Engine can get too hot coolant temps in hot weather and too cool oil temps in cold weather. That is what I am presently summerizing? Lots of info on the forum in several different places so I thought i would summerize it in one thread?

Cooling mods have helped the summer time problems and some control is now available, BUT now---seems that the engines oil temps may not be getting hot enough when ambient temps are below 45-50F?

It seems that 160F max oil temps(where most are in a cool climate) is not hot enough to boil out the contamients in the oil pan. Even on 15-20 mile commutes twice a day?

Personnally I have a 12 mile one way commute consisting of interstate and town driving. I was getting a LOT of condensation in the oil (white milky stuff on the dipstick and in the pan) to the point it was difficult to even check the oil level.
My max oil temps were 160-170F.
So after some experimentation i now have my max oil temps of 180-200 and the condensation stuff is gone and the engine actually seems to run better.

I had to totally block both oil coolers with material out to the level with the fog lights. If i just put a cover plate over the cooler it was still getting enough air exposure that i still couldnt get the temps up where i wanted.
Now this is nothing new---Miata's for years have had to block their ol coolers in cold weather.

A vendor needs to make a plug in oil cooler air vent block that can be easily inserted and removed? that would be nice
.
So I am thinking NOW that the summer cooling systems are one way and the winter systems are another?
Its a pita.
Thoughts and ideas?

 

Sounds like you answered your own question Denny.

 

Or you need a proper oil thermostat that blocks all oil flow through the coolers till the oil warms up to temp

If the thermostats (oil and water) are doing there job....the temps should stabilize quickly at the opening temps..and fluctuate little around those values

I grew up in winter ( think way north of Montana...where the temps were below -40 a lot of the winter......All we did there was put a piece of cardboard in front of the rad in the winter and used block warmers....mostly to warm the oil so the car would turn over at all

You guys in the south where the temps are cold close to freezing most of the time should have no problems....

 

Good luck with that. Maybe a vendor will create something.

Paul.

 

That's what i've been experiencing as well Denny, high winter humidity doesn't help!
Since oil and water temps are usually closely related i think that the right approach would be to first determine in which circuit (oil\water) we have to insert a block of any kind (t-stat, blocking plate. Whatever) and then start testing.
I'd rather work on the oil system than on the water one, restricting the flow to the water radiator doesn't look like a good idea.

RE-medy oil termostats and oil lines? 1 bypass pellet for one of the two oil coolers?
Dunno...

 

agreed all-----its all still up in the air.
Better oil thermostat would be good? But how do you remove the one we have and retain the oem cooler system/hoses etc?

Flash---LOL---guess I did!

Dan----dang man--brrrrr. You should have a lot of good suggestions from experience? Totally agree with ya. I wish temps both coolant and oil would get to 190F and not ever move. Or at the most move just 20F degrees .....ever.
These changing temps along with the different metals used in our engines makes me wonder.
As I am thinking now all this condensation we have is a clue to maybe bigger problems associated with to cool oil?

I have to admit though my mind wanders a lot lately. Least according to my wife.

Paul---hope someone may pick this idea up---probably a lot more to delevoping and marketing this type thing than i will ever know.

Hey Mr Crazy Italy guy-- still havent forgot ya--swear! One is done and the other asap.
For me the "blockers" are working well and I like how I can display a "message " in those spots.

Has anyone pulled an oil pan and seen a large amount of condensation in it? Has to be with cold oil of course.

 

First thought that occurs to me here is :

don't you have an aftermarket coolant thermostat OD ? Your water temps are too low and thus your oil temps are following suit .

Just a thought

 

nope i dont. I have the mazmart water pump but that is it. I also am running a 50/50 blend of coolant now. My secondary radiator has been disconnected some months ago. Its real easy to do and it was keeping the coolant level way too cool when ambients got under 80F.
OD

 

/\ OK - but didn't i read somewhere that you drilled a hole in the thermostat ??????

 

Heat is the issue here. my winters don't get cold enough.

As you know I use My Mod rear OC Vent Shields, only when temps are over 25c (77F),
Lowers my Coolant Temps by 4 degrees C.
Winter time it will be back to OEM rear shields.

We had a couple of Cold Days with the Mesh Vents on a few weeks ago, and I could feel the car was not happy, seriously, too much cold air through the coolers...I need to get an oil temp guage and even a pressure guage..MMMmm.

Back to Summer quickly, today it will be 102F and 108F On Sunday..

I bet you guys would like some of this heat!..

Global warming...BS

 

ah yes i drilled a very small hole 1/16 " in the thermostat, but I dont think that really doesnt affect anything unless i reattach my secondary radiator. My coolant gets warm pretty quick to the 160-170 range. Then the oem thermostat begins to crack?
OD

 

Put a piece of cardboard over one of your oil coolers. Stop the air from getting to it. I had a Renault R15 that had a grille cover for the winter time. Had two flaps you could open one or both depending on how cold it was. Semi trucks have winter grille covers also for those cold days too.
Problem solved.

 

Yep, I put cardboard in front and behind both coolers. Problem solved.

 

Thank you!

Back IT: the cardboard surely works, the only problem is that they may excessively reduce the oil cooling capacity during traffic jams imho.

 

I was in my first traffic jam in the 8, and it was 0 degrees. I don't have an oil temp gauge, but it was fun to watch my water temp. I spent 40 minutes driving 10-15 mph. The water temp would cycle up to 220 and down to 190. Apparantly the start of the fan and the stop of the fan over and over and over.

It was the first day I have had any heat this winter. (I have a Base, so it isn't the electronic HVAC.)

 

cardboard doesnt last long when it gets wet?
OD

 

When the temps stay below freezing all the time, you don't have to worry about that. Of course Flashwing is in AZ where they don't get much moisture.
A couple of pieces of black duct tape should work too.

 

Not sure this will effect the desert dwellers

 

This is why I've been hoping that someone would either make a 190F coolant thermostat or figure out a DIY to modify the OEM to achieve that function.

 

I say just install 2x of these and problem solved for the summer. In winter, use some sort of high quality black plastic to block the incoming air. I live in Southern Utah, summers here get to 120 degrees F. Winters can hit 0. It's a huge range, something the RX doesn't take too very well, so yes, I think some sort of seasonal solution is needed. I might grab the fans and put them on a manual switch.. when I notice the temps getting high (ie, in slow traffic... ) i'll turn them on to bring temps down. In winter.. just leave them off.

 

OD, If you "summerize" for the too hot coolant do you also need to winterize for the too cool oil?

Perhaps if you had summarized instead?

 

I will say that my aftermarket oil thermostat (180F advertised but kicks in at about 170-175F) works pretty good but I was still only averaging 160-170F oil temps on the return line during the winter. The past week it has been between 70-80F outside and my oil temps now average about 185-190F and I can easily see 200-210F if I push her but not much above that.

I have noticed however that my new Koyo radiator does not cool as well as the stock one but its still okay, maybe runs 10-15F higher. The true test will be during the statewide meet run.

I am going to visit the parents this weekend (170 miles each way) so I will post up some data and see whats up and if my single oil cooler is really a great things or not.

Side note:

I don't know how anyone can run without and aftermarket coolant temp gauge. When my radiator blew I was at bouncing between 7500-8500RPMS through a series of corners and had it not been for my Hymee I would have been screwed. I killed the engine immediately and pulled over and temps were at about 225F and even with the engine off they still climbed a bit according to the gauge.

My factory gauge was right past the middle.