what oil temp is too hot for a DC2R?

[genkibobo]

for a totally standard car.

[tinkerbell]

depends on the age/type/viscosity/ of oil you use and what you are doing with the engine + health of the cooling system (i.e. radiator and coolant)

proper racing synthetic - maybe go to 120'c whilst circuit racing?

very hard question to answer without more details...

[genkibobo]

i use valvoline syn power 5w-40 on my car.i change my oil quite often like every 3000kms.driveline is in great condition.car is standard except for the oil pan baffle.
i mainly use the car as a daily and occasionally track it.
ive had the car for not so long,have not yet been to the track with it, but the hottest temp ive seen on my car is 115c touge .im thinking change the oil to motul 300v competition 15w-50 next time.do you have any experience with it?thanks

[tinkerbell]

no, i only really use Redline 10W-40 for track, but have heard that the 300v is very good also... (i get Redline very cheap, the Motul is out of my price range!)

but yes - good quality *fresh* race oil is the key to engine life on the track.

[genkibobo]

at what temp is really harmful for the engine?the reason im asking is i dont have a oil cooler other than the factory tiny unit.

[Ian aka anjin]

Have a look at the current Oil Cooler recommendation thread

The advice I was given by a racing mechanic was when it gets to 124C in the sump stop racing. About then is when the oil starts to seriously break down and you get increased wear. As the basic oil stock is pretty similar across all makes the advice should hold for all non synthetic oils, unless you are into very high performance stuff.

I have a temp gauge in the sump plug which measures to tenths of a degree. It is interesting to monitor. On an average summer day at 100 kph freeway the oil temperature sits on about 100C. Suburban roads it's still in the 90's, On the track the temperature climbs steadily, until after 6 to 10 laps - depends on starting temp and the day - it gets to 124C. As soon as I start the cooldown lap the temp starts to drop. I try to get it under 100C before parking. That's normally one complete cooldown lap and a couple of laps of the paddock.
Engine is a B18C out of a DB8 (4 door integra) with cams, IM and extractor, standard radiator, but only 920 kgs to move.
Given I run the oil on the edge, I change it every second tuning day. Call it every 500 km or so. Oil's a lot cheaper than a rebuild. I don't use the expensive oils as I change it out so regularly,

That should give you some data to think about.

[tinkerbell]

but the data is useless without telling us what oil you use?

[tinkerbell]

at what temp is really harmful for the engine?

hot oil never ever would harm an engine - engines would stay stable up to around 250-300 degrees centigrade...

the thing that HARMS the engine is not the heat, but the breakdown of the oil that lubricates the bearings, crank, cams and other rotating parts...

so the actual question is:

at what temp is really harmful for the oil?

the answer to this is:

it depends what oil.

[Ian aka anjin]

GT3

Ducks for cover

[tinkerbell]

never heard of it?

[hello]

hot oil never ever would harm an engine - engines would stay stable up to around 250-300 degrees centigrade...

the thing that HARMS the engine is not the heat, but the breakdown of the oil that lubricates the bearings, crank, cams and other rotating parts...

so the actual question is:

at what temp is really harmful for the oil?

the answer to this is:

it depends what oil.

heat breaks down the additives right? that means heat indirectly harms the engine is what one would see in another perspective?

[EG30]

GT3

Ducks for cover

Wow no shit you use Castrol GTX3 15w40 on your crx Ian?

[Ian aka anjin]

Thats the stuff - apologies for the memory loss. My neighbour was a mechanical engineer with Orbital Engine Co for a long time, and recommended it as cost effective for standard to mild engines provided you changed it regularly.

Next iteration of the engine will be a few steps up from mild with 12.7 cr, so I'll be looking at something like redline then. I run redline in the box.

On the oil temp examples again, I has a session today at the AHG track. Lot of high rpm second gear work, and seldom over 90 kph. The oil temp increased very fast - 10 C in a bit over a lap getting to 114 to 120, with about 28 degrees ambient. On the trip home in heavy traffic and 70 kpm it sat on 90C.

Think an oil cooler is in the work list for later this year, particularly if I get into this type of slow speed event.

[tinkerbell]

heat breaks down the additives right? that means heat indirectly harms the engine is what one would see in another perspective?

yes, we all have different perspectives, some more abstract (indirect) than others...

particularly if I get into this type of slow speed event.

yeah, running flat out at Maurlen DTC in 2nd and 3rd gear my car heated up much quicker than say at EC or wakie... simply not enough air through the cooling cores (both radiator and oil cooler)...

[EG30]

Thats the stuff - apologies for the memory loss. My neighbour was a mechanical engineer with Orbital Engine Co for a long time, and recommended it as cost effective for standard to mild engines provided you changed it regularly.

Next iteration of the engine will be a few steps up from mild with 12.7 cr, so I'll be looking at something like redline then. I run redline in the box.

On the oil temp examples again, I has a session today at the AHG track. Lot of high rpm second gear work, and seldom over 90 kph. The oil temp increased very fast - 10 C in a bit over a lap getting to 114 to 120, with about 28 degrees ambient. On the trip home in heavy traffic and 70 kpm it sat on 90C.

Think an oil cooler is in the work list for later this year, particularly if I get into this type of slow speed event.

GTX3 not a bad oil by any means esp for a daily, but it's not a cheap oil for what it is ( rrp $35-38 for 5L? ). In that price range the Shell Helix 15W50 and better still Penrite 15W60 semi syn would be much better suited to track work. A fren of mine who tracks his very fast EG in NSW in a B20 uses the $35 Penrite oil regularly, he'll prob would be too embarassed to admit he is using that instead of something lot more exotic but it did the trick for him.

I've been using Castrol 10w60 for track work since the mid 90s now, it coped with 41C heat at our local track in Dec09 in my eg b16a with 2 drivers and it didnt even burn any noticeable amount on the dipstick after a full day of abuse at the track. If $ no object I would love to use the Redline 10w40 in winter and 15W50 in summer, which would prob unleash another hp or two at the top end.