Oil Temperatures

[garyd]

Hi Guys,
I am seeking advice on what people think is a safe/suitable running temperature for engine oil.

I have a 2 litre AGG 'GTi' engine in place of the original JX engine in my syncro. This last weekend coming back to Bucks from Plymouth it was running at a steady 110 degrees whilst doing 65-70mph on the motorway.

On the run down the previous weekend it showed much the same except when climbing out of Exeter on the steep climb on the A38. Here I was running 3rd gear at about 50mpg for a mile or more and the temp climbed to 130 degrees.

Given that my oil temp guage starts it's red zone at 130 degrees I am thinking that perhaps these temps are a bit high and the engine might benefit from an oil cooler. It is running standard mineral oil rather than synthetic.

thanks

Garyd

[lloydy]

Hi, not an expert but i would say that is really high. My old AAZ would run at 120 up motorway hills and i thought that was really hot (would be 90 at normal motorway driving). The figure you normally hear bandied about is 90 degrees is ideal. I would use fully synth oil too

[axeman]

i would not worry about temps up to 130c for short periods, just driven to wales and back 220miles each way and about 60 or 80 miles in between, around town and normal city and a road driving the oil temp sits at a constant 90c, but on the motorway cruising at 65 most of the time the oil temp was at a constant 110c, then on the long hills it would increase 10 or 15c.

if you think back to air cooled vw's the oil temp would regularly peak to around 150c and still lubricate/cool the engine effectively.

as long as you have adequate oil pressure i would not be to worried about the oil temp.

i also agree 100% lloyd about the oil, i run semi synth because i can get it very cheaply, mineral oil belongs with 4 star petrol in my opinion (in the past) but thats a whole other debate.

all the best neil