rithsleeper

Told him about how after about 4 laps at carolina motorsports park my oil temps are at 280 and i start short shifting. I was asking that with my new 383 should i switch to a dry sump for autocross and up the capacity and maybe put in an oil cooler...

His response was basically this: first he said the oil temp switch is prob getting a false number and he said when he circle track races he took out the temp gauge because all it did was distract him. Says his was getting well into 330* and higher sometimes so he just doesnt look at it. He has been racing for 20 years and never had an oiling failure, just always use high grade mobil 1 and you wont have any problems.

Anyone do this? I was under the impression oil will break down and not do what it was made to at those temps. I know oil doesnt boil till like 600* but more of the detergents and it will loose viscosity....

Kubs

If I could only have one gauge in the car it would be oil temp. It is very very important! Most good full synthetics are good to about 300 degrees before they start to break down and lose viscosity quicker. I dont think you need a dry sump, but an oil cooler and accusump are cheap insurance.

VetteMed

"don't like the data -- ignore it!". I hardly think that's good advice.

383vett

Just add an oil cooler. It's easy, cheap and will lower your temperatures. I'm not sure how you would go about dry sumping an L98 and how much it would cost.

rodj

Mount the catch can in the passenger seat ?

Churchkey

Any sustained operation over 3K rpm will heat the oil. Get a cooler as suggested.

Don't know where your guy races or has raced ovals but all of the front running late model cars that I ran with used oil coolers on 1/4 mile & longer tracks. All of the hobby, budget bumper, & 6 cylinder divisions did not use oil coolers.

383vett

It might be better to strap it onto the A pillar. A finned sump can fuction as a cooler too.

Itshakes

Last summer I ran our '96 LT4 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. It's a 4.5 mile track and I ran 20 laps. The oil temp was 240 degrees. I use Mobil 1 5w30. The outside temps were only 75 degrees.

ddahlgren

You might want to add a larger pump as the cooler does add restriction and be sure to use a generous line size for the same reason.

Shock96

As a Porsche guy, oil temps are a very important part of track driving.

To quote Bruce Anderson:

180-220 is normal
230 is warm
240 is hot
250 is too DAMN hot.

Now the 911 engine is a very different animal being air/oil cooled. It holds anywhere from 12-15 quarts of oil. Setups with oil coolers have 15 feet of oil lines running to the oil cooler and the huge capacity gives lots of cooling opportunity.

I would certainly try and keep full oil temps at 230 or less. I would think that would be possible.

Personally, I have used Mocal oil coolers in my 911's. The factory 930 stuff is usually just too much $$$ and the Mocal's have a great reputation.

http://www.batinc.net/coolers.htm

There is a PDF link on the page with all the info.

JrRifleCoach

Air cooled motors are a different breed. Apples and oranges.

We see water temps on the C4 stay around 200- 230 as a rough average.

So what does everyone see oil temps at?
Mine is usually 15 higher than water. After the Dewitts oil temps will crawl up to 240 when hustling around the hills. I'm install the factory oil/water heat exchanger as an added precaution.

Shock96

I don't know if I would say apples and oranges. I would say, maybe Braeburn vs Fuji.



I am pretty sure that the temps I listed are valid on water cooled or air cooled.

When I finally get around to building my 396, it will get a Mocal oil cooler on it.

rithsleeper

You guys cant be talking about a track with 200-230 oil temps. Thats impossible unless you carry like 12 quarts and have a massive oil cooler and outside temp is 30.

On a 2.5 mile track with 14 turns my oil hits 230 after lap 1. On a hotter day i hit 280 on lap 4. Yea on the street i keep 220 on a hot day but ***** to the wall foot to the floor accel keeping rpms under redline, it climbs up pretty fast,

I have the stock option oil cooler and run mobil 1. Even the c6 guys and c5z at the track hit 260 pretty fast. The guy who owns the cmp lap record for his class c5z says he doesnt worry much till it hits 260 even then he told me keep pushing.

Those guys are much more concerned with brake fade than oil temps. I also know guys that run rx7s and say they see temps way over 300 and dont worry too much, just change the oil after each race, and that is a 45 min race.

Drag and street i cant ever see having a problem, circle thats ***** to the wall too and ill have to ask around this summer when i go to the dirt track about their oil temps.

RedLS1GTO

In the '96 I have about 13 quarts in the system with the cooler and the accumulator. If I am pushing hard I see temps in the 270-300 range constantly. On a hot day I have had the 300 degree gauge pegged more than once.

I have sent that oil off to Blackstone Labs out of curiosity on 2 different occasions and it came back with great results and zero breakdown both times. I have also looked inside the engine and have not seen even the slightest hint of damage or premature wear. The valvetrain and bearings looks like new.

With that said, I use Amsoil 15W50 Dominator Racing oil. I wouldn't suggest those temps with Dino oil, but the modern high end synthetics can withstand some serious heat without breaking down... well above levels that would never have been imagined only a few years ago. I change it after each weekend but ater seeing the analysis results, I think that is probably overkill.

cv67

Wouldnt get too wrapped up about it

Increased capacity pan, synthetic and a GOOD oil cooler call it a day.
Run the pee out of it she will be fine.

You said it yourself when running it hard over time they will creep up to a point no matter what. sbc has a great oiling system not much to worry about just dont build the motor tight.

Enjoy

rithsleeper

Im glad to hear that red. That seems more consistent with what im used to. I think once these guys put their cars on a track they will see the same thing. Its one thing to push the car on back roads but its impossible to find a place safe enough to emulate a real track. There is a big difference in pushing for a few min at a time than pushing for over 10 min with either foot planted or brake planted on a track