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Fri Jul 22, 2005 2:29 pm

what is considered hot for oil temps? my temps get to about 225-230 after about 20 min on the highway

Fri Jul 22, 2005 2:32 pm

I think you want it to stay below 210...

do you have all your engine tins in place? seals?

Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:04 pm

Up to 220 is absolutely acceptable.. 225 still isn't that bad, especially if you are measuring in the sump...

I like oil to get above 210 to burn impurities from it... 180-215 is ideal.Even if it runs 230, thats still not bad and won't kill the engine as long as you still have adequate oil pressure at that temp...

Oil that runs over 220 will need changing more often though- it takes the lubricating properties away faster at temp..

Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:11 pm

i have all my tins and seals and my deck lid is propped open at the top. so 225 - 230 is normal?

Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:12 pm

I've always felt safe up to 230. After that, I slow down. Last time I drove my bus was on the freeway for about 20 mile in 108 heat and the oil got to about 230-235 max. What can you do when it's always hot where you live and you refuse to use an external cooler?

Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:15 pm

I too would like to know what we can do,if we refuse to use an external oil cooler?

Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:29 pm

Assuming there isn't something wrong to fix, truckersmike has it right. Just slow down.

Max

Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:39 pm

in what engine, in what car, at what speed, and at what ambient temp?

I use 230F as a "limit" to acceptable. However, if it's hitting 230 in the winter in a stock beetle, there is something wrong. 230 in summer is "normal"in a bus going 70mph in 110F, for example. Once you hit 230, time to slow down or figure out what's wrong.

The biggest problems that are OVERLOOKED I've seen causing excessive oil temps are inadequate air intake INTO the engine compartment. To check for this, remove the decklid and repeat the drive, see if the temps correct or not. This is common in an early car with a late engine, especially if it's doghouse and/or dual carbs. Things and convertibles are also really sufferring from inadequate air entry.

John
Aircooled.Net Inc.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:50 pm

Gearing makes a huge impact on oil temps because friction increases at RPM and tasks the oil to help soak up that extra heat..

Ambient temps as John mentioned also make a huge difference with oil temps, but not with heat temps...

One should never have to slow downto keep adequate temps- a good engine, set up right will run as fast as you want to push it and not overheat.

Tuning impacts oil temps radically... Play with timing settings up and down and watch fuel econom and oil temps till you find the sweet spot and leave it there..... Overadvanced timing is the main contributing factor to oil temps that are excessive, quickly followed by lean mixtures.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:57 pm

I think the idiot book says that anything over 225 and you should pull over immediately, but I could be wrong.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 4:11 pm

vwfan65 wrote: I think the idiot book says that anything over 225 and you should pull over immediately, but I could be wrong.

Idiot book says stay below 225... 180-220 is ideal...

Fri Jul 22, 2005 4:50 pm

Years ago I fought high oil temps on my 1904 in my bus and I learned a lot. There are so many factors that can contribute to hot motors, the ambient temperature being one of them. In AZ, it's really hot in the summer time so if you can get a motor to stay around 230 or less on the freeway, that is concidered good. This is where my my motor is at now but wasn't before. I think that a lot of people who live outside of the desert don't have these same kind of worries as we do when they don't see 110 every day.

Here is a list of what I found out affects my engine the most.

Out side air temperature/ humidity. Even when my motor ran hot in AZ, as soon as I got to Cali for OCTO/Classic in June, she never once ran hot.
Carburetion
Exhaust
Heads (size of valves and quality make a difference)
Timing
Air leaks in the fan shroud
Using a smaller gen/alt pulley helps (which is my summer trick)

Things that didn't make much of a difference (to me) that people usually suggest.

Doghouse fan shround (on a previouse motor, there was no change in oil temp when switched to doghouse)
Cooling flaps
larger valve heads
scoops for buses

Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:34 pm

I installed a temp sender in the drain plate on my baja. Engine is type 1, 1600 single port, with old style cooler, not doghouse. Sender and guage are both VDO. Problem is that guage never goes over 120, and I know this can't be right.

Can anyone offer advice?

Thanks,

Shep

Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:39 pm

Wow, I'm glad I used the "search" function, or I would have started a whole new thread in the Super Forum...

I've been in Southern California, for about a month, just moved down here from Washington State. (Where it is a hell of a lot cooler!) 73 Super, stock DP 1600, stock German muffler w/ an Empi "Zoom Tube" (this last is really nothing more than cosmetic...)

My problem: After running around the 10 for awhile, from Ontario to West Covina to MontClair and back to Ontario, the engine "seems" to run very hot, and I lose engine idle, in which my oil light starts flickering, when I'm coming to an idle (rolling to a stop) and/or sitting at a light. I touch the gas, to bring the RPMs back up, and the light goes out, let the gas go and the light returns... (My RPMs are lower, after driving all of this, as compared to when I first started out for the day.)

I do not have a way of telling what my oil temp is, given that I have not yet put a guage in, nor do I have the tools to measure it on my own. So, if it is heat, and I can't see why it wouldn't given that the "problem" really only started acting up in the past week to week and a half, when the temps here in Ontario started hitting 100*+, what should I be looking for? Or, is this something else...? I have thought about turning up my idle, but thought better of it, as it runs fine, except after doing quite a bit of driving... (I drove around Ontario, today, and did not have a problem at all, of course I was only out for about 30 minutes, as compared to the 2-3 hours that seem to show a problem.)Do I need an engine cooler, maybe raise my bonnet to allow more air in...?

Any help would be great!

Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:42 pm

ok, air temp 90 f driving at about 65 - 70 mph for 20 minutes 4 th gear is a .77 and rear tire size is a 205/70/15. oil tems get to about 225 -230 max would you all consider this normal. very humid (massachusetts)

Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:40 pm

Barry, Quick way to get a reading of your oil temp. Wal-Mart or ?? buy a meat thermometer with a stem long enough to reach your oil where the dipstick would go. I also have a concern with my oil temp. and have ordered a gauge & sender. but wanted a readout of the engine oil temp until gauge arrived. Digital readout for about $2.88. Works fine in a pinch.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:43 pm

Like everyone said, as a general rule 180-210 is normal. 230 is the upper limit. 250 and you have something wrong.

You need the oil to get hot enough to burnoff and moisture in the oil. Lots of shot trips with the oil never getting hot can cause upper valve train problems.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:25 pm

R&P? Bus, beetle, ghia, thing, T-3? Still not enough info.
Humid air is colder to the engine then dry air is.

If you are running .77 4th in a T-1 that's part of your problem, the fan is too slow.

John
Aircooled.Net Inc.

superbtl wrote: ok, air temp 90 f driving at about 65 - 70 mph for 20 minutes 4 th gear is a .77 and rear tire size is a 205/70/15. oil tems get to about 225 -230 max would you all consider this normal. very humid (massachusetts)

Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:50 pm

Larry Hull wrote: Barry, Quick way to get a reading of your oil temp. Wal-Mart or ?? buy a meat thermometer with a stem long enough to reach your oil where the dipstick would go. I also have a concern with my oil temp. and have ordered a gauge & sender. but wanted a readout of the engine oil temp until gauge arrived. Digital readout for about $2.88. Works fine in a pinch.

Thanks, Larry! I'll go out and get one, ASAP.

Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:55 pm