage or gunk somewhere?
Probably worth getting a proper water temp gauge so you've got actual numbers, the stock one is perfectly reliable but it's not very precise, just tells if it's cold, operating temp, or cooking. Also the temperature is only part of the story with cooling, 110C oil is perfectly fine from a mechanical perspective, the fact that it's sitting there on a 40C day seems quite reasonable. If you were hitting 110 in traffic when it's 5C outside then that would point at an under-par cooling system, really until you're in the mountains your temps don't sound unreasonable. Maybe your mountain runs are more intense than I thought and you do need a cooler upgrade, plus the shroud of course. If you still have the stock bonnet then maybe a vented unit or some spacers at the hinges are in order. For reference I have a 72C stat, full flow ~30 row oil cooler with 80C stat (front mount), HKS fmic, big open front bar, no AC condensor, small PWR rad (core's about 30mm I think), stock fan, stock shroud, bomex type vented bonnet and my water is 75-85C around town in this weather, no oil temp gauge atm but judging by the pressure it's around 90C maybe up to 95. Only running 10psi boost still. Haven't run it hard properly in this weather.
Yeah you are right I'll grab a water temp gauge to see what it says. Yeah mountain runs a pretty aggressive but I don't think they'd be any harder then most. Not sure but, don't really go with others much. I do have a stock bonnet but have wanted to get a vented one for some time now. Just haven't gotten around to it. I think a pwr radiator would be a wise upgrade choice as well as the oil cooler. Thanks for the help Tom and giving me some pointers on what to do. It'd be nice if it was a quick fix but just doesnt seem to be the case.
back to the oil, you said your running penrite 10W40, what style are you running? just the plain old synthetic? HPR5, HPR10 or the 10 thenths ? ive been running HPR15 since my last zed and not had a heating issue since
