Will Feather

Yeah to me, in general theory, you think the base of the oil pan (at the drain) would have the best "averaged" oil temp.

And Van, as grushy said, the Lindsey unit retains the magnet. Nice piece.

fortysixandtwo

Thanks for putting a picture up edge. Saves me from jacking the car up.

Isn't it peak oil temperature that we're most interested in?

cjbcpa

That's the number I want as my car is sees nearly all track use. What good is average if you've cooked your oil to a temperature beyond its limit somewhere else in the system?

Will Feather

Point taken. Mine will not see much track time, if anything a DE or two. And honestly I don't even drive it too hard on the street. Frankly, I haven't had time to drive it much at all!

Oddjob

Not necessarily. Depends on what information you're looking for. Oil temp out of the turbo is not telling you oil temp thru the rest of the engine (temp and the corresponding viscosity at the rod bearings is very important), and does not give you a good indication of the oil cooling capacity. You could be hitting high 200's out of the turbo before the oil thermostat has even opened.

For a dedicated track car, I don't worry about turbo discharge temp when running a standard/stock water cooled turbo. I only monitor the sump temp.


Why do you want an oil temp gage?

dmcampbell

280 sweep gauge with sender in drain plug via Lindsey adapter. 245 at Sebring in summer. Mike

theedge

I personally plan to have other sensors in addition to the turbo drain one I posted above. But thats just me.

Jeff N.

Lindsey plug, pan measurement. 180 during street.... Track....depends on lot of variables. I typically shut it down when it starts to get much north of 240. Running dual factory coolers in series.

Will Feather

Currently have my AFR and Boost mounted under the radio with my MBC. I want to move AFR and Boost to the pillar for better visibility, so will need to fill the 2 dead spots under the radio.

I have always planned on adding another oil pressure gauge as well as oil temp. I run 2 oil coolers in series and would love to see the data as to what my oil temps are doing. Plus down the road I would like to get into more track events. The more data the merrier!

1987Porsche944WithRealLongName

I have a hard time getting my oil to go over 145F even in summer
If I park and start or get stuck in traffic I can see 180 or 190 on a really hot day and even this isn't enough to open up the thermostat

But in winter I'm lucky to get 140 and its not even that cold, 50 degrees. I taped cardboard over the oil cooler and drove the **** out of it for half an hour and barely managed 175
After a drive I touched the oil cooler and it was hot so I removed the thermostat to check it out. It tested ok and I noticed there were small holes in it like some water thermostats so I assume this is why it was hot.

Is it bad to drive around with oil that doesn't heat up well? Should I switch oils? I'm on castrol 20w50 now
What worries me is all the water I'm getting at my oil fill cap and in my catch can. Oil has a gassy smell when warmed up but there are no signs of a headgasket leak.

doabarrelroll

I always understood the pan to be the most accurate place to measure.

KevinGross

For the 944 and 944S guys, VDO has (or used to have) an M18 x 1.5 temp sender that would thread right into the blind plug on the oil / water heat exchanger manifold -- no brainer. If you have the factory manifold used on cars with an oil cooler (951, 944S2), best bet is the plug or banjo for the turbo oil return line to the sump. M10 version of the sender, drill and tap, use a seal ring. (I've had mine set up this way for many years with a hitch. Car is a 944S that has had a 944 Turbo oil cooler, manifold, and lines retrofitted.)

There's no best place to measure -- the temp will vary a bit depending on where in the circuit you measure. A few degrees difference won't make a difference. You're looking for the big spikes that tell you something's really wrong!

Kevin
Catellus Engineering

tjbreen

I have two sensors weird into a single gauge with a switch. One is mounted in the banjo bolt the other in the drain plug. When I was running the stock turbo I would see differences of over 30 degrees Fahrenheit between the two. After I switched to a dual BB turbo, I see differences of no more than 5 degrees. When I switch between them the needle barely moves.

I chose the banjo bolt because I thought it would show me the highest temp the oil would achieve in my engine and on a hot track day I would see 280. I installed the oil plug sensor to see what was more typical and on a hot track day I will see 240. I run a single Setrab 22x7 inch cooler in front of the radiator. It adds a full quart to the oil capacity. My car dyno'd recently at 315 RWHP.