Right oil temp for higher revs
 

Hello everybody,

I've recently installed an OBD2 dongle together with the matching app, and was wondering at what oil temp I could start getting the engine in the higher rev range. In current use (and more or less freezing temperatures), it needs about 10 miles / 20 minutes before it stabilizes in the 180s - 190s.

Car's completely stock and using the Toyota 0W20 oil.

Thanks!
Alex

Your water temp is a more important factor than your oil temp when it comes to revving it out. As long as your coolant is at normal operating temp (180-220 deg F) you're fine, which usually happens after just a few miles depending on ambient temp.

Now there ya go. Nothing else needs to be said - for fear it will trigger ANOTHER back-in-the-day story - :thanks:


humfrz

Most high quality (ester base) oils don't protect below 70-73C degrees so regardless of what your water temp is you should give enough time for the oil to reach those temperatures

I have the pivot dual gauge (OBD) for oil temp. and I don't run above 4000 rpm until my oil is at least 80 C (176 F). A number I determined from exhaustive internet research and the reading here on the forum.

Well I don’t agree with that at all. This is fake news

This is real news

This. Oil being up to temp is more important that worrying about coolant temp. It will warm up slower than coolant temp.

Coolant temp will only matter when it's too cold (in which case oil will be as well) or overheating.

OK, oil yes, water yes. The whole darn engine should be up to temp before wringing the blank out of it.

True, but if oil is up to temp, chances are water temp has been up to temp

Damn kids these days - bouncing a stone cold engine off of the rev limiter. SMH

Lucky our cars aren't 2-strokes.:D Always get my sled water temp up before I wring her out. Full throttle on an ice cold 2-stroke is just asking to stick a piston.:bonk:

I redline it a couple half dozen times in the driveway when it snows to get it warm faster. [emoji57]

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Wait, is that bad?

Not for yours it isn't.

Thank God.

that's fun to do in the garage, with the door closed, so it kills all the plants the wife brought in for the winter hahahahaha
:lol:

I use one of these, helps bring oil temps up much quicker from cold.

Best investment for a street car.

When my oil is 90°C it's time for thrashing.

Many many motors have died because they were leaned on hard before their oil was at temp.

Negative. Oil temp is far more important than water temp. That being said, they are generally very close to the exact same until you really start extreme usage.

My water temp comes up super fast but oil temp seems to take forever to come up in this car. It's torture. But then once it's up there and you drive it hard it skyrockets. Hahaha

Sounds about right. 10 minutes or so to get to temp and there is often a delta of 20+C right after the thermostat opens.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...46&postcount=7

When I'm at the track and stuck with a cold engine or long periods of idling, I use the first lap out on track as an opportunity to warm up the fluids, but at least I'm not starting from a completely cold engine situation.

-alex

So based on what I'm reading, it's safe to really have a go at the engine (read: redline it :D ) as soon as the oil is over 80°C (176°F)?

Obviously that's provided the rest of the car is up to temp as well.

I always wait till 180F oil temp.

I'm just saying not many cars come with an oil temp gauge (none of the 15 cars I've owned) so the closest thing we have to base it on is water temp.

Only that isn't what you said. You specifically said "Your water temp is a more important factor than your oil temp". This leads someone to believe that as soon as the water temp gauge reaches its normal resting place you are good to go when in reality the oil temp trails WAY behind. Water doesn't lubricate the engine, oil does.

When my water is up to around ~190f the oil temp is anywhere from 140-160f and this is in Florida winter. It takes at least 6-10 miles before the oil is just getting up to around 200 degrees.

Please cite some sources for this. I have never once heard or seen of this happening(to a street car), just a lot of internet parroting.

Can't cite any "sources" but can say it can and does happen up here. I think part of it is the definition of "cold". Your Florida "cold" start temperatures are our mid summer ones.When your motor oil is at sub zero temperatures (as the OP mentioned) even the multigrade stuff is thick. You lay on that engine too soon you WILL cause damage. Will it blow up that very second? Probably not but that does not mean you are not create abnormal wear. At the low temperatures we see the coolant can be up to temperature well before the oil is even half way. The best thing to do is wait and let everything warm up before flooring it. Shouldn't be a big deal to anybody to just wait a few minutes before bouncing off the limiter.
https://i.imgflip.com/2t34cu.jpg

Bare minimum is about 160F for me. I like to wait till 180F, (or try to get it to 180F) but sometimes I get to the on-ramp a bit too quickly and have too little self-control... :iono:

I have no way of measuring since I do not drive by gauges. I just wait long enough to feel comfortable that everything is up to temperature. This means that in cold weather I don't play on the ramp when I start my commute. Now, since if it is that cold out then even my snow tires are to firm for much fun anyway. I am never sure where all these people that start hooning right out of their driveway live and drive. If I start hitting red line anyplace within about 10 minutes of home or work I am going to either smash into the back of somebody stuck in traffic or have frequent conversations with the nice police officers.

There is no replacement for an oil temp gauge. I’d even forfeit water temp for oil temp if I had to.

You can sort of. Check this thread:
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show...06#post3004106

Cool. My 860 has both, and I almost never leave that screen.

Well fine then. :P

You know actually if I had to list the improvements on the 2017+ in order I would list them like this:
FD
Oil Temp
Tail Lights
5HP


Hahaha

I wonder if you (or anyone) has graphed oil temperature and water temperature as a function of time, in warming up a FA20 engine?

(yes, I realize that might depend on air temperature and RPMs)


humfrz

Tons of threads and logs out there. Oil temp always lags by a good margin. I'm familiar enough with my oil pressure-vs-temp profile that I can estimate oil temp within a few degrees.


Without an oil cooler, just give it a few minutes after the water comes up to temp. That's all it really needs.

You'd be surprised at how little ambient air temp comes into play. At least until the thermostat opens that is.

Are you suggesting that I :search: ?

So, are you going to share that profile?

The reason I ask is that what I'm now going by is that I figure the oil temperature is up enough when I can feel the warm air from the heater on my feet - :iono:

Yep, If I have to hear the toddler watch the movie "Frozen" one more time - I'm ah gonna completely lose it.


:confused0068:


humfrz

I just went through a few of my logs and found one that starts with the coolant at 114F and oil at 94F. About 6 minutes into the drive the coolant plateaued at 190F. When the coolant first reached 190F the oil was at 158.5F. It took an additional 3 minutes for the oil to stabilize at 185.46F. So in this case it took me 8mins total to reach normal oil temps. But this isn't from a completely cold start. Also IAT was around 78F so this wasn't in cold weather, even for Florida.

Tomorrow morning I will do a log from being completely cold and post the results.

One other thing, I feel like I've read that the water temp gauge on this car climbs up and then stopped just before the middle mark and from there it stops moving even though the temp hasn't reached 190. The gauge only moves above the midpoint if the coolant goes way over 190. When I do my log tomorrow I will take a timestamp when the needle first hits the 1/4 mark and another timestamp right when it hits it's normal resting place and then compare these timestamps to the real data.

That's a little early for the Italian tune-up. Watch the water temp gauge. Give it a few minutes after it stabilizes.


I don't have much choice because I hit I-5 so quickly in my commute. I just short shift and apologize to my engine until I cross the river.

There is a WRX near my office that is always trying to race me on the way home. I run on my lunch break so I know where he works. It takes a lot of self control not to give in and race this guy but you know damn well his oil is cold too because he works just down the road from me. I guess he doesn't care. Hahaha