Normal Operating Engine Oil Temps on a 1.8T A4
Pete
give this group a try as well :-)
My engine oil temp (not the coolant temp) practically never reaches 200F,
even after extended driving periods. In the summer time, it's just shy of
200F, while during winter it's around 180F, and even then, it takes 30
minutes and 12 miles of mixed city and highway driving to get there (my
commute to work).
Most people (apart from the dealer of course) are telling me that these
temps are too low, and that I should be easily reaching 200F in normal
driving. Another words, that my engine is running too cold. Are they
right? If so, what could be wrong with my car? Someone suggested replacing
the oil temp sensor.
Background info:
I live in VA, so our outside summer temps. are in the 80s-90s during summer,
and 30s-40s during winter.
I use Mobil 1 5w30 oil. I used 0w30 in the past, with same effect on oil
temps.
The car is a 2001 A4 1.8T quattro manual, with 19K miles. I usually shift
to the next gear around 4K rpm.
Thanks,
Pete
Duncan Wood
reality. I'll bet on the guage rather than a real problem
"Pete" <escape...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:TXGr9.620$Mb3....@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Pete
Got a link to such a thermometer?
Thanks!
Pete
Duncan Wood <free...@dmx512.co.uk> wrote in message
news:aonedc$509$1...@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk...
Duncan Wood
things, they're an addon for cheap (Or expensive but you're gonna get it
covered in oil) multimeters.
"Pete" <escape...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:B8Hr9.633$Mb3....@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
JimV
symptoms? Is the water temp gauge in the normal range? I don't pay
much attention to mine but it seldom moves much over the 1/4 scale
mark. Also, isn't it in C not F?
On Thu, 17 Oct 2002 22:36:35 GMT, "Pete" <escape...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
Pete
at its best because it is not operating in the optimum temperature range,
which may also lead to premature engine failure. Just about everyone else's
car operates between 200 and 225F oil temp range. So, I assume this is
normal, and me being outside of that range is not. Is it a problem? Well,
that's what I'm asking basically. Is it? And if it is, how do I fix it?
My dealer claims that it's not a problem, but at the same time, they cannot
provide me with any written documentation of what the normal operating
temperature should be. There is always the suspicion that they're
dismissing the problem because they don't want to provide free warranty
work.
The oil temp gauge shows degrees Fahrenheit - left lower corner in this
picture:
http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/16447/a4-dashboard-night.jpg
The water temp gauge always sits right in the middle. As a matter of fact,
the water temp gauge has a "dead" range, which means that regardless if the
coolant temp is 85 C or 95 C, the gauge will still sit right in the middle.
Using the climate control diagnostics however, I can see that the coolant
temp. oscillates between 87 C and 91 C during normal driving - this I'm
assuming is OK.
Thanks,
Pete
JimV <jv9...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:AF594AB32C67B176.35A8C344...@lp.airnews.net...
JimV
too cold? Especially cold enough to cause any premature engine
failure? At worse the sender or gauge is inaccurate but I wouldn't
lose any sleep over it.
In a somwhat related story. I friend of mine is an engineer at Ford.
Back in the 80s they changed their truck oil pressure gauges to always
read in the middle of the scale as long as the pressure was above 8
psi. When I asked him why they did that he told me it was because they
were getting killed on warranty claims for replaced gauges and
senders. People kept badgering dealers into doing the work because
they thought their pressure should be higher than indicated.
-jim
On Fri, 18 Oct 2002 03:15:53 GMT, "Pete" <escape...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
Robert Brown
> Ok, I've asked this on AudiWorld a few times in the past, but I thought I'd
> give this group a try as well :-)
>
> My engine oil temp (not the coolant temp) practically never reaches 200F,
> even after extended driving periods. In the summer time, it's just shy of
> 200F, while during winter it's around 180F, and even then, it takes 30
> minutes and 12 miles of mixed city and highway driving to get there (my
> commute to work).
---8<--- cut the remainder
My car gets roughly the same figures. Hot summer day, about 90 deg C (I think
that's
about 195 deg F. Cooler days , about 83 deg C (about 180 deg F).
I think I once got it up to just under 100C /212F by caning the hell out of it
on a
very hot day in the middle of town but that was an exceptional case.
For us up here, a hot summer day is about 25-30 deg C (about 77-86 deg F).
My car is the 2001 A4 Avant (i.e. old style body) 1.8 TS (132 kW (180 hp) / 235
Nm). Same
as yours in other words but factory chipped to 0.6 bar boost pressure instead of
0.4 bar.
May be a difference of an intercooler here and there (does the 150 hp car have
an
intercooler too?) but that should not make any difference here.
As for the coolant being hotter than the oil, I think that simply has to do with
what
opening temperature the coolant (thermostatic) valve is set to. If Audi had
cared to
set the threshhold lower, I'm pretty sure they could have had coolant temp
somewhere
around the same as that for the oil. Somewhere Audi seem to have decided that
coolant
at 90 C is optimal for combustion, emissions, wear and tear, and a bunch of
other stuff
factored in. The fact that oil temps are lower just shows that the car has good
oil
cooling and that's good for the oil.
My guess is you have nothing to worry about (alternatively, I'm suffering from
the same problem as you are, but I doubt it ;-)
Robert
Gothenburg
Dirt
> Pete wrote:
>
>> Ok, I've asked this on AudiWorld a few times in the past, but I thought
>> I'd give this group a try as well :-)
>>
>> My engine oil temp (not the coolant temp) practically never reaches
>> 200F, even after extended driving periods. In the summer time, it's
>> just shy of 200F, while during winter it's around 180F, and even then,
>> it takes 30 minutes and 12 miles of mixed city and highway driving to
>> get there (my commute to work).
>
> factored in. The fact that oil temps are lower just shows that the car has
> good oil cooling and that's good for the oil.
>
> My guess is you have nothing to worry about (alternatively, I'm suffering
> from the same problem as you are, but I doubt it ;-)
A pertinent question might be, at what temperature do the impurities in the
oil begin to burn (evaporate?) off? If the oil doesn't get hot enough to get
rid of the impurities (the main reason short trip driving is hard on engines
AFAIK) then the impurities will build up, necessitating frequent oil changes
to prevent premature engine wear.
-Dirt-
Stephen Bigelow
"Dirt" <cca...@gasproducts.ANTI-SPAM-INSERT.com> wrote in message
> A pertinent question might be, at what temperature do the impurities in
the
> oil begin to burn (evaporate?) off? If the oil doesn't get hot enough to
get
> rid of the impurities (the main reason short trip driving is hard on
engines
> AFAIK) then the impurities will build up, necessitating frequent oil
changes
> to prevent premature engine wear.
Well, both water and gasoline evaporate just fine at room temperature, so I
think the real question is, "At what temp does the *rate* of evaporation
exceed the rate of impurities being added?"
Gasoline evaps darn fast at 200F.
Hell, _ice_ evaporates!
Robert Brown
Dirt wrote:
I thought the reason for excessive wear due to short-trip driving was mainly 2
things:
1) oil not getting a chance to flow properly onto bearings (wearing them out)
2) engine parts at lower temperature don't fit against each other the same way
(metals
expand - ever so slightly - to the "right" size when they get hot).
For impurities, I thought it was having oil at too *high* a temp that caused it
to break
down and produce microscopic grit that could wear out engines. Hadn't heard of
impurities being a problem at low temp *and* being able to get rid of them by
raising
oil temp. How is that so?
I think we need to hear from an oil expert who can tell us if having oil at 80C
instead
of 90C worsens its lubricating properties or not.
If that kind of difference is so critical, I would expect cars to have shunt
valves
in front of their oil radiators (for those who have oil radiators), as they have
in front
of coolant radiators.
Robert
Duncan Wood
"Robert Brown" <r...@vvvtripnetvvv.se> wrote in message
news:3DB1B94D...@vvvtripnetvvv.se...
Some cars do
Robert Brown
Duncan Wood wrote:
> "Robert Brown" <r...@vvvtripnetvvv.se> wrote in message
> news:3DB1B94D...@vvvtripnetvvv.se...
>
---8<---cutting earlier stuff
>
> > If that kind of difference is so critical, I would expect cars to have
> shunt
> > valves
> > in front of their oil radiators (for those who have oil radiators), as
> they have
> > in front
> > of coolant radiators.
> >
> > Robert
> >
>
> Some cars do
Do you mean "some A4's"? If so, do you know which?
/Robert
Duncan Wood
Nope more a generic "some cars". No idea about A4's I'm afraid.
Terry
has read 150F - 170F and ALL I do is gave the engine sensible time to warm
up before using more than 3000 revs...
Also Mobil 1 is designed to reduce friction in the engine, so less friction
means less heat and hence lower oil temp.
"Pete" <escape...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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