VERY high oil temps on track HELP!!!!

[justinfox]

Hey all!

I have FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!

Turns out my oil cooler was working perfectly. It was the stock R32 GT-R oil temp guage that was faulty!!!!!!! MUAHAHAH! NO WAY! Insane huh? My DEFI guages showed, (how's this... ) after 10 (!!!) very hard laps around Eastern Creek that my oil temps only got to 115. And today was a damn DAMN hot day on the track!!! They p[redicted a heat wave today, wasn't quite 44degrees out there but it was damn hot. Most of the time the temp was 100-110. Awesome. So now I have already ordered a new oil cooler, a massive Trust one.. and it turns out that I didn't need it at all as my HKS cooler is damn fine. DUMB ASS or what?!

Original message below:

Hi all,

I have an R32 GT-R and track it very often. I have installed an HKS oil cooler with remote filter mount and the last 3 track days I saw oil temps of 130!!!!

I get 1 warmup lap in, and then 3-4 very hard hot laps in the temps soar up to 130 forcing me to come back in to pit lane whilst other people stay out in the session for at least another 4 laps more than myself. (Eastern Creek).

Any ideas? Are all GT-R's like this? ie: 5 hot laps and you have to come back in to cool down?

Any suggestions? It's a pretty big HKS cooler, near radiator, cost me $800 2nd hand.

Thanks in advance for any help!!!

[Silver-Arrowz]

Get a bigger radiator too. Oil cooler is not enough to stop temps from soaring.

[ferni]

What size is the oil cooler?

Not sure about 32GTR's but the 33GTR's you can't fit a big oil cooler near the radiator, the bigger ones 16row etc.. need to go in the front left guard...

How much power/mods are you running? the more power you're making the more oil cooling you will need.

[justinfox]

OK so a bigger radiator will help? I didn't know this at all. I will most definitely get a new radiator if that's the case.

I am running 0.9bar on stock turbos with dump pipes and front pipes that's about it. Not sure about the size of the cooler but it's quite large (well, not tiny) and sits near the radiator.

[Abo Bob]

I second the radiator thing but have checked that your cooler is actually working? Ie do you have a thermostat in there that might not be working?

I complained once about hitting 110 degrees but people laughed at me. They were saying 130 was normal, well, normally high that is.

What kind of power are you pushing?

Is the oil cooler behind any of your other coolers?

[Abo Bob]

Jeez I typed that slow.

[Silver-Arrowz]

Bigger intercooler = more restriction = less cool air for radiator = higher engine temps. Don't go getting one of those drag intercoolers. WAY too big for the application.

Basically with a bigger radiator, it can exhange heat quicker, resulting in a cooler engine. As oil goes through the engine, the oil doesn't heat up as much.... well, that's my thinking.

[Silver-Arrowz]

At about 130 is high. I think it's about there that it starts to break down.

[ferni]

So you're probably running around 250rwkw i'm guessing... when the oil cooler was installed did you notice that it helped with your oil temps at all? (ie is it working as bob asked)

[justinfox]

I intend to keep the stock R32 GT-R intercooler. I will look into getting a bigger radiator. I am currently only pushing out 179kw at all 4 wheels. I have new turb os going on soon (HKS2530's) but this oil temp problem seems to be a "normal" one as my mechanic has told me that all GT-R's on track are like this?!

So, how can I check to see if my oil cooler is working? I know that as soon as I do a warm down lap I can literally watch the oil temp guage drop down quickly, does this mean the oil cooler is working?

I will get a better more accurate guage for starters as many of you on these forums seem to think the stock R32 GT-R guages aren't as accurate as they could be.

I just thought I'd post here as it's the motorsport section and surely a lot of you take your GT-R's out on track and would have similar oil temps? Thanks for the help so far.

[justinfox]

I don't ever remember checking oil temps before installing it unfortunately!!! Massive shame!!! How can I check if it's working or not guys?

[Abo Bob]

Touch it?

[GTRgeoff]

Also try some Redline water wetting agent. i understand it will reduce the tmps a bit as well after a 20min discussion with the aussie agent.

[ferni]

when i installed mine i noticed that the oil temps dropped alot quicker once i warmed down the car.... the temp still got up there, (can't tell you what temp since i was running stock gauges last time i was at the track) but i don't have enough airflow going through where my oil cooler is atm....

You would want these issues sorted out before you upgrade turbos, once you make more power you will generate more heat.... i'd find out how big the oil cooler is you have, - i wouldn't want anything smaller than a 16row hks/trust etc or equiv...

[justinfox]

OK looks like mine's a 12 row, or something close to it.

What about this ARC oil cooler guys? It's smack bang where the grill is so plenty of airflow, PLENTY!!!

Thoughts?

[Roy]

Uh, 130 does seem high especially since you have it instelled in front of the radiator where it shoudl be getting good flow.

You bought it 2nd hand, its a HKS one, and you say its pretty big. Id be a little concerned that the thermostat in the HKS kit isnt jammed and the oil isnt actually seeing the cooler. Dont knwo how to check to see the thermostat is functioning other then to get a a sandwich plate from Earls for $50 and by-pass the remote filler and run just the cooler. If you are still seeing such high temps then its another issue.

Had the cooler bene cleaned before you installed it? Not saying these are the problems, but they are quick easy and relatively cheap things to check before goign to the trounble of bigger radiators, bigger or better ducted oil cooler core.

But ud have a lazy quid on the thermostat playing up:)

edit..12 row, meh thats puny:) My little GTST has a 19 row.

[Roy]

Sell the 12 row jobbie and ring Star Performance in Five Dock. You can get a 19 row Serck cooler for about $250, and 24 row for about $300 (memory?!?!?!)

...id still check the thermostat isnt jammed though:)

[Sydneykid]

Hi Justin, suggestions follow;

1. Loose the thermostat, they are not necessary in Australia, it never gets cold enough.

2. I never mount oil coolers in front of the radiator, the oil cooler doesn't work as well because the radiator is behind it distrurbing the airflow exit. The radiator doesn't work properly either because it is getting hot air from the oil cooler plus disturbed airflow.

3. I always mount the oil cooler in the RHS vent as the LHS vent has the ambient air intake for the engine.

4. I always use aluminium ducting ro make sure that ALL of the air that comes in though the vent goes though the oil cooler. If you just hang the oil cooler out there, the air will go around it because that is the easiest path.

5. I never run oil temperature much over 105 degrees celsius

6. If the water temp is normal, changing the radiator WILL NOT lower the oil temperature. If the water temp is high it will, but only very slightly.

7. When you change from oil cooled turbos (plain bearing) to water cooled turbos (ball bearing) you will notice a drop in the oil temperature, but no real increase in the water temp.

Hope that helps:cheers:

[ferni]

interesting SK.

when you say the RHS vent, do you mean drivers side or passenger side? is it the same in R33 GTR?

Are standard GTR turbos water cooled or oil cooled? R32 and R33 ?

[Roy]

LOL...GTR turbs are oil cooled palin bearing turbos which is why i sometimes think ppl get carried away with the water cooled, ball bearing turbo thing.

Of course they are better, but so much that Nissan don’t use them on their prermiere performance model? (Along with EVOs/Porsches etc etc)

It would appear as far as oil temps and track work there is a BIG difference