Oil Temp & Coolant Temp - Which Is More Important?

[Carlwalski]

We had a -59 day near here before Christmas last year that broke a record. We were the coldest place on the planet that day.
I had some noises coming out of the 4x4 I have never heard before...
But yes I see it on the news sometimes where Australia gets REALLY hot, like you said. The BatRam probably doesn't appreciate it, but I'd bet the snakes and lizards like it ...

LOL you got me beat, holy crap, coldest I can think of in my city would have been around maybe -3? We're like Aussie, just smaller and thankfully not as hot, no poisonous spiders, no snakes or crocs at all and less sharks and zero jelly fish lol. They got all the "good" stuff lol. They got good beaches (with the girls) though.

 

[rottenronnie]

LOL you got me beat, holy crap, coldest I can think of in my city would have been around maybe -3? We're like Aussie, just smaller and thankfully not as hot, no poisonous spiders, no snakes or crocs at all and less sharks and zero jelly fish lol. They got all the "good" stuff lol. They got good beaches (with the girls) though.

Sorry, I see now in your post you are in New Zealand...
Not a lot of track tuning time in this climate !!.. we have to wear out dynos instead...only between 50 and 150 consecutive frost-free days/year....time to move..

 

[Carlwalski]

Sorry, I see now in your post you are in New Zealand...

LOL, all good mate, happens often.

 

[Chuck B]

We are in the dead of winter here....yesterday we were a 'crisp' 77F. Had to wear a thick tshirt with my shorts for my morning 5 mile run through the desert yesterday....brrr!

 

[Carlwalski]

We are in the dead of winter here....yesterday we were a 'crisp' 77F. Had to wear a thick tshirt with my shorts for my morning 5 mile run through the desert yesterday....brrr!

LOL you sissy girl! :laugh:

 

[Tekhaus]

Chuck and Ronnie,

As it has been explained to me the 170 degree t-stat provides pre-cooling. Meaning your engine sits at a lower temperture when not under load. In this way, it would allow you to say make two WOT runs down the strip without pulling timing versus only one if the engine started out at 200 degrees.

I am certainly not an expert (not by a long shot), but wanted to hear some opinions on that line of thinking.

 

[Carlwalski]

OK guys, it's 75F today in my area and I just got back from a 30 minute blat with the factory oil temp gauge back in place and connected. I don't think I had anything to worry about lol. It never reached 200F, the highest it got was 195F and that was only after 2 full WOT runs immediately one after the other + 10 minutes of "spirited" driving. It dropped down when I started cruising to 190. For the first 15 minutes of the drive (cruising city streets) my oil temp hovered around 170-185F. During all this time my Water Temp gauge was hanging around 185-200F. So I am very pleased, what peace of mind it is now knowing it's normal and in fact, not too bad at all compared to everyone else. Thanks again lads for your help and input! Time to order me some JTSV braided oil lines!

 

[rottenronnie]

Chuck and Ronnie,

As it has been explained to me the 170 degree t-stat provides pre-cooling. Meaning your engine sits at a lower temperture when not under load. In this way, it would allow you to say make two WOT runs down the strip without pulling timing versus only one if the engine started out at 200 degrees.

I am certainly not an expert (not by a long shot), but wanted to hear some opinions on that line of thinking.

The ONLY thing a 170 thermostat can do is open at a lower temperature (earlier) than the o.e.m. unit. Once any thermostat is (wide) open, it is up to the rad, water pump, coolant and fan to do the rest. As far as pre-cooling goes, I guess you could say that yes, under normal driving conditions (and not too hot outside) a 170 t. stat should hold the temp at 170 until engine load (other other factors) are such that it can no longer "hold" that temp. So, yes that could give you a couple of "free" passes down the track, so to speak. ONE pass might be more realistic though Even more so in a supercharged application such as yours as the supercharger itself IS heating the air...

As far as pulling timing goes, the Air Inlet Temp Sensor may retard timing at 95F but under-hood heat also plays a part in what that sensor sees. It depends on how your ecu is programmed. If the engine is still in detonation, the last line of defense are the knock sensors (if the engine is so equipped). even they will NOT prevent an engine from detonating if the condition(s) causing it are severe enough.

So HEAT is a big factor of when and how an engine will react/pull timing and whether it will detonate or not. High coolant temperature and high ambient are two items that can promote it, as well as a wide variety of other conditions.


Hope this helps

Ronnie

 

[rottenronnie]

OK guys, it's 75F today in my area and I just got back from a 30 minute blat with the factory oil temp gauge back in place and connected. I don't think I had anything to worry about lol. It never reached 200F, the highest it got was 195F and that was only after 2 full WOT runs immediately one after the other + 10 minutes of "spirited" driving. It dropped down when I started cruising to 190. For the first 15 minutes of the drive (cruising city streets) my oil temp hovered around 170-185F. During all this time my Water Temp gauge was hanging around 185-200F. So I am very pleased, what peace of mind it is now knowing it's normal and in fact, not too bad at all compared to everyone else. Thanks again lads for your help and input! Time to order me some JTSV braided oil lines!

Great news, glad it worked for ya!!!

 

[Chuck B]

The ONLY

As far as pulling timing goes, the Air Inlet Temp Sensor may retard timing at 95F but under-hood heat also plays a part in what that sensor sees. It depends on how your ecu is programmed. If the engine is still in detonation, the last line of defense are the knock sensors (if the engine is so equipped). even they will NOT prevent an engine from detonating if the condition(s) causing it are severe enough.

So HEAT is a big factor of when and how an engine will react/pull timing and whether it will detonate or not. High coolant temperature and high ambient are two items that can promote it, as well as a wide variety of other conditions.

With my OBDII reader I found my inlet temp sensor was a good 30+F higher than ambient temps. When its 110F outside you can imagine what that sensor is reading... While the stock air intake is somewhat a fresh air intake it obviously is not very good at it. I've actually been meaning to ask others here with aftermarket intakes if they have read what their sensor is reading and compare to ambient temps. I know several here have added a resistor to 'trick' the ECU but to me thats a bad idea. There are safe guards for a reason and mine is a daily driver so I can't be monitoring every moment.

I plan on dealing with my heat issues this summer and this will be one way I'll be tackling this problem.

 

[TNVIPER]

With my OBDII reader I found my inlet temp sensor was a good 30+F higher than ambient temps. When its 110F outside you can imagine what that sensor is reading... While the stock air intake is somewhat a fresh air intake it obviously is not very good at it. I've actually been meaning to ask others here with aftermarket intakes if they have read what their sensor is reading and compare to ambient temps. I know several here have added a resistor to 'trick' the ECU but to me thats a bad idea. There are safe guards for a reason and mine is a daily driver so I can't be monitoring every moment.

I plan on dealing with my heat issues this summer and this will be one way I'll be tackling this problem.

My reading with the stock box shows 1-3 degrees above ambient temps while the vehicle is in motion....7-10 degrees rise while stopped for a red light.....it would only get to 30 degrees if the truck set idling for 5 minutes or more on a hot day.....I tried different after market CAIs and they would cause temps to rise as much as 50 degrees at a light.......

 

[Chuck B]

My reading with the stock box shows 1-3 degrees above ambient temps while the vehicle is in motion....7-10 degrees rise while stopped for a red light.....it would only get to 30 degrees if the truck set idling for 5 minutes or more on a hot day.....I tried different after market CAIs and they would cause temps to rise as much as 50 degrees at a light.......

Interesting...I'm completely stock as well. I'll plug my reader in to help refresh my memory. If memory servs it never got within 10F of ambient at any time.

 

[TNVIPER]

Interesting...I'm completely stock as well. I'll plug my reader in to help refresh my memory. If memory servs it never got within 10F of ambient at any time.

Maybe because my TB is about 8" higher than stock and I am using plastic and silcone tubing may be the difference??..:dontknow:

 

[Tekhaus]

The ONLY thing a 170 thermostat can do is open at a lower temperature (earlier) than the o.e.m. unit. Once any thermostat is (wide) open, it is up to the rad, water pump, coolant and fan to do the rest. As far as pre-cooling goes, I guess you could say that yes, under normal driving conditions (and not too hot outside) a 170 t. stat should hold the temp at 170 until engine load (other other factors) are such that it can no longer "hold" that temp. So, yes that could give you a couple of "free" passes down the track, so to speak. ONE pass might be more realistic though Even more so in a supercharged application such as yours as the supercharger itself IS heating the air...

Makes sense, thanks Ronnie.

 

[Chuck B]

Maybe because my TB is about 8" higher than stock and I am using plastic and silcone tubing may be the difference??..:dontknow:

Doh! :rock:

 

[Carlwalski]

UPDATE:


Just thought I would let you guys know after a few weeks addressing some other issues, I pieced the Batram back together and it's now better than ever. It now has Tony's lifetime oil lines and the battery back in the stock location with wires routed up behind the inner guard (no wires showing in the bay). I rolled The Batram out the garage today for the first time in 2 weeks and took it for a good 3/4 of an hour blat. I have a new tune installed, I went from a Roe tune to a Torrie tune. I asked Torrie to lower the temp my fan comes on from OEM to 175F. After cruising, 3 x WOT runs, idling etc, MAN, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!

Idle and power delivery are super smooth and I can feel a slight power increase/difference in the mid to upper rpm range which I'm 95% positive is due to the Screamin Demon coil packs increased oomph, that and the fresh new tune. Seat of the pants the truck is bang on in every department, runs hard, smooth and no CELs. In terms of the heat which is why I'm here to update, after 3 WOT runs, 2 one-after-the-other, cruising and idling for a decent period, it still stayed at or below 80C (175F) and during the entire drive, never looked like running hot and never went above that temp. I used to run around 200F or just over. Man I'm over the moon. Peace of mind has tripled! Time to enjoy it for a couple of weeks before I roll it back into the "Batcave" lol to install the HIDs, just gotta wait for them to arrive.


Cheers,
Carl

 

[bigike]

water and oil temp go hand in hand.

If you get the C2 gauges make sure you hook the dimmer wire into your dimmers and also buy the autometer dimmer because those C2's are CRAZY BRIGHT!

Even on a unboosted app, i think a vac boost gauge would look the best, GET the 20# gauge with 30"of vac.

 

[Carlwalski]

Thanks mate although, I'm not quite sure what to make of the C2 gauge references and info but thanks none the less lol. This is an older thread now, I was just updating so in future people searching with similar concerns know how it ended up. I do stacks of searches and there is nothing worse than reading a 10+ page thread that's 8 months old to find the last post is a question like: "So what ever happened to this???" LMAO. I don't leave brothers hanging.

 

[bigike]

it's a month old and you had a C2 Autometer gauge in the first post.

 

[Jfireboy1]

I was told that 200 or just above was normal. Thats what the oil and coolant runs at on my truck. They both should both be at about the same temp from what Ive seen on my truck unless seems when i run it a little hard the oil goes up towards the 220-230 range but gradually works it way back down to about 200-205