Hi all,

I was wondering what kind of readings I should typically be seeing on my oil temp. gauge (factory one). Seems like it hardly moves. What should it be for say idle, cruising, racing and lastly what would the "limit" be?

I don't think I have any problems, but was wondering for my own benefit.

Thanks!

Girlie

 

Mines usually around 60

 

Mine hardly moves too. Gets to maybe 60 or so. If i sit idling for a while, it may hit 65. I was starting to worry that the temp sensor was broken and was just about to imerse it in some hot water so get a reaction but it seems like this is normal.

 

I currently have aftermarket gauges installed with the temp sensor in the oil plug...During normal driving it reads 175 farenheit...Highway driving 200-210, and racing about 250-275 depending how hard i drive it...

 

mine goes all the way up to 70 in stop and go traffic

 

Daily driving on the street, around 60 celcius. Hot day on the track? 110+....

 

MIne read 65-70 normally. Beating the car will rise to 85-90.

 

thanks for all the responses. It is pretty cold outside, so that probably has a lot to do with not seeing much variance.

Girlie

 

Just a tick over 70 in stop and go, just under 70 90% of the time.

 

Hey, Girlie, good question. I think I can give good info on this, because I've paid close attention to my oil temps ever since I got the car over a year ago. I've gone through all 4 seasons and am now on my 2nd Winter. I also have done all manners of racing from quick-burst drag racing, to more sustained quick-burst autocrossing, to 25-min road racing sessions running WOT almost the whole time. Here are my observations:

1) First off, you're right that the reason the gauge seems to barely do anything right now is because of the cold weather. I only get up to 70C in daily driving with some stop-and-go boosting involved. On the highway cruising, the temps stay nice and low around 60C if not lower.

2) In the summer, though, the temps will be MUCH different. In the summer, I would regularly see close to 90C just from daily driving, especially in stop-n-go traffic with no rushing air to help the oil cooler. While cruising, I would see 75-80C, but rarely any lower than that. I also would make sure to do some low rpm driving before parking so that my temps could always get well below 90. I know that's not the same as the temp of the turbo, which is much higher, but I use it as an indicator.

3) Racing - after 3 straight back-to-back 60s autocross runs with constant boosting and braking, I will get up to 100C. Instead of going back and idling in my parking spot, I always go out and drive around for a mile or two without getting into boost or going over 3k rpm. This allows the oil temps to get back down to 70-80, and then I park and shutdown. On the road course, the temps weren't as bad as I expected. The one event I did was in September and was overcast, so it was not hot like in the middle of the summer - maybe 70-80 degrees. After full 25-min sessions of ripping up the track, I was seeing maybe 105C, but I don't recall every hitting 110. In drag racing, it never made a difference. You sit around so long between runs that the quick 1/4-mile burst has little-to-no effect on the oil temps.