Ideal oil temp?

[NitroDann]

I would love to see more oil companies publish data about their products.

Its typically available with a google search or email, however printing it on the bottle would NOT be good business sense for consumer grade oils.

Dann

[StillIC]

..... Do you have an oil pressure gauge?

NA6, so yes. No issues with pressure at the gauge but....

The hottest I have seen the temperature on the race track, after oil cooler installation, is 121C and climbing at the end of a run. Before the oil cooler install the engine was rattling when driving off the circuit at Wakefield! I didn't have an oil temperature gauge at this point in time but I know of a similar NA6 that saw 140C without a cooler. Since the cooler was installed I struggle to get the oil above 100C on the road (~80C in winter), but on warm days in stop start traffic it will go to 110C.

[project.r.racing]

I would love to see more oil companies publish data about their products. I would love not to have individuals contact large corporations to find out basic data about products. I would love for all information flow to be 'few to many' not 'many to few'. I would love the expectation for information to be on the wealthy 'for profit' provider, not the less wealthy individual consumer. I could go on!

The good companies publish this data on their websites. The data is out there for everyone to view.

[StillIC]

The good companies publish this data on their websites. The data is out there for everyone to view.

Would you help start a list of links to these websites so that we have a central repository of information? I think this would be really useful.

[NitroDann]

My current go to is hpr 5.

I literally said out loud to my phone:

"Ok Google"

"Hpr5 data sheet"

Then I clicked the top link on Google which immediately came up and it took me directly to the specs. I have no idea what you're saying OP.

Dann

[project.r.racing]

The good companies publish this data on their websites. The data is out there for everyone to view.

Would you help start a list of links to these websites so that we have a central repository of information? I think this would be really useful.

I have already checked the data I require many years ago. Don't be lazy, do the work yourself if an repository is something "you" want.

Google is a great start as others have mentioned.

[RS2000]

So the answer to your question is if you want the SAE of the oil to match what you have purchased then it needs to be at the temperature it was tested at 100°c.

I reckon Magpie nailed it. The engine manufactures recommend an oil viscosity to use. Whether it's -30 or -60, this is the viscosity at 100 deg C.
I'd say all engine oils should ideally be run around 100 deg C ?
You would think good multi grade oils, especially full synth, still do a good job at lower & higher temps. How much lower or higher - who knows!

[StillIC]

My current go to is hpr 5.
......
"Hpr5 data sheet"

Then I clicked the top link on Google which immediately came up and it took me directly to the specs. I have no idea what you're saying OP.

Dann

The problem is that the data sheets for HPR5 and every other oil I have seen, do not answer the question the OP asked. Magpie,as RS2000 suggests, might well be correct, but how to know? His post is at least as useful as the manufacturer's data sheets (that I have seen). It's one thing to have a data sheet, another to have the information you want.

[sailaholic]

Yes an engine manufacturer specified a SAE grade range, balancing cold starts vs high load vs costs against what was available on the market at the time of specification (so early 1990s)

If you change operating conditions. - boost, constant high revs, bearing tolerances, constant engine stop start etc from the manufacturers one size fits all recommendation then you may also need to change your oil.

Let's not confuse SAE grade range with viscosity. They are linked but not the same.

Also remember your factory system had an oil warmer to get temps up quicker and to provide some cooling capacity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rascal]

Also remember your factory system had an oil warmer to get temps up quicker and to provide almost no cooling capacity.

FTFY

My oil temp used to hit 125C (gauge alarm went off at 125C) within one fast lap at Sandown. two slooow laps to cool it down and then go again. By the end of that one fast lap, it was beeping again.
This was the catalyst for me to fit an oil cooler. Since then the oil sits around 100-105C on track for most of the time, irrespective of ambient temps or session duration, and is back down to the 80s by the time I'm back in the pits after the cooldown lap.

[RS2000]

If you change operating conditions. - boost, constant high revs, bearing tolerances, constant engine stop start etc from the manufacturers one size fits all recommendation then you may also need to change your oil.

Very true, but there is nothing really specific in any full data sheets to help you decide which oil grade is best for the changes. And that data would be impossible to provide anyway due to too many variables.

In my track car (standard NB8A engine) I use Penrite Racing 15. Why ? because it's full snyth, heavier (-50) than factory spec, has a high viscosity index, & reads well. I'm just making an educated guess that it's grade/specs suit the conditions. I may be wrong, but so far all ok.

But what temp is it good for? How much more stable is it? I've seen tech articles that state "oil halves it's viscosity for every 10 deg C above 100." But that must be a broad generalisation, because viscosity indexes vary greatly.

Is the OP's oil ok to run at 85 deg C all day??? The data sheets won't tell you. My guess is that the temp is a bit low.

[sailaholic]

I was careful with my wording rascal. In a NA car they provide sufficient cooling.

Garry Stewart uses them as the only oil cooler on his race engines, including enduro use, though I think he tweaks the flow paths a little on those.

All comes back to horses for courses and just guesses.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Magpie]

Consider that if your oil temperature is too low then you will be 'sucking' heat away from the combustion chamber and other parts of the engine that need the heat, not good to run the engine TOO cold. Heat moves from hot to cold...

One thing you can do is use oil sampling, cheap insurance! Since we are talking about Castrol http://www.labcheck.com.au/

Oil sampling will tell you what is going on in your engine and highlight potential issues well before there are any visible signs. This can also tell you if the oil has been subjected to very high temperatures.

As stated by sailaholic the OEM is careful in what it specifies as they are trying to cover all the possible uses by the consumer. When you highly modify or use the vehicle outside where the OEM planned for then you will need to change fluids to match your intended usage. To pick the correct oil have a read http://www.supramania.com/aehaas/

[rascal]

Garry Stewart uses them as the only oil cooler on his race engines, including enduro use, though I think he tweaks the flow paths a little on those.

I find this very surprising (though dont doubt you are correct) Obviously those tweaks help a lot..

I've kept the OEM warmer on my car and found it does very little to help with oil cooling on track.. My 125+ temps mentioned above were with the warmer in place.
My car isnt overly modified engine wise, (doesn't even crack 100rwkw) and rev limit is 7200 (same as stock?) so not high revs either, (which affected oil temps more than power output)

[Ned Loh]

Don't spec miata run in the USA without an oil cooler? I think they run fairly tight with lots of drafting and long enough races. Makes me think that oiling and oil cooling is not a major issue for BP engines, despite the ability to generate quite high oil temperatures.