Oil Temp Problems - Cold Weather

[Eritas]

Block off the entire oil cooler, block off the entire transmission cooler, and in those temps, I'd still block off 50% or more of your center radiator inlet as well.

Sponsored

 

[UnhandledException]

I blocked off the entire oil radiator. After 20 min of driving oil temp is at 153. So this is not going to work.

 

[Tomster]

Matt,

With temps so cold and your insistent desire to drive it in these conditions, you are going to have to settle for what you have. AFAIK, the only thing you can do is cover the oil heat exchanger. If that's not acceptable, then don't drive it. I wouldn't drive my car in very cold conditions that you describe.

Grab a quart of 5W50, put it outside for 8 hours, and then try pouring it into another container. The stuff is thick. Now imagine trying to lubricate an engine when the oil is that viscous. The debate of whether the 350 makes a good daily driver or not has been discussed. I would say it could be a DD, but I probably wouldn't do it in the dead of winter under extreme cold temps.

Its your car man, do what you see fit. However I don't think you can fix your oil temp issue any more than covering the oil heat exchanger.

 

[Eritas]

I blocked off the entire oil radiator. After 20 min of driving oil temp is at 153. So this is not going to work.

Pics of how you blocked it off? In those temps, you really need to be using a thinner oil like M1 0W40 or even a 5W30.

 

[UnhandledException]

Will post pictures but why cant I block off the front radiator as well but maybe dont do it as much as I did last time? Because I blocked off the front radiator holes (top and bottom), my oil temps were fine at 180, it was the engine temp that was going up to 220 but then coming back down to 200 once in a while

 

[Hack]

You can just drive the car with low oil temps. Keep the engine revs down and everything will be fine. You aren't going to have enough traction to hook up if you rev it out anyway. My advice is to change the oil more frequently as water won't boil off.

 

[Eritas]

Will post pictures but why cant I block off the front radiator as well but maybe dont do it as much as I did last time? Because I blocked off the front radiator holes (top and bottom), my oil temps were fine at 180, it was the engine temp that was going up to 220 but then coming back down to 200 once in a while

Maybe don't completely block it off but find the balance where water temps stabilize around 200-210 and oil temps are still at 180. The fact the water temps drop back down to 200 means the radiator fans are doing their job so that's not a concern.

 

[Tomster]

You can just drive the car with low oil temps. Keep the engine revs down and everything will be fine. You aren't going to have enough traction to hook up if you rev it out anyway. My advice is to change the oil more frequently as water won't boil off.

My thought as well, but what's the point? This car is not some grandma cruiser. If you can't drive it lime a 350, then why bother?

Oil other than the recommended 5w50 goes against the manual. Sure, it's a better way to go, but if you have an engine problem and they attribute it to using an oil that is not recommended or approved, you could have a warranty issue.

Wait for it to warm up a bit.

 

[UnhandledException]

My thought as well, but what's the point? This car is not some grandma cruiser. If you can't drive it lime a 350, then why bother?

Oil other than the recommended 5w50 goes against the manual. Sure, it's a better way to go, but if you have an engine problem and they attribute it to using an oil that is not recommended or approved, you could have a warranty issue.

Wait for it to warm up a bit.

Why bother is because I can only afford and have room for 2 cars. I refuse to drive a normal car as daily driver and my second car will either be a GT3 or ZR1. I need an affordable sports car that I can daily drive. I paid 59k for this car. You can option a 3 series (forget m3) that will be 20k more expensive. Heck you can get a regular SUV like acura that is more expensive.

I get that for some people here this is a collectors car but for me its the cheapest sports car that ticks all the boxes that I can daily drive.

And for the record today i realized its unusually cold. Its -1F right now as per my laser temp gun. Intake temp shows 17F. I blocked off more pieces now and oil temp is at 163 and CHT is 200.

 

[MAV]

I live in Arkansas where it doesn't get much below the 20s most of the time (although it's going to be 8 tomorrow night). I block 100% of my lower grills with tape, and run it this way between late November through February. On warm days, the oil and water temps will get slightly above normal, but never high enough to cause alarm.

One benefit is that it allows the trans temp to get into a warmer operating range. On my car without tape, the trans never gets above 100* in the winter. It will now normally run about 120-150*.

Here's what mine looks like:

 

[UnhandledException]

I live in Arkansas where it doesn't get much below the 20s most of the time (although it's going to be 8 tomorrow night). I block 100% of my lower grills with tape, and run it this way between late November through February. On warm days, the oil and water temps will get slightly above normal, but never high enough to cause alarm.

One benefit is that it allows the trans temp to get into a warmer operating range. On my car without tape, the trans never gets above 100* in the winter. It will now normally run about 120-150*.

Here's what mine looks like:

This is why I like collaboration. I have spent a lot of time like a complete idiot with cardboard boxes and zip ties. I will use black tape. Is that just electrical non conducting tape or something else? Do you just leave them on or wrap around the grill so they dont fall off?

 

[dwalker]

They make masking tape in all kinds of colors so black masking tape would work. just be sure and overlap the pieces to make them a bit stronger since the grill doesn't have much surface for it to stick to.

 

[MAV]

It's just Scotch brand electrical tape. Measure out a piece, trim it, and then put it on without stretching it. Otherwise, it will shrink and pull off when it gets cold.

 

[snaproll]

I wouldn’t overthink it. Drive the car. Enjoy the car. Ford tested it. It will be fine or it won’t but your oil temps aren’t going to have any effect on the outcome. Obviously a warm up would be nice before you beat it into submission.

 

[dwalker]

I wouldn’t overthink it. Drive the car. Enjoy the car. Ford tested it. It will be fine or it won’t but your oil temps aren’t going to have any effect on the outcome. Obviously a warm up would be nice before you beat it into submission.

[ame]

Sponsored