Oil Temperature?

[67428GT500]

Non contact thermometer IR gun’s are great for this. Quick verification of gauge function.

That's a good idea.  I was also thinking of sticking a thermocouple down the dipstick tube once the engine was hot and after I turn it off.

I was about to mention just that. It would allow you to measure the temperature in the sump.
                                                                    -Keith

[Gaugster]

The IR guns are very handy for something like this. Just be sure to use the proper (emissivity) material setting. Pointing it at surfaces with different materials like case iron vs aluminium will give a different reading even if the actual temperature is the same.

[Drew Pojedinec]

Indeed gaugster.
Shooting a raw black iron pipe will not be as accurate as a painted pipe.
Anyway, there are 65 gauges in my engine room, ir and a master gauge are only way to keep after them all.

[C6AE]

I do agree with Joe there is horsepower in hot (thin) oil, but have a problem with having to "boil" the water.
You don't have to boil water to evaporate it, a pan sitting out in the sun will do that.

[Gaugster]

I do agree with Joe there is horsepower in hot (thin) oil, but have a problem with having to "boil" the water.
You don't have to boil water to evaporate it, a pan sitting out in the sun will do that.

A fair comment and nothing that I wish to debate. I like it hot! The 'health' of an engine's oil depends on many factors. The type, usage, air/water cooled, change frequency to name a few. To your example,  that same pan will have dew (frost in my case) the next morning. More heat will increase the rate of evaporation.

[cjshaker]

I do agree with Joe there is horsepower in hot (thin) oil, but have a problem with having to "boil" the water.
You don't have to boil water to evaporate it, a pan sitting out in the sun will do that.

Not sure how you can compare a pan of water sitting in the sun to the internals of an engine. An engine is pretty much sealed, except for maybe a breather or two. Moisture can easily accumulate from temperature and dew point changes, and it does not readily evaporate inside that environment. I've seen oil pans rust...from the inside out, cylinders rust from condensation etc etc. And oil will float on water, so any moisture that gets in the pan will be trapped until it's circulated and heated enough to evaporate. Engines that run too cold will also produce sludge, so heat is essential to a degree (no pun intended) to keep the inside clean.

[John67427]

 A friend of mine had an ERA Cobra that had an FE in it. I remember him calling me that he thought the oil temp gauge was bad as it to so much longer to get heat into the oil than the water temp. The oil definitely takes longer get to a temperature than the cooling system. Just an observation not scientific.

[Drew Pojedinec]

Chlorinated paraffins contact moisture and makes hydrochloric acid. That is more responsible for rusting inside an oil pan.

Is something we monitor on the large marine diesels as it is common to go 20,000 hours on lube oil before changing.

[machoneman]

Bro' James had a near new 1970 Boss 302 with the Drag Pack (think that was the name) options inculding the rare oil cooler. After driving the car for awhile, we figured that even in mainly warm-hot weather city driving, the oil never really got very warm let alone hot.

Although the oil was clear and not frothy from moisture, we made up a simple cover to totally block the cooler. Problem solved and proved to us the cooler should have been a track-only thing.

[cjshaker]

Chlorinated paraffins contact moisture and makes hydrochloric acid. That is more responsible for rusting inside an oil pan.

Is something we monitor on the large marine diesels as it is common to go 20,000 hours on lube oil before changing.

Drew, I'm not sure what your point is here? I don't know anything about chlorinated paraffins, but since moisture is still required to produce the acid, isn't that basically making the same point that I made? That moisture is bad? The engines that I saw with those oil pan problems were all engines that were short tripped, where the oil was not allowed to heat up enough to burn off the moisture in the engine. They get 'sludgy' and the moisture gets trapped in the bottom of the pan and causes them to rust out. Acid or not, they would not rust if it were not for the trapped moisture.

I'm curious what oil temps you typically see, or like to see, in your tug diesel engines?

[C6AE]

Chlorinated paraffins contact moisture and makes hydrochloric acid. That is more responsible for rusting inside an oil pan.

Is something we monitor on the large marine diesels as it is common to go 20,000 hours on lube oil before changing.

This is a good point, which is why lube oils by design have water emulsifiers added to keep moisture in suspension. As oil is moved through the engine, the heat generated by combustion in addition localized heat from working bearings is sufficient to evaporate any accumulated condensation. Typically this water is removed by PCV. Most engine lube oil systems are designed to run at the same temperature as the coolant.

[67428GT500]

With few exceptions, oils are designed to operate at a maximum of 230-260 degrees. Oil boils at about 500 degrees.  Hot Rod did an article a few years ago on just this question.
This may be somewhat helpful.

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/engine-oil-temperature/

[Drew Pojedinec]

Doug, my point was simply to reconfirm the importance of ridding water from an engine. Run it hot, change oil often. Run a good pcv. Also pays to be choosy regarding the oil you use. Some are more prone to creating acid than others due to the base oils.

In the case of marine engines, 225 for four strokes, 200 for two strokes.
My 10,320ci two strokes cruise at 166 water temp, 190 oil temp, 550egt.
Generally tho two strokes need to be on the cooler side than normal due to seeing combustion every time the piston goes down. So more localized heat, greater oil and water flow to carry it.
The mains here currently have 35,000 hours since last overhaul. Last time I checked bearings and retorqued was when I changed the oil, 10,000 hours ago.
Fun fact about the oil I run here, no zddp. Even 10ppm is enough that we’d have to change it. Any more and the silver coated bearings overheat and make crankcase explosions (trust me, they suck)

[ACHiPo]

Bro' James had a near new 1970 Boss 302 with the Drag Pack (think that was the name) options inculding the rare oil cooler. After driving the car for awhile, we figured that even in mainly warm-hot weather city driving, the oil never really got very warm let alone hot.

Although the oil was clear and not frothy from moisture, we made up a simple cover to totally block the cooler. Problem solved and proved to us the cooler should have been a track-only thing.

I fab'd a cover out of ceramic wool/aluminum heat shield material.  Will test it out this weekend, and confirm oil temp with a TC.

A friend of mine had an ERA Cobra that had an FE in it. I remember him calling me that he thought the oil temp gauge was bad as it to so much longer to get heat into the oil than the water temp. The oil definitely takes longer get to a temperature than the cooling system. Just an observation not scientific.

My oil definitely takes about 10 min longer to move off the peg than the water.  Once it comes up to 40C-60C, however, the pressure gauge makes me think it's at temp.

[cjshaker]

Doug, my point was simply to reconfirm the importance of ridding water from an engine. Run it hot, change oil often. Run a good pcv. Also pays to be choosy regarding the oil you use. Some are more prone to creating acid than others due to the base oils.

In the case of marine engines, 225 for four strokes, 200 for two strokes.
My 10,320ci two strokes cruise at 166 water temp, 190 oil temp, 550egt.
Generally tho two strokes need to be on the cooler side than normal due to seeing combustion every time the piston goes down. So more localized heat, greater oil and water flow to carry it.
The mains here currently have 35,000 hours since last overhaul. Last time I checked bearings and retorqued was when I changed the oil, 10,000 hours ago.
Fun fact about the oil I run here, no zddp. Even 10ppm is enough that we’d have to change it. Any more and the silver coated bearings overheat and make crankcase explosions (trust me, they suck)

I find it amazing that you go that long between oil changes, especially with diesels. All of my campus grounds vehicles have gone to Kubota diesels, and it only takes a few hours run time for the oil to turn black from impurities. I realize it's a big jump from my little diesels to your monster, but diesels are dirty engines all the way around, from what I've experienced. I can't even wrap my head around a 20,000 hour oil change schedule, but your engines seem to go against conventional car engine wisdom, at every level.