ptindall

I have to come out of lurking to ask a question. Yesterday at the track, ambient temp was 100+F. My oil temp was hitting 290F and my coolant temp was seeing 250F. This is the first time I have had to slow down and take cool off laps during a session. In my searching for high oil temp problems on the forum, it seems people say worry about the oil temp, not the coolant temp. But 250F is darn near pinning the gauge. Is that really okay? I don't like it. Also, what would you all suggest I do? Buy and oil cooler and see if it brings my coolant temps down much, buy a big radiator with an integrated oil cooler, or something else? Thanks for the help.

WBHighwind

An oil cooler is a must if you are going to continue doing track events. You can either do a integrated cooler in a new radiator like the ones Ron Davis or Dewitt sell, or you can do an external like I have. You will see a huge difference in oil temps, and my guess would be that it will also bring down coolant temps. The thing about going to a Ron Davis style radiator, is it will also improve coolant cooling over the stock one.

the blur

worry about it when you see the warning lights, which is 320 oil temps.
your oil temps are fine.

your coolant temps are very close to setting off a warning light, which I think is 260F, but I'm not sure.

the oil light is definately 320F. There is no way you'll ever hit 320F oil temps.

You can push the coolant temps over on a high speed track with long straights, even with an oil cooler.

People will tell you to do coolers, but you have never seen a warning light yet. But your using the car hard, at substained high RPM's. Throw a short shift in there once and a while. There is no prize money when that checkered flag drops.

0Randy@DRM

Down there in the warm weather, I would suggest killing two birds with one stone. The Radiator with EOC does just that. Your water temps will come down and your oil temps will also drop. Good packaging, good kit from (Yours truely) good price, and good everything else.

$1195 to your door,

lines have been built for you since a suggestion on the forum, said "Build the lines it will make our life easier" (thanks guys)

I need your email for install instructions,

Randy

ptindall

I was just looking at this on your site thinking, "this is perfect." And I really hate doing things half-azz. And I know it's lame, but the reality is what's stopping me from ordering right now is the money. It's not that I think the kit is overpriced, it's just that I'm poor. If I can solve my problem with an oil cooler alone and save $1000, it's a more realistic option for me. But if not, then I'll just have to bust out the old Discover card. (I really, really, wish I wasn't poor. )

WBHighwind

This is why I have the oil cooler on my car. My bro, who had the car before me, did a couple of things on the car because of the monetary issue ie cheap headers. The EOC stand alone unit works well as my temps are well below that of others, but to do it right, I would go with the full blown radiator with the EOC built in. If I were planning on doing something like TTs and more HPDEs than I am, then I would go ahead and get the radiator w/EOC like what DRM has.

ptindall

I gotcha. That's pretty much how I'm seeing the situation myself. I've never had a cooling problem before, but I've never run on such a hot day or run as hard as I am now. The decision I have to make is whether to buy a stand alone EOC now, or just rely on the fact that my next few track days will be in much cooler temps over the winter and buy the sweet rad/EOC before next summer. CF roadrace section is always so helpful and knowledgeable I thought I'd put up the question to see if I'm on the right track.

sothpaw2

Does anybody know from trying it in real life in the C5Z06 what the effect is of going to 90-100% water + water wetter in the coolant system? This would be a cheap fix if it really decreased oil & water temps by 20F.
20F is all I'm looking for.

rustyguns

YOU DEFINITELY GET 20 DEGREES And...you get a plus! the car will cool down faster too! so if you see 250 degrees on the engine coolant gauge. do 30 seconds in a high gear at low rpms. the engine temp will drop like a rock and back you go! Haul ***!!!!!

as you become a better driver you will carry more speed in the turns and not need to redline every gear.

i can't wait until i am that good!

250 on engine temps not bad. as said before don't worry about it until a warning light goes on! no lights..Haul ***!!!!!

i run stock radiator with 100 % water with water wetter and an external oil cooler. it still gets real hot but....it is soooooo much easier to get temps to drop quickly

the blur

gotta love it. all these people invest big bucks in coolers, NEVER have seen a warning light on the DIC. Now they are introducing more points of failure, (oil lines, etc.), reduced oil pressure. Can't warm up the car during the winter..... more problems. and most likely it's a dual purpose car. not even an all out track car. all you need is a short shift once in a while.

Invest your money in a HANS, Roll bar, and a seat.

rustyguns

people are very squeamish when it comes to temps. i didn't care untill all warning lights kept going off and funny burning melting smells

most the track guys say ignore that crap! lol gotta luv it!

these vettes are very tough and can take a lot of heat! i mean a lot! 160 degree track temp last weekend!

VetteDrmr

EOC, done by yourself with decent parts, will set you back about $4-500. You might get that down a bit if you don't do an oil thermostat, but then you run the risk of the engine oil running too cold.

Here's an install guide I put together a few years ago:

http://www.brazosrivercc.com/Tips.html

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

ptindall

I can see your point. I had read in the past on the forum that many people say 290-300F oil temps are hot and time to cool off. You say 320F. I friend with a Supra is all worried about seeing 260F oil. Maybe the LS6 is perfectly happy with 320F oil temps, but do you really know that? My engine already has 133,000 miles on it. I know it's very durable and long lived with lower oil and coolant temps, I don't know for a fact that pinning the coolant gauge and running oil temps up until the warning light comes on is damaging, but I sure know it can't be good for it and it's not unreasonable to assume it might be damaging or risky. Your right, the car is a dual purpose car. Maybe more than dual. I dialy drive it sometimes, so if I get an oil cooler, a thermostat is a must. I even use it for long trips. I drove it all the way to Bowling Green a few months ago and in two weeks, I'll be driving it through Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco, and Giant Sequoia. Long trips is the reason I don't have race seats. Anyways, the point is I know the engine is safe at more reasonable temps. I don't know it's safe lighting the warnings. And even if it's not immidiately destructive, it can't be as good as cooler temps.



Thank you, sir. Good write up I'll use if I go this route.

rustyguns

you may want to buy an extra vette for cruisin' any tracked car can die for many many reasons other than heat/mechanical or.....the other guy dumping oil/antifreeze on front of you or spinning into you, etc, etc !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

used C5's are cheap and an automatic is really cheap and fun to drive after you tune the tranny !

GettReal

Devils Advocate.... why would you want to run your car continuosly near its "limit" Just because the light doesnt go off doesnt mean its not hurting your car. Heat is the thing that DOES hurt track cars, whether it be a full blown race car or your dual purpose. Oil, coolant, power steering, brakes... they all can use some help being cooled.

Ive learned the hard way with some things (sometimes due to budget) by waiting for things to break before I replace them and other times I'll try to be preventative.

My point... preventative is ALWAYS cheaper !

FWIW, you can kill 2 birds with one stone and get a DeWitts rad with EOC for around 600... good preventative money there.

the blur

the motor has 133000 miles.
you are now installing 10 feet of hoses, plus the cooler.
your going to spin the motor dry (0 oil pressure) for 1 minute, while the new cooler pressurizes with oil...
what effect will that have on your tired bottom end ??
The oil your worrying about is stable until 400 degrees. call Mobil1, and talk to a techie.

your solution is to simply SHORT SHIFT.
what is the big deal if you short shift on a long straight ??
yes I know the 2 second lap time difference is going to kill you, right??
all your friends will be laughing at you.
mean while you'll be saving money on pads and rotors.
your 133000 mile motor will last longer. and your wallet will be fatter.

rustyguns

5500 rpm shift and your vette stays nice and cool

these things have 320 ft/lbs at 3000 rpm you can carry more speed in the corners..it's a vette!

VetteDrmr

Not true. After installing two of these systems, I started the car for 5 seconds watching the OP on the DIC. Both showed 1-2 psi right as a turned the engine off. Let it cool down for a minute or two (you're trying to keep the top end valvetrain from overheating), then started again. OP started climbing within a couple of seconds, never any valve clatter on either start sequence.

Perhaps, but irrelevant. The main problem is the viscosity of the oil, especially down in the bearings (far away from the oil temp probe). Check the viscosity at 300 degrees vs. 250 degrees.

Absolutely correct for DEs. However, the highest temps I've ever seen have been while autocrossing (high rpms, low gears, low speeds). Even with my EOC I'm seen temps up in the high 270s, while at the end of a DE my oil temps are in the 240s with coolant in the 230s.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

ptindall

I understand the suggestion, but it's not for me. If the car breaks, I can park it until I can fix it. I don't need the car. And being able to use the Z06 for all kinds of uses is part of the fun for me. If I wanted a car to only use on the track, I'd buy a shifter car or a full on race car. I enjoy being as fast as I am in what is truely a street car that so far, has very, very little comprimise of it's streetability. I love that this car can really do it all. Plus, I have nowhere to park another toy. :o

ptindall

I have had no temp problems so far on Firebird main where I see 140mph. This weekend was on tiny Firebird west that I actually never shift on. I run the car in third gear through the whole track and hit the limiter an the end of the straight. Only 100mph. The rest of the track is run from 45-80mph. Not exactly in the upper limits of the tach the whole time. And yes, intentionally going slower on every lap is not appealing to me. I see a bunch of cars drive around all day not pushing very hard and I wonder what they are doing. I'm there to push my and my car's limits. I don't see how I'm going get any better as a driver by poking around the track trying to keep the engine cool and saving brakes the whole time. I'd rather have a car that I can beat on continuously, running at high RPM, and have temps that I know are perfectly healthy for the engine.