waddisme

I have the Setrab 40 row oil cooler installed in front of rad, and I put a metal shield over it to block air flow, but temps still won't get above 172* during 20 min ride to work. Is that warm enough? Oil is Amsoil 10w40. I have an oil Tstat but it just seems like a lot of work to install. Coolant stays at 180* year round if that matters. Thoughts?

froggy47

For me, I'd say it's borderline to being too low to evap off the moisture etc.

I would send a sample of oil off to be analyzed.

Maybe wrap the cooler? Or get the coolant hotter? If you have a 160 stat or early fan on you could pretty easily reverse those for winter.

RX-Ben

I don't see above 140, and my cooler is wrapped. On the track, unwrapped, it doesn't get much above 190, occasionally up to 200. I don't think this is ideal.
I read a bit about getting the oil above 200, my takeaway was that it was not necessary but you may want to research (there are a ton of threads and lots of uninformed garbage on the matter). Oil analysis is the best way to cut through the BS.

95jersey

Just an FYI, my stock cooled C6Z does not get that hot either and the cooling system is 100% OEM (except for a160F thermostat).

varkwso

To truly reduce the lighter elements in the oil it needs to be warmer. What you will see is larger oil "loss" when you go to a track day and heat it up enough to drive off water, compounds of water, and light distallates.

I would not worry about it. Oil does need to be about 130 to be effective.

froggy47

I would be careful about good oil FLOW at low oil TEMP especially with 10w oil.

How's the oil press at startup vs warmed up? Cold/heavy oil does not flow great & may show a good pressure, but is it flowing?

Maybe run a 5w in the winter?

froggy47

That is really an amazing low oil temp on a track. I see oil @ 300f on track (which is not good, but I'm stock rad & no oil cooler.)

C66 Racing

I suspect you are fine. I ran AMSOIL Sig Series 0w30 in my CTS-V for three years (three oil changes) at about 3300 miles each change or so. For that car, my commute was all of about 5 miles and my oil almost never got over 150F, not due to an oil cooler, just the short commute. I did used oil analysis on all three oil changes and all came back fine with nothing abnormal and low wear numbers on the engine.

Jun 07 sample was Mobil 1 5w30, the last three AMSOIL 0w30:
Cadillac CTS-V Used Oil Analysis - AMSOIL 0w30

waddisme

Car is garaged so it never starts out below 45*. I may pull the center air dam off and see what difference that makes. Car used to easily hit 300* at track with small B&M cooler, but now, 253* at Daytona and VIR and that was pushing it hard. I have about 900 more miles to my 3500mi follow up analysis from Blackstone.

VetteDrmr

Coolant temps make me think you're running a cooler than normal t'stat. If that's the case then I'd go back to an OE temperature t'stat; that'll get your coolant temps up to where they need to be and help your oil temps as well.

I've run an oil t'stat in the past, and after a lot of thought I didn't put one in my LS1-powered Miata. Now I'm dealing with the same issues of temps running too low and will have to fab up some covers.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

waddisme

Took my center air dam off to see if it made any difference. 184* is about all it will get to driving around town. Really thought it would be more of an increase. Maybe fans kicking on early are hurting that. Putting air dam back on as now my oil cooler fittings are exposed. Now would not be a good time to run over something.

froggy47

See #2. Do you have a hand held tuner? Will take about 3 min. Stat about 20 min.

95jersey

I thought about this thread and finally looked at my oil temp while driving around on a 45F day and it never got above 145F. That is OEM C6Z, only mod is 160F thermostat.

waddisme

Don't have a tuner. Putting air dam back on and living with ~170*s. Doing another oil analysis in less than a month so will see what it says.

froggy47

Maybe I worry too much, let us know if oil is OK, would be good to know. I know subdriver said his was good on his Caddy.

Random84

I'm not a racer but I stumbled into this subforum for other reasons. Running a stock Z06 cooler with 160* thermostat (previous owner) and am not getting above 140-150* oil temp during these cool but clear days on the street.

I've decided to revert back to an OEM T-stat, but expect to again not get into the 200's for oil temps. As others have stated, I'd like to get the oil hot under normal driving conditions (for me, mostly off-throttle, freeway, etc) for longevity purposes and better lubrication.

I suppose I could cover the oil cooler for the winter - but there are so many OEM Z06's out there running similarly cool temps, I wonder if it's even worth messing with since the cool driving months are relatively short-lived and low miles?

Pumba

Johnny,

My experience with the same cooler and a Ron Davis radiator is that you should install an oil thermostat





If you install this MOCAL thermostat, your oil will quickly stabilize at approximately 190 degrees F. I have had oil analysis done every year for the past 7 years by Blackstone Labs in Fort Wayne, Indiana:

0% water

0% Anti-Freeze

0.1% Insolubles

< 0.5% Fuel

TBN = 11.1

And their comment about the oil was as follows - "Your 5.7L looks great in analysis. In fact, this is the best wear to oil miles ratio we have seen to
date. Nice engine and report!"

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waddisme

I have an oil tstat, but was concerned about flow issues and mostly having to re-plumb lines so I never installed it. It also adds 4 more places for potential leaks. Your setup looks really nice.

Pumba

Johnny,

Buy a #12 AN MOCAL 200 degree F oil thermostat from BAT, Inc. in Florida - http://www.batinc.net/thermos.htm - Buy the appropriate length #12 AN hose and fittings, and plumb it into your system. I have had my thermostat in for two years, including several hard track days and ZERO leaks or problems.

End of problem !

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Random84

Can you approximate how much of a PITA it would be to plumb in an oil T-stat without removing the entire front assembly? I haven't crawled under the car, but if I have to remove have of the front clip to get clearance, I might just upgrade to a DeWitt's radiator (instead of the $60 oil thermostat I was considering).

Thanks for the post!