Oil overheating at track

[REDLINE]

or going to a different platform entirely.

Tracktardicus, I’m in a similar crossroad. I absolutely love my gt350. But I keep my cars stock (except tires). I’m wondering whether I should pursue a different car or will I just run into the same problems. Literally, the only other car I’d be interested in is an M2 competition. Nothing else (that is within my budget) interests me right now.

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[honeybadger]

I just completed a track weekend with BMW Club at High Plains Raceway. I ran several 30-minute sessions doing lead-follow instructing at lower RPMs as well as hot laps in the morning. The lead-follow temps were 270 at 98 degrees max air temp at 5000 feet elevation. The max oil temp during hot lapping was 297, at which point I backed off.
As I was maneuvering the car in the paddock to refill the fuel tank after the last session on the last day, the power steering went out. Soon after, the dash lit up like a Christmas tree with messages detailing all of the electronic systems shutting down, which appeared to be the result of the alternator failing. So it's sitting at the stealership in the snow (!!!) awaiting repair yet again.
At this juncture I'm considering either evaluating aftermarket cooling options, or going to a different platform entirely. how well-developed/tested is the aftermarket in terms of cooling?

Man that sucks! Regarding the 297 temps, there's a good chance it's related to your shift points. 98 is hot, but I'm surprised you're hitting those temps. Do you have video of your hot laps by chance?

The FP350S oil cooler is incredible. You won't overheat the oil with it. Highly recommend (does require a bit of fab work, tho).

An update: i was at auto club speedway this weekend (3 days in a row). New oil. It was a record breaking 115°. My oil temps reached 297° degrees, and then I decided to just start shifting at 7000rpm instead. Seemed like that made a pretty large difference in oil temps (thanks for the tip, honeybadger!)
What’s weird is that the water/engine temps seem stable. Is there something wrong with my oil cooler (it was replaced under warranty after it developed a leak). I’m wondering whether there is some blockage in the oil lines coming from the cooler.

pS, I’m running oem motorcraft 5-50

Nope. You're just in super hot weather and were likely just revving it out more than you needed to. the FP350S cooler will help a lot, but does require a bit of fab work.

That's the most likely root cause. I've not heard of anyone else's alternator failing. I'll see what the dealership says.

Mine failed. Don't think it was heat. I know of a few others that had issues with theirs as well. Mine didn't take out the steering tho. I just got a "charging system" error.

Tracktardicus, I’m in a similar crossroad. I absolutely love my gt350. But I keep my cars stock (except tires). I’m wondering whether I should pursue a different car or will I just run into the same problems. Literally, the only other car I’d be interested in is an M2 competition. Nothing else (that is within my budget) interests me right now.

Nothing that revs high will deal with heat well unless you've done extensive work on cooling. I run with pretty much everything at COTA and in the 100* summer heat, all the cars in the white groups overheat unless they're race cars with heavy cooling. I know guys overheating their GT3s, M2s, Camaros, Corvettes, etc.

Shifting at lower RPMs or carrying a higher gear helps tremendously. Otherwise I'd add more cooling.

You'll have the same issues in a BMW (it'll just hide it better and pull power instead).

 

[REDLINE]

Man that sucks! Regarding the 297 temps, there's a good chance it's related to your shift points. 98 is hot, but I'm surprised you're hitting those temps. Do you have video of your hot laps by chance?

The FP350S oil cooler is incredible. You won't overheat the oil with it. Highly recommend (does require a bit of fab work, tho).



Nope. You're just in super hot weather and were likely just revving it out more than you needed to. the FP350S cooler will help a lot, but does require a bit of fab work.



Mine failed. Don't think it was heat. I know of a few others that had issues with theirs as well. Mine didn't take out the steering tho. I just got a "charging system" error.



Nothing that revs high will deal with heat well unless you've done extensive work on cooling. I run with pretty much everything at COTA and in the 100* summer heat, all the cars in the white groups overheat unless they're race cars with heavy cooling. I know guys overheating their GT3s, M2s, Camaros, Corvettes, etc.

Shifting at lower RPMs or carrying a higher gear helps tremendously. Otherwise I'd add more cooling.

You'll have the same issues in a BMW (it'll just hide it better and pull power instead).

Thanks for clearing that up Honeybadger! Good to know my gt350 is behaving normally under those weather conditions. Knock on wood, its only cooler weather coming up. I'm gonna be keeping an eye on how much of a difference ambient air temps play on our car's oil coolers.

 

[TeeLew]

Tracktardicus, I’m in a similar crossroad. I absolutely love my gt350. But I keep my cars stock (except tires). I’m wondering whether I should pursue a different car or will I just run into the same problems. Literally, the only other car I’d be interested in is an M2 competition. Nothing else (that is within my budget) interests me right now.

Honestly, I don't understand this. Criticizing a street car(even a very capable one) with no specific modifications for not performing up to snuff on a racetrack seems a bit daft.

 

[REDLINE]

Honestly, I don't understand this. Criticizing a street car(even a very capable one) with no specific modifications for not performing up to snuff on a racetrack seems a bit daft.

So let me get this straight. So as a total track newbie, the first thing I should do to any new car is totally modify it before I hit the tracks. Got it.

 

[tracktardicus]

Honestly, I don't understand this. Criticizing a street car(even a very capable one) with no specific modifications for not performing up to snuff on a racetrack seems a bit daft.

Honestly, I don't understand this. Trolling a GT350 forum when you don't even own the car the forum is about and offering nothing helpful or productive seems a bit daft.

 

[tracktardicus]

Man that sucks! Regarding the 297 temps, there's a good chance it's related to your shift points. 98 is hot, but I'm surprised you're hitting those temps. Do you have video of your hot laps by chance?

HB,
Link below. The link to my OBD was off, so no RPM info, but I have the shift indicator set to 8K and I'm not short-shifting at all for hot laps. The altitude is also a factor in terms of overheating and less HP. when I took the car to Hastings in Nebraska (alt. 1900 vs 5000), it was like driving a different car.

 

[TeeLew]

Honestly, I don't understand this. Trolling a GT350 forum when you don't even own the car the forum is about and offering nothing helpful or productive seems a bit daft.

OH MY, are we offended?

Well, in the Road Course/Track sub-forum we've been kicking this exact problem around, because it effects all of us, not just you, Princess. For your information, I've been working with C&R Racing in Indianapolis to produce a bolt-in radiator/heat-exchanger solution to address both water and oil on-track temperatures, but it doesn't really matter to you, because you won't change your car.

So go get your BMW. With your attitude, I find it almost inconceivable that you don't already own one.

 

[tracktardicus]

OH MY, are we offended?

Well, in the Road Course/Track sub-forum we've been kicking this exact problem around, because it effects all of us, not just you, Princess. For your information, I've been working with C&R Racing in Indianapolis to produce a bolt-in radiator/heat-exchanger solution to address both water and oil on-track temperatures, but it doesn't really matter to you, because you won't change your car.

So go get your BMW. With your attitude, I find it almost inconceivable that you don't already own one.

So maybe you should have led with your work with C&R instead of trolling. I really give zero f**ks. And I'm not a Ford or BMW fanboy, and never mentioned anything regarding BMW's. I choose the right tool for the job, and I'm questioning whether the GT350R is the right one. We'll leave it to the jury to determine who is the princess.

 

[honeybadger]

OH MY, are we offended?

Well, in the Road Course/Track sub-forum we've been kicking this exact problem around, because it effects all of us, not just you, Princess. For your information, I've been working with C&R Racing in Indianapolis to produce a bolt-in radiator/heat-exchanger solution to address both water and oil on-track temperatures, but it doesn't really matter to you, because you won't change your car.

So go get your BMW. With your attitude, I find it almost inconceivable that you don't already own one.

Ahh, I always find it amusing that the aggressive ones are always the most touchy when called out for being aggressive.

HB,
Link below. The link to my OBD was off, so no RPM info, but I have the shift indicator set to 8K and I'm not short-shifting at all for hot laps. The altitude is also a factor in terms of overheating and less HP. when I took the car to Hastings in Nebraska (alt. 1900 vs 5000), it was like driving a different car.

Ahh, thanks for providing. Definitely keeping the beast strung out. Not surprised you're hitting high temps. That track is pretty technical for how the GT350 is geared. I bet a gearing change would help you stay a bit lower in the RPMs.

Without a gearing change, I'd recommend trying to use 3rd in the tighter stuff and short shifting the straightaway. You're holding it at the top quite of the RPM change for quite a while (seemed like 3 or so seconds). I'd say a good rule of thumb I recommend is to up shift if a good portion of the section is spent above 6500 rpm or so (i.e. you're at 6500 or higher for the a substantial portion of a particular sector).

 

[REDLINE]

I'd say a good rule of thumb I recommend is to up shift if a good portion of the section is spent above 6500 rpm or so (i.e. you're at 6500 or higher for the a substantial portion of a particular sector).

I’m going to have to try this out. I have an upcoming event at both Big Willow and Spring Mountain. Thanks for the tip, brotha! Much appreciated !

 

[tracktardicus]

Tracktardicus, I’m in a similar crossroad. I absolutely love my gt350. But I keep my cars stock (except tires). I’m wondering whether I should pursue a different car or will I just run into the same problems. Literally, the only other car I’d be interested in is an M2 competition. Nothing else (that is within my budget) interests me right now.

Interesting you say the M2. There were several at the BMW Club event last weekend, and I went out in a comp version as a passenger with a fellow instructor. We liked that the shorter wheelbase was more go-cart-like in turn-in, but my friend said he liked the GT350R better (he has driven mine.)
My point is they are very different cars, and if you like the more visceral aspect of the GT350, you won't find that in the M2.

 

[TeeLew]

So maybe you should have led with your work with C&R instead of trolling. I really give zero f**ks. And I'm not a Ford or BMW fanboy, and never mentioned anything regarding BMW's. I choose the right tool for the job, and I'm questioning whether the GT350R is the right one. We'll leave it to the jury to determine who is the princess.

What does it matter? You're not changing it anyway.

 

[tracktardicus]

Ahh, I always find it amusing that the aggressive ones are always the most touchy when called out for being aggressive.

Ahh, thanks for providing. Definitely keeping the beast strung out. Not surprised you're hitting high temps. That track is pretty technical for how the GT350 is geared. I bet a gearing change would help you stay a bit lower in the RPMs.

Without a gearing change, I'd recommend trying to use 3rd in the tighter stuff and short shifting the straightaway. You're holding it at the top quite of the RPM change for quite a while (seemed like 3 or so seconds). I'd say a good rule of thumb I recommend is to up shift if a good portion of the section is spent above 6500 rpm or so (i.e. you're at 6500 or higher for the a substantial portion of a particular sector).

HB,
I see your point re: 3rd vs 2nd, but the advantage you gain keeping revs at or above 5K in general, and corner exit speed in particular, is significant when doing a hot lap. I hate having to sacrifice RPMs when the whole point of this mill is winding it out.

 

[TeeLew]

Ahh, I always find it amusing that the aggressive ones are always the most touchy when called out for being aggressive.

I _did not_ start out aggressive, but if you go there, I'm happy to oblige.

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