jb78L-82
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Mine has an oil cooler and the sender in the oil pan which is where you should measure, and it runs around 180-190. Pan is a 7 qt unit, so a lot of oil as well.
Coolant temp is 195°F.
Originally Posted by Belgian1979vette
212-220°F is the ideal range, but usually it won't go much over the water temp. Mine has an oil cooler and the sender in the oil pan which is where you should measure, and it runs around 180-190. Pan is a 7 qt unit, so a lot of oil as well.
Coolant temp is 195°F.

The best place for the oil temp to be read is the pan, not where GM has placed the sending unit above the filter where the sender temp can be elevated by the block temp and is sampling a small volume of the oil as it passes by the unit. My 2010 C6 Z06 with a factory oil cooler has never shown an oil temp above 192 degrees on the street. Normal oil temp for the Z06 is about 175-180 degrees with the water temp always at 210 degrees. I had an oil temp gauge on my 73 Nova SS back in the early 80's that read the oil temp from the oil drain plug location...never saw more than 200 degrees for an oil temp in any street driving.
I cannot comment much on what my vette sees during extended spirited driving, but doesn't seem to increase. However once above 160°F the oil thermostat directs the oil flow fully through the cooler. At higher speeds this will certainly reduce the oil temps.
My daily driver, a VW Toeran, sees around 100°-105°C (212-220) during high way driving and around 95°C (195-200°F) at lower speeds.
My daily driver, a VW Toeran, sees around 100°-105°C (212-220) during high way driving and around 95°C (195-200°F) at lower speeds.
Seems a bit hot.
Speaking from experience... have you checked your coolant levels lately? Also is your fan clutch engaging?
I thought my sending unit was off too. Turns out it was working fine.
Speaking from experience... have you checked your coolant levels lately? Also is your fan clutch engaging?
I thought my sending unit was off too. Turns out it was working fine.
Street Rat
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Speaking from experience... have you checked your coolant levels lately? Also is your fan clutch engaging?
I thought my sending unit was off too. Turns out it was working fine.
Cooling system is all good. Oil temp just climbs at extended higher rpms. I only run about 180 -200 on coolant temp.Originally Posted by rwaitespiff
Seems a bit hot.Speaking from experience... have you checked your coolant levels lately? Also is your fan clutch engaging?
I thought my sending unit was off too. Turns out it was working fine.
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I had a C4 once that at sustained higher speeds (80-90 mph) the oil temp would climb to 250. Normally it stayed around 200.Originally Posted by Street Rat
Cooling system is all good. Oil temp just climbs at extended higher rpms. I only run about 180 -200 on coolant temp.
The oil temp in my 2012 Grand Cherokee hovers around 180. Coolant is 190-200, trans temp is 170.
If it makes you feel any better, my 1981-fully stock, reads exactly the same. About 220 around town and up to 270 on the highway. It alarmed me at first, but the water temp stays at 180, the car runs fine, and the oil looks fine when I change it. I always just put it towards a bad design by chevy.
jb78L-82
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Originally Posted by wajulia
If it makes you feel any better, my 1981-fully stock, reads exactly the same. About 220 around town and up to 270 on the highway. It alarmed me at first, but the water temp stays at 180, the car runs fine, and the oil looks fine when I change it. I always just put it towards a bad design by chevy.
The location for the sending unit OR the gauge calibration is not the best from GM. I suspect the oil volume in the pan will NOT be 270 degrees.....
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I ordered some Amsoil Z-Rod fully synthetic 10W-30 oil today.Originally Posted by fishslayer143
I would use synthetic oil .... the temp will go down some and synthetics can tolerate much higher temps before breaking down
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I ordered a new Autometer gauge today. My friend has one of those digital temperature guns. I'm going to get to the bottom of this soon. Originally Posted by gkull
You need to buy a quality gauge. Period

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Originally Posted by fishslayer143
I would use synthetic oil .... the temp will go down some and synthetics can tolerate much higher temps before breaking down
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Changed oil to Amsoil Z-Rod 10w-30. Went for an extended drive on the toll road at rpms from 3500 to 4000. It was a very hot day. The oil temperature was somewhat lower with the new totally synthetic oil.
I got a new Autometer oil temperature gauge but haven't had the opportunity to install it yet. I'll update when I get that in.
I got a new Autometer oil temperature gauge but haven't had the opportunity to install it yet. I'll update when I get that in.
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I've decided to go with an oil cooler setup. I started a new thread about that. At that time I will add the Autometer gauge to the cockpit. Thanks for all of the responses to this thread.














