Oil over-temp issues

[RandomForumGuy]

Good afternoon everyone. Im currently battling engine oil over-temp issues. Long story short, oil gets up to 240 while driving lightly with a 170’ thermostat. When i get on the freeway and introduce airflow, it gets hotter. When i am sitting at a stoplight it gets slightly colder. This is the exact opposite of what i used to experience before i had a shop rebuild it. It has a brand new oem oil cooler in it.

Im hoping someone here has experienced this. While on the subject, does anyone know what the included bolt does in the picture attached? The shop informed me there is a spring and o-rings behind it.

 

[Steve@RevanRacing]

Coolant level is good I'm assuming? Did this start happening after you installed the 170 thermostat? What is your engine coolant temps at?

 

[RandomForumGuy]

Coolant level is good. It did not start after the 170’ thermostat, it started while the shop was tuning the car on a dyno from what they said. Coolant is 170ish with airflow, and 190ish while idling since that is when the fan is set to engage

 

[Vinnie_B]

Did you scan the car for any DTC codes?


If your oil temp is getting to hot you should get this DTC.

P117A - Engine Oil Over Temperature — Forced Limited Power


Indicates the engine oil protection strategy is enabled when the engine oil temperature reaches a predetermined level in the powertrain control module. The PCM then limits the engine RPMs until the engine oil temperature returns to normal.


or


P0298 - Engine Oil Over Temperature Condition


Indicates the engine oil temperature protection strategy in the powertrain control module (PCM) has been activated. This temporarily prohibits high engine speed operation by disabling injectors, to reduce the risk of engine damage from high engine oil temperature. The PCM uses an oil algorithm to determine actual engine oil temperature.

 

[Steve@RevanRacing]

Coolant level is good. It did not start after the 170’ thermostat, it started while the shop was tuning the car on a dyno from what they said. Coolant is 170ish with airflow, and 190ish while idling since that is when the fan is set to engage

Maybe I missed it, but how are you monitoring oil temp? Do you have have an aftermarket guage on the car?

 

[RandomForumGuy]

Oil pressure and temperature are monitored by autometer elite series gauges installed in a sandwich adapter between oil filter and the stock assembly. Oil pump is an aftermarket melling. While cruising oil pressure was about 85-90 psi which is obviously high but it was with sae 30 break in oil. The bolt circled is a bypass valve within the assembly, does anyone know what the pressure rating of it is?

Im guessing that the oil pressure is high enough to where it is bypassing the cooler all together, which would make sense given that while at idle the temps drop but under rpm they rise, but i would like to get confirmation before going down the rabbit hole

 

[RandomForumGuy]

Also no error codes yet, as i think im catching it right before it gets too hot for the stock parameters. I recall someone saying 245 was the mark?

 

[Vinnie_B]

Oil pressure and temperature are monitored by autometer elite series gauges installed in a sandwich adapter between oil filter and the stock assembly. Oil pump is an aftermarket melling. While cruising oil pressure was about 85-90 psi which is obviously high but it was with sae 30 break in oil. The bolt circled is a bypass valve within the assembly, does anyone know what the pressure rating of it is?

Im guessing that the oil pressure is high enough to where it is bypassing the cooler all together, which would make sense given that while at idle the temps drop but under rpm they rise, but i would like to get confirmation before going down the rabbit hole

To high oil pressure will definitely cause some Temp issues. Do you need stock oil pressure parameters?

 

[cobracide]

I monitor the head temp pid with an Aeroforce gauge. Maybe you can datalog that, it should correlate with oil temps in some manner. You would get codes and limp mode should be noticable.. if it was that bad so idk.

 

[RandomForumGuy]

To high oil pressure will definitely cause some Temp issues. Do you need stock oil pressure parameters?

What would be the main cause of increased temps with higher oil pressure? I recall stock being 65ish under cruising rpm so im already way above that

 

[HKusp]

Pressure creates heat. It's how diamonds are made. Too much oil pressure can create excess heat.

 

[Vinnie_B]

2011 Mustang 5.4L (4V)​

Oil pressure at 2,000 rpm (engine at normal operating temperature)

276-414 kPa (40-60 psi)

 

[RandomForumGuy]

Thanks for the help Gents. I just got off the phone with RPG engines (unrelated), and they said that the bolt is a thermostat bypass and the spring behind the bolt is what regulates the flow supposedly. He says he has never seen a spring fail and he also states 90ish psi under high rpm isnt crazy for a high-performance build.

The engine has break-in oil still which could be contributing to the heat and pressure issues so we are going to throw 5w-50 in it and see what changes. If nothing changes he recommended getting a remote oil cooler setup. In reality i should do it anyway but im running low on space and it seems to be hit and miss with quality of cooler kits currently offered.