Thread: LS oil temperature

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We had a discussion at coffee time today and I thought I'd continue it here and see what you guys thought.

Consider an LS engine, 10.5 CR, EFI, no turbo or super charger, quality cooling system, blueprinted engine properly broke in, let's say about 500 hp/torque at the flywheel what would you consider to be an acceptable range for the oil temp while cruising, and while being flogged a bit on a road course? Then, how much would a hi-quality oil cooler properly installed with adequate air flow lower this temperature???

Thanks!

PS--engine running on synthetic oil, forgot to put that in.

acceptable range while cruising.. 200 to 250.

"flogged" a bit..??..?? under 300. But define flogged... sounds like a wide open interpretation.

under edit. cooler should remove 40 : 50 degrees...

It will depend a lot on your coolant temperature, and how effective your radiator is at keeping the engine at your thermostat setting, right? I wouldn't be surprised to see oil temps 50-75F higher than the coolant, and a cooler will take away at least half of that and maybe more. But then I'm just guessing, and have zero experience in this arena.

[QUOTE=34_40;479739]acceptable range while cruising.. 200 to 250.

"flogged" a bit..??..?? under 300. But define flogged... sounds like a wide open interpretation.

under edit. cooler should remove 40 : 50 degrees...[/QUOTE

Well, like into the 3rd lap at track day, or some 100 mph passes on the interstate...

About the same temps I was coming up with in our discussion yesterday, though I was figuring maybe a 25 to 30 degree drop with an oil cooler. Engine temp will be in the 180 to 190 range, seems to be where the LS engines are designed to run the most efficiently at. Anyway, my point in the discussion was that an oil cooler is a wise investment on a high performance engine... You guys agree or disagree?

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

About the same temps I was coming up with in our discussion yesterday, though I was figuring maybe a 25 to 30 degree drop with an oil cooler. Engine temp will be in the 180 to 190 range, seems to be where the LS engines are designed to run the most efficiently at. Anyway, my point in the discussion was that an oil cooler is a wise investment on a high performance engine... You guys agree or disagree?

For anything in a sustained load application I would think an oil cooler would be a standard option. Oil temperature is a direct factor in engine life.

Pretty much the same way I see things, Roger! Even giving some thought to adding a pump and cooler for the transmission!

I would most certainly agree!

Most of my real world experience is with diesel generator sets. When carrying 75 to 80 percent load, oil temps can easily reach 100 degrees higher than coolant temp.. Then after the coolers, it'll be anywhere from 40 to 60 degrees cooler. I've had a couple gensets carry 110 percent load for 30 or 40 minutes while a plant was being restarted. oil temps were getting around 350 / 360 degrees. Just about that point is shutdown for most of them. The turbos will coke the oil unless you're using synthetics. It's amazing watching a turbo as big as your chest glowing cherry red!

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Pretty much the same way I see things, Roger! Even giving some thought to adding a pump and cooler for the transmission!

I haven't ever seen anything about manual transmission oil temperatures, and I'm not sure that it will provide much payback. The biggest thing about coolers is that they can over-cool during extreme cold weather, which can be problematic.... Almost need some type of modulating control on the flow...

In road racing, we always run a transmission and often times a rear end cooler as well. With all the shifting and an almost constant load either accelerating or decelerating transmission and rear end temperatures can get very high!!!! Both pumps are run with both manual control and a temperature switch.