This may have been covered, before, but I haven't been able to track it down in the archives. (I need a search engine to sort through the search engine results on "oil" and "temp".)

I have the Mitsu "gauge kit" option, and I've noticed that my oil temp has been running very very low.

My 328 runs oil temps between 180 and 190F, but the EVO never seems to get above 70C (158F), and this morning (in slush) it didn't get much above 50C (122F).

Should I:

1) Switch to a thinner oil (5/30,0/30)?

2) Put a "winter blanket" over part of the oil cooler?

3) Get the oil temp gauge fixed?

I know this is synth oil, and can work without being hot, but with heat waves coming off the engine vent, the oil would have to be warmer than that, wouldn't it?

Just where is the oil temp sensor for the dealer option gauge? (If it's not at the block, then the gauge wouldn't be much use, would it?)

 

50C is SERIOUSLY low... If not mistaken you'd want your oil to be at least 70C, personally I prefer 80C range.

Can't help you though sorry, here (in tropics) I have problems with OVERHEATING

 

Really depends on where the sensor is located .. mine is located at the drain plug .. at I see what you're seeing too .. once you start moving at highway speeds cruising .. you'd be hardpressed to see it go above 85C

 

That's too low. Unless you are making really short trips the guage is probably wrong. Synth may flow okay at that temp but I'd worry about bearing-killing condensation buildup in the oil.

 

Condensation at 122 F in the bottom of the oil pan? Don't think so! The oil pan is the coldest place in our oil system, and when you have outside temps of 5 below zero I would be happy to see the oil temp gauge move at all! Even in "mild" winter temps (mid to low 20's) I don't see my temps go much above 55C (131 F) when cruising.

Keith

 

Oil temp should be slightly hotter than water temp.......

 

Update. At an outside temp of 28F cruising home at 70 mph temp slowly made it up to 60 C (140 F) and after stopping at home and letting it idle for a while it went up to 65C (149 F) due to not having ice cold air flowing over the oil pan and oil cooler.

Keith

 

all you have to do is add a 3in downpipe without any coating, that will heat things up

 

That is what I have at the moment....I will be adding some kind of heat barrier befor summer hits.

Keith

 

Oil pan? Crikey! No wonder the readings are off. That's like checking the coolant temp as it comes out of the radiator -- or predicting Arizona weather by checking the temps inside the air conditioned office.

Drain plug. Hrumph. That's something you sell with four pages of why the peach basket isn't a safe pickup truck ramp, not something you send to an "authorized service center" to install. This doesn't speak well of Mitsu's view of their dealer shops' installation ability.

It woulda been nice, when they were "hotting up" this block, if they thought to add taps for proper instrumentation.

Oh well. I was thinking of putting an oil press sensor on the oil filter tap. Maybe the temp sensor should go there, and I'll have to settle for the pressure sensor in the pan. (Although they both really should be tapped into the crankcase itself.) This is a wet sump engine, isn't it? Full pressure in the pan?

I wonder if having sensor taps put in the block would void the warranty. I wonder if my local dealer is up to doing that themselves.

After 30 years of Italian cars, I've gotten too used to that hardware. I'm never gonna understand Japanese engineering. Wah kaddi ma sen. Molto bizzarro.

Maybe I shoulda gone for a Lancia Stratos. No, wait. I could'a gotten two EVOs, an STi, and a Mondial for what an original Stratos Stradale costs today. I guess I can live with flaky gauges.

 

Ummmm, a wet sump system has near zero pressure in the pan, and in fact should be at a slight vacuum due to crank case ventilation.... Where did you get the idea that a wet sump system had pressurized oil in the oil pan?

Keith

 

mine is around 50 all the time... of course its winter here, and i have a pwr radiator....

 

See why I'm so miffed when a mechanic knows even less than me?

 

Nothing to worry about. Low oil temperature is normal in cold weather and usually the oil temp will stay below the water temperature unless you do sustained running at speed when it's cold outside. This is especially true if you have an oil cooler in the cold airstream. During other times of the year oil is usually warmer than water as Z1 says. This is based on many different cars all with oil thermometers, some of them with oil coolers that I've driven over the years. The exception would be a car with oil cooler that is cooled/warmed by the recirculating coolant, eg oil/water heat exchanger.

 

DGS, thanks for starting this thread. I thought I was having a problem with mine as well. I've only had the car since the end of November, so the weather is mild-cool here. The readings stay in the 50-70 C range on the gauge. I had pulled the sensor, checked it and the wiring up to the gauge. The local dealer had no idea what it should read. After seeing this thread I won't worry about it anymore.