How hot should our oil be getting?

[Gregory]

How hot should 4g63 oil temperature get? I just read that it should be about the same as the coolant (around 200°F), but my temperature gauge is reading about 235-240ish without me beating on the car at all. That is about where it settles if I just let it idle.

How hot is okay? I have a gauge, so I can monitor it if need be. Perhaps I should get an external oil cooler?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Absit]

What you need to consider is as the temperature rises viscosity changes. Your oil's advertised viscosity should be the rating at certain temperatures. When you go beyond the range of those temperatures, you're venturing into unknown viscosity. I want to say the lower number is measured at 104* (F) and the higher number is 212* (F).

That said, I'd stay as close to 212 as possible, you pick your oil weight for a reason, try to keep it there.

 

[Gregory]

You bring up a good point. I actually did some viscosity testing on different oils in a previous job. From what I remember, I thought the high number was measured around 200°F.

So, if my temperatures are climbing around 235-240 in daily driving, should I be getting an external oil cooler, or could there be some other problem here?

Then again, perhaps my oil temperature gauge is incorrectly calibrated.

 

[TurboAnything]

My investigating has always shown 180-190 as the best temp.

 

[Absit]

You bring up a good point. I actually did some viscosity testing on different oils in a previous job. From what I remember, I thought the high number was measured around 200°F.

So, if my temperatures are climbing around 235-240 in daily driving, should I be getting an external oil cooler, or could there be some other problem here?

Then again, perhaps my oil temperature gauge is incorrectly calibrated.

Assuming your temps are right, it's likely you have an issue with your OEM oil cooler. Going oil/air is ideal in my opinion (as long as you do it right) but for most cars the OEM should handle everything just fine.

 

[turbo23]

if there that hot during normal driving, then something is up. Either something is creating more temp than the OEM cooler can remove, or the cooler itself has an issue.. my circle track guys run 30-40* above coolant temps during a race. Races are any where from 50 to 150 laps. Obviously a different environment, but gives you an idea of what temp should be. My car during cruising slowly creeps up to coolant temp, and rarely goes over unless I'm beating on it for a decent amount of time.