My oil temps on track

[Bumnah]

My oil temp gauge went up as high as 221 F while at my track event this past weekend. I'm running an Setrab oil cooler. It sits in between my intercooler and radiator.

Are these temps high or normal for an SR20DET? I'm thinking they're a bit high since there is an oil cooler setup involved.


What kind of temps are you guys hitting on the track?
What temperature range should I aim for?

Possible solutions I have in mind is a simple ducting setup to get more air to the oil cooler since it's mashed in between 2 heat exchangers already.

I was also looking at those cooling plates that cover up the gap between the bumper and the radiator support. Figured that would cause more air to travel through the exchangers instead of heading up. Pointless idea?

[BeerBringer]

221 is fine. No problem at all. I hit 248 and climbing at my last trackday!!!
As long as it's below 230 I would not worry.

I have a 19 row setrab. Finished my ducting yesterday and hope that will solve my problem.

My brother has a similar size Mocal one and he had the same problem on his S14 SR. He changed to a Greddy oil pan and now it stays at ~212.

[2Fass240us]

Mentioned this to you on AIM, but 220°F is not even close to Worrytown.

Safe operating range is between 200°F and 230°F. Oil breakdown occurs (depending on the oil) North of 260°F.

[McCoy]

With my T25 at 7psi I was hitting 240+ at ORP on a warm day. with the T28 at 10psi I was in the 260-270 range at the end of a session. I have still to install my oil cooler.

As both posters above me have mentioned 220F is nothing to worry about. When you start hitting above 260F then it might be time to consider a bigger cooler.

[Ruff Ryder 6]

I thought i read somewhere that operating oil temps above 220 was good because that is the boiling point of water. Condensation in oil would be burned off above that temperature. I'll have to look through the stuff i read on that.

[Matt93SE]

The water will burn out of the oil even below 220. it just boils at 212, but it'll still evaporate very quickly below that.

Then again, you shouldnt have to worry about water in your oil. your crankcase isn't a completely closed system, but you shouldn't have to worry about massive amounts of condensation on a regularly driven car.

[Bumnah]

My oil temps while being driven on the street are around 185-195 F. Perhaps lower.

[sr20goofus]

end of session hottest oil temps ive seen were around 220*F, i use a brick shaped Cessna oil cooler with no ducting, total my system holds about 7 qts of oil so it takes a little bit for everything to circulate through and plenty of time to cool.

[2Fass240us]

While it may not make a huge difference, I would echo BeerBringer's comment about the GReddy pan helping too.