Motorsport Oil Change Recommendations

Luke · Postby **Luke** » Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:22 pm

NitroDann wrote:How many last the full 300 with no oil cooler?

Wouldn't running the oil hot for several hours continuously in an enduro be different to a short sprint session?
Plus racing generally means being behind other cars a lot, blocking cooling and collecting further heat where as in Sprints you aim for a nice clear run.
Hence far less cooling required for sprints to begin with.

My sprints generally only average out to be 6 minutes of hard driving per session.
In my 8 tracks events on one lot of oil, some are just Motorkhana's so lucky to be 10 minutes of hard driving all day lol.

The Zork wrote:Many thanks guys for all your comments.

In 18 years of racing in the Vic State Series, with a turbo 13b, I religiously changed the oil before every event. It worked, because I would get more than twice the engine re-build time as the engine builder recommended. Each time I dumped the oil, it looked as honey coloured as the new oil, still I continued to do it. After all, many say it is cheep insurance and better than an engine rebuild. BUT!!! Is this really the case? Would the engine survive similarly if the oil was changed every second or third time?

Is dumping good oil like paying insurance only to find the insurance company did not honour the claim anyway. Just a waste of money? I ran twin Mazda oil coolers with the 13b. The SE has an additional oil cooler with a filter re-rout and the temperatures for oil and water are normal even after a hard 15 minute session. I have done two days of sprints now and the oil is clear. Has anyone other than Luke had experience with prolonged oil use?

I'm sure I've talked to other guys at club days here that changed their oil every 5000km's with a bit or road driving in the mix.

Postby **NitroDann** » Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:26 pm

I agree with all of your points.

My question wasnt rhetorical, I really dont know the answer.

Dann

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:55 pm

Mine was never a highly modded engine, just a well sorted kinda stockish one. I used to change the oil strictly every three track days. When I swapped to a higher quality oil (Amsoil} Harold suggested I could maybe double the interval. So I went to 6 days and it seemed fine at that. Then I got a bit slacker about oil changes and went to around nine or ten days. The oil came out clean, smelt fine, there were no rattles or bad noises, etc. So I went to once a year with the best oil I could find. After 4 or 5 years of changing after 12 or 15 meetings there was zero loss of compression, the oil pressure is still the same, the engine still feels silky, ...

I think it's amazing how good modern oils are. The management system in my wife's car logs engine hours, load, oil temps, pressures, etc to constant recalculate the kms to next oil change. The factory service manual no longer recommends change intervals, just tells you to take it in for either a minor or major service when the dashboard tells you it's due. The last change happened when I just got a bit too twitchy about how old it was. It had done over 20,000kms yet the system said the the next change wouldn't be due until 37.900kms. This in an engine that has done 270,000kms. Obviously though she doesn't race, just pushes it bit more than average in the mountains.

Postby **NitroDann** » Fri Nov 10, 2017 8:40 pm

That certainly is true, high end modern oils seem to do an amazing job.

track_addict · Postby **track_addict** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:35 pm

I was concerned I was over heating my oil on the track. Hitting around the 120-130℃ read at the dump. Emailed the oil manufacturer (Torco) and they sent me the technical data sheet. The oil is good to 235℃. Now, I'm not so concerned. I would recommend gathering the same info as well as doing some oil analysis.

Sent from my 0PJA10 using Tapatalk

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 8:15 am

I used to do mine every 6 months/4000km. About 1000 of that 4000 was track/motorsports.

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 5:40 pm

track_addict wrote: and they sent me the technical data sheet. The oil is good to 235℃.

It doesn't surprise me. I had similar correspondence with an oil specialist in the 70s when I was doing some stuff with an oil cooled motor. Apparently the dino oils of the day were good to 125℃ so I just backed off at 123. An almost doubling in oil performance over the 40 years sounds about right.

Which begs the question - do we really need oil coolers with modern oils or are they just a hangover frm the bad old days?

track_addict · Postby **track_addict** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 5:45 pm

manga_blue wrote:
track_addict wrote: and they sent me the technical data sheet. The oil is good to 235℃.

It doesn't surprise me. I had similar correspondence with an oil specialist in the 70s when I was doing some stuff with an oil cooled motor. Apparently the dino oils of the day were good to 125℃ so I just backed off at 123. An almost doubling in oil performance over the 40 years sounds about right.

Which begs the question - do we really need oil coolers with modern oils or are they just a hangover frm the bad old days?

This is only speculation, but if you keep the temps down, you would reduce fatigue on all other components. Metal fatigue, wear etc. While oil has come a long way, I don't think oil coolers have become useless.

Am I dribbling nonsense here or am I on the right track?

Sent from my 0PJA10 using Tapatalk