Doug Nash

Hello,
I have an 02 Mustang GT with alot of bolt on mods. I will ist if need be. I installed some guages to monitor temps and my oil temp reads 137 in Celcius which is 280 in F. I did so me researching into what normal operating temps should be and saw that 220-230 should be good. Before I go and place a band aid (oil cooler) on it I wanted to ask what could be making my engine run really hot. Water temp is just fine.
Thank You,
Doug

Doug Nash

seriously??? no one knows this?

DeathRattle

What kind of gauge is it? How long is the engine running before the oil gets that hot? How is your oil pressure? Do you have the proper oil in the car?

To be honest, I'm not really sure what could be causing this. Maybe the oil cooler...I don't know. But I'll try to help you figure it out.

DeathRattle

And I must add, I don't know how important it is to monitor oil temps. In all my cars throughout the past 21 years I have never done this. My 2010 Camaro SS came from the factory with an oil temp gauge and I glance at it periodically. But I would tend to think that if it were a major issue then there would be a monitoring system on a lot more cars. I mean, do you even check your trans temps. So I would think that oil will retain heat. Its job is to lubricate moving engine parts and reduce heat. Oil goes through the hottest parts of the engine. So of course it may be hotter than you'd expect. And you also have to consider where you're measuring the temp. Some parts of the engine will be hotter than others. Engine coolant also.

JC316

Odds are it's a faulty gauge. That is way too hot for the car, most should around around 180-200*F

Doug Nash

we all know the factory guages don't tell you anything. I installeda water temp sensor...runs about 90 celcius...so it is good. I have an exhaust gas temp sensor as well and it is fine. I have a oil temp sensor and it is telling me that I am in the red at 137 celcius which is like 280 in F. I also have a volt meter guage and wide band air/fuel. Yes I like to monitor what the car is doing. The factory guage for the oil is just pressure and it reads just normal. I am running a 3-row radiator but that is for coolant and tranny. I have already purchased and am awaiting for a 13 row oil cooler and a dual bypass tranny cooler. I will install when I get them. Tranny is for when I do the upgrades to it...but for now it is stock auto. My oil sensor is located at the oil filter on a sandwhich plate.

cliffyk

Rule of thumb for years has been that the sump oil temp will be 1.2 to 1.4 times the coolant temperature--for your 194°F that would be 232° to 271°F. The 278 reported by you new gauge is a bit high however if all other temps are what they should be I would not be overly concerned. Especially since the accuracy of the new sensor/gauge could easily be ±5.0 or even ±10.0%.

I would monitor it as you are doing and "see what you can see" over a longer term.

What brand/model is it?

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FWIW, the stock o/p gauge is only a flashy looking "idiot light", if the oil pressure is more than 6 psi the indicator will be somewhere near the middle of its range, if < 6 psi it will read 0...

Doug Nash

don't know where you got your #'s...they aren't the ones I reported.

cliffyk

Your stated in your posts that the engine oil temp was 137°C and that the coolant temp was 90°C.

137°C = 178.6°F (I dropped the .6), 90°C = 194°F...