Oil Temperature & cooling

[mattobrien]

I have a k-series VVC seven with an apollo fitted. I have fixed the temp sender from the apollo to read on the water temp guage in the car (switchable).

 

I had the car on the track yesterday (much fun) but after about four laps the oil temperature was nearing an indicated 110-120 and fearing the worst, I would come in to let the car cool off a little.

 

So my questions are;

Is this likely to be a reliable reading or is something else influencing the sender in the apollo?

If it is realiable, at what temperature should I start to panic and come in and let the car cool off before resuming trackside fun?

Should I consider some kind of oil cooler - I am guessing an oil radiator would be the most sensible option - how easy is this to fit and what other parts do I need to order?

 

I have had a search thorugh TT, biut don't seem to have been able to find anything that answers these in the past 12 months, so please forgive me if this has been covered many times before.

 

Thanks in advance for any answers.

 

Matt

 

Edited to add that the water temp doesn't seem to go much above 80, although I was more focused on oil, so it might have creeped up a little without me noticing.

 

Edited by - mattobrien on 10 Aug 2009 14:06:47

[Normans_Ghost]

OK, here goes for round one

 

Ding Ding

 

110-120c isn't too hot for oil. It is hot but not dangerous.

 

You can fit an oil cooler and these are available as kits with all the pipes, unions filter adaptor etc (and the rad of course).

 

However, if you're going to do more than the occasional track day you will better investing in a dry sump kit. This will not only keep the oil temperature down but will avoid damage from oil surge.

 

^{Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Reg: B16BDR, Mem No 2166, the full story here}

You and your seven toThe French Blatting Company Limited

[CharlesElliott]

What weight of oil are you using?

 

I switched from 5W-40 to 10W-50 to bring the temperatures down a little. I now rarely break 100 deg, and that's in race conditions (i.e. 30 mins never dropping below 4.5K rpm) closely following other cars so getting poor airlow.

 

Charles

---

Triple E Racing - build diary and race reports

[Mick Day]

Hmmmmm............ why would a change of viscosity change the oil temperature? Most high oil temps in a wet sump K series 7 is due to the crank hitting the oil. Change to a dry sump & oil temps plummet.

 

Thicker oil is more difficult to force through narrow bearing gaps so in theory it should heat up more. ??