Oil Temp

[Berg9987]

Hey guys!

I was just wondering if anybody knows the standard/average oil temperature that the 4A-GZE should be running at. I have an autometer oil temp gauge in the car and after driving for a few hours (highway) it almost goes past the last number (250 deg F). To me this seems a little high. The water temperature gauge (stock) reads normal. I have the oil temp sensor installed on a sandwich plate between the filter and the take off for the cooler. This is near the exhaust but I wouldnt think that it would affect it that much. Thoughts? Thanks.

Cheers,
Berg

[Redlyne_mr2]

yah that does sound high... is the engine modded ? Im pretty sure those had oil coolers. might be time for a new one or to get the old one flushed.

[Berg9987]

There is the stock oil cooler. Its an oil to water cooler. Which is partly why I'm confused, I would have expected it to affect the water temp. I honestly hadn't thought about it getting plugged. That is a very good point. I was also thinking of mounting and oil to air cooler in series with the stock one if the problem persists. One thing I didn't mention is once I take a break from driving and let the car idle, it does slowly come back down, and it seems that the needle moves relevant to the amount of gas pedal I give it. Especially after the temp reaches 210F. For example If I have it at higher revs in fourth and then shift to fifth, the temperature decreases a little bit.

Although the oil cooler might be faulty I'm still concerned that the problem lie elsewhere. Theoretically the cooler shouldn't need to take off that much temperature (my idea of a warmed up engine oil temp is around 160-180F, correct me if I'm wrong please).

Thanks again.

Cheers,
Berg

[Berg9987]

Sorry, didn't answer your question, no at that time the engine was running fairly stock. There may be some ECU tuning (I found a guys business card taped to it when I removed the trunk lining). The car was originally NA but two owners ago it was swapped to SC.

I don't drive the car that far much anymore so it hasn't been a problem lately, but it nags in the back of my mind. Since then the car has had an NST pulley installed and is running 11psi of boost.

On a possibly related note, the car hasnt been boosting right lately. It used to boost 8psi (stock). When I installed a different gauge (to better match the interior) it read 5psi. I assumed that the gauge/my install caused the problem and replace the gauge several months later. The new one read 6psi, sometimes 7. I assumed at the time that it was a boost leak, now I'm wondering if the two issues are related.... The NST pulley set advertises 13.5psi...

[Ashkente]

What does it get to on the stock gauge? (I don't have an aftermarket one) Mine will never go above half, and only gets there if it's idling after some long pulls. Granted, my car is likely running somewhat rich as well, due to exhaust holing/O2 CEL.

[Berg9987]

The car doesn't have a stock oil temperature gauge....

The stock water temp gauge does the same thing as what yoiu mentioned, never going above half.

The stock oil pressure gauge I dont belive can be trusted (different senders on 4A-GE and 4A-GZE and I dont think i have the right one). Autometer oil pressure gauge reads a min of 25psi at idle after warmed up and about 75-80psi under full throttle at higher revs.

[Ashkente]

Originally posted by Berg9987
The car doesn't have a stock oil temperature gauge....

Right. I'm retarded and was thinking water temp. :nut: :banghead:

[alloroc]

GZE's tend to run hot.

An easy fix is to remote mount a larger oil filter if you run a lot of the tubing (copper / aluminum) next to some sheet metal you *may* drop as much as 15 degrees.

The best fix is to swap in a full flow oil cooler.

The cheap work around is to use full synthetic, and make sure you change oil every 5000k or less.

[Berg9987]

Originally posted by Ashkente


Right. I'm retarded and was thinking water temp. :nut: :banghead:

I knew what you meant :)

This weekend I am going to try doing a tune up. It is possible that the timming might be off. If I have tim I might drain the coolant and oil and pull the stock cooler off to see if it is plugged up. If all that checks out I will probably put an aftermarket cooler on in line with the stock one. I figure that if I leave the plastick skid plate off I can get air to the cooler.

Any more thoughts/ideas? Thanks!

Cheers,
Berg

[Berg9987]

Ok.... Update!

I removed the stock oil cooler. I found that it was not blocked and should be working fine. I then put the car back back together and bled the coolant system. A few things happened after that:

1 - Oil temp still seems high, though not as high. After crusing for twenty minutes on the highway at 130km/h the temp held steady at 220F. In the city it stayed between 200 and 210.

2 - The idle smoothed out.

3 - Acceleration has smoothed out.

This leads me to believe that the coolant has been low for some time, which explains points 2 and 3. I still think that I will still add an aftermarket oil cooler, probably this weekend.

Any other tips?

Cheers,
Berg

[bmeier]

there is no need for an after market oil cooler, i ran a modded gze for years the stock oil cooler is fine.

i would flush your coolant out and refill with nice fresh coolant then thoroughly bleed the system. if you don't bleed properly you are going to have a lot of problems. you cant just drain the coolant either the cooling system holds 12 L of coolant, you need to drain as much as you can fill it back with water run the car for a couple minutes then drain again.

also check your timing and make sure you have proper spark plugs in the car.

[Berg9987]

Coolant system was flushed and bled to the best of my ability. I followed this procedure:

http://www.lovehorsepower.com/MR2_Docs/mr2_bleeding_cooling_system.htm

I only managed to get about 10.5-11 L out on the first pass though.

I suspect that part of my troubles were caused by air in the system before I flushed it. I would guess that is why the idle smoothed out (air moving past the temp sensor to the ecu). Plugs are new and timing has been set.

Like I said, the oil is running a little cooler now (Max temp 220F) and it cools right down to about 200F as soon as the car is brought back down to city speeds. Funny thing is, I never would have thought there was a problem if I hadn't installed and oil temp gauge.... maybe I should take it out... lol!

Cheers,
Berg

[bmeier]

those temps seem fine to me, and dont waste your money on a new oil cooler. if you are concerned switch to synthetic oil if you havent already.