Hi, all!

What sort of engine oil pressure and temperature are considered normal during track days?

I had my first track experience with my turbo classic yesterday - it went reasonably well on that short, slow and twisty track - but my freshly-installed gauges started beeping.

The first one to go off was the oil temp gauge once the oil got to 125 degC or thereabout. The maximum it got to was 130 C. The factory water temperature gauge was nicely in the middle of its scale.

Then towards the end of the cool-down lap with the revs really low, just above idle, the oil pressure gauge started beeping with the pressure being around 1 bar. It would stop beeping when I raised the revs even a little bit and also at idle once the oil cooled down a tad and would sit between 1.4 and 1.6 bar at idle.

I'd really like some feedback on this from the more experience people here. The oil used is Motul 300V 5W40 and the engine is pretty much stock with just a filter and exhaust replaced.

Thanks,
Alex

 

Too hot and oil pressure too low IMO, temps ideally around 100/110c(get an oil cooler fitted) and oil pressure I'd expect at least 2 bar at hot idle(track use), I get around 3 bar at 85/90c during normal running hot idle

 

Doesn't sound good, oil temps of 130 are enough to cook the engine, combined with the oil pressure being that low isn't a good idea. Just hope no damage done this time.

Has it run since to see what pressure its running now?

 

Thanks, guys.

I drove it home from the track for about 50 km and the pressure was something like 2.5 bar cruising along and the temperature - between 85 and 95 degrees. Haven't noticed any negative effects yet but am beginning to worry.

What could be the reason for this? Oil pump? Since the engine is stock I expect it to happily handle five 1-minute laps. I do have a bit of a leak from the front crank seal area that I'm planning to take care of next so would I also need to replace the oil pump?

 

Hi there

This can cause oil which you are now using,2.5bar oil pressure seems right and on the track without the oil cooler you should see 130C

I would recommend if you are looking to do some track days 15-19 rows Oil cooler or go with Modine(but price for this should be like for oil cooler) and Cosworth baffled plate(or good Group N type baffled sump)


Jura

 

sounds like you may have got away with it, but i wouldn't recomend going anywhere near that high temp again.

as jura says, you need an oil cooler, have a look for thermostatic kits

 

Yiu say the 2.5 bar was on the throttle(cruising), Like I said previously I get 2.5-3 bar on idle, I would expect to see it around the 5-6bar crushing on the throttle and a little higher with foot flat to the floor, What does it drop to once hot and idling?

 

o crap yeh missed that it was cruisign and not idle, as said 5-6 is norm when engine under load

 

Mine is 2 bar hot idle,5.5 to 6 bar hot under load using 5w40 oil

 

It sounds like the oil went really thin at that very high temp so at low RPM the pump could not maintain the pressure.

Look for 110-115c max and and obviously keep the pressure up.

You must have had a good time to get 130c, or the ambient temp was quite high.

 

Cheers.

This is the advice I got from Tim "the oilman" a while back:Since the car is not massively modified, I decided to stick with 5W40. Would 10W50 run cooler?

Roger that! An oil cooler was always in the plans but as mentioned earlier, I did not think it was a necessity until I start adding power.

I just took her for a short calm drive and once the oil was up to temp (91 deg.C) the pressure was around 1.5 at idle.



Cruising at 70 km/h in 5th (1700 RPM) the pressure was 3.3 bar, in 4th (2400 rpm) - 4.4 bar. When accelerating the pressure is above 6 bar.

Thanks, I think so too. I did have fun (4th in class) but since it's a low speed track (I got to use 3rd only in two places for a couple of seconds with the rest of the track driven in 2nd), that could have compounded the issue. The temperature would go above 120 after 3-4 laps. Didn't have the underbody protection installed as well, so it could have been worse. The ambient temperature was 18 degrees with the sun out.

Thanks, guys.

 

Bumping this one, if I may.

I'm leaning towards the following to help with the temperature and help with reliability:

* Setrab oil cooler (25-row, for example)
* Mocal thermostatic sandwich plate. I wanted to avoid using one because I don't like the filter being too low but there don't seem to be many alternatives.
* Cosworth sump baffle plate

Based on the idle and cruising oil pressures and the rest of the information, does my oil pump need changing? And if so, should I go for the OEM one ore something like a 11 or 12 mm RCM version?

As always, all input is appreciated.
Alex

 

needs more investigation dude, need to get a specialist to look at it, those pressures are definatly lower than they should be, without it being looked at no way yo tell whats causing it

 

Hi all.

Digging this one up.

Started on the oil cooler and baffle plate install yesterday and found a couple of things. First, the car has a modine Secondly, one of the hoses leading to the modine had been installed like you see in the pictures so there's little to no flow to the modine, basically.





Anyway, I have some options in front of me now and your thoughts on which one is best are greatly appreciated.

1. Leave filter and modine in place, add a thermostatic plate and oil cooler
2. Remove the modine, leave the filter in place, add a thermostatic plate and oil cooler
3. Remove the modine, relocate the filter, add a thermostatic plate and oil cooler

Personally leaning towards door number 1 at the moment as it will allow me to get the car on the road a bit sooner.

Thanks,
Alex