Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post - 0-60 Magazine Has 370Z Oil Temp Issues!

Robert_Nash · 04-06-2009, 10:56 AM

For what its worth; here is my personal report on the oil overheating problem…

I hit the Tail of the Dragon this past Saturday; it was a warm sunny day (although not summer swelter weather of course; temps in the low-mid 70s) and traffic was quite light as was LEO (we only saw tow sheriff vehicles and that was actually before the actual Dragon). Meaning, we were able to hit is pretty hard…I was pretty constantly shifting (7AT) from 2^nd to 3^rd and back as we negotiated 318 curves in 11 miles and my oil temp got to as high as 240-250 although cooled down rather quickly with a few minutes spent at Deals Gap. We then continued on US 129 to Robinsonville to pick up the Skyway…the Skyway is about 60 miles long with significant changes in elevation and lots of curves (although not as severe as the Dragon). Again, oil temps hit the 240 degree range.

This past Sunday, again a nice warm and sunny day (until the cold front moved in) I was autocrossing doing a group of 4 and then 3 runs on a pretty long (for an autocross) and relatively open course; again, oil temps reached the 230-240 range.

Now; I’m not an engineer or a mechanic so I really don’t know just how “dangerous” these temps might be for our engines but I think it pretty obvious that if you are going to do anything approaching “track” driving, an oil cooler and perhaps a transmission oil cooler would be almost mandatory. Likewise, very frequent oil changes. I also think that perhaps an oil pan “spacer” to increase the since of the oil pan might be a good idea as well.

That said, I don’t think anybody using their car for normal driving (i.e. legal) driving is going to have anything to worry about but even so, don't skimp on changing your oil regularly (not that you ever should skimp on that with any vehicle!).

04-06-2009, 10:56 AM	#50 (permalink)
Robert_Nash Track Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Middle TN/Savannah GA Posts: 762 Drives: '14 Q60IPL/'14Armada Rep Power: 17	For what its worth; here is my personal report on the oil overheating problem… I hit the Tail of the Dragon this past Saturday; it was a warm sunny day (although not summer swelter weather of course; temps in the low-mid 70s) and traffic was quite light as was LEO (we only saw tow sheriff vehicles and that was actually before the actual Dragon). Meaning, we were able to hit is pretty hard…I was pretty constantly shifting (7AT) from 2^nd to 3^rd and back as we negotiated 318 curves in 11 miles and my oil temp got to as high as 240-250 although cooled down rather quickly with a few minutes spent at Deals Gap. We then continued on US 129 to Robinsonville to pick up the Skyway…the Skyway is about 60 miles long with significant changes in elevation and lots of curves (although not as severe as the Dragon). Again, oil temps hit the 240 degree range. This past Sunday, again a nice warm and sunny day (until the cold front moved in) I was autocrossing doing a group of 4 and then 3 runs on a pretty long (for an autocross) and relatively open course; again, oil temps reached the 230-240 range. Now; I’m not an engineer or a mechanic so I really don’t know just how “dangerous” these temps might be for our engines but I think it pretty obvious that if you are going to do anything approaching “track” driving, an oil cooler and perhaps a transmission oil cooler would be almost mandatory. Likewise, very frequent oil changes. I also think that perhaps an oil pan “spacer” to increase the since of the oil pan might be a good idea as well. That said, I don’t think anybody using their car for normal driving (i.e. legal) driving is going to have anything to worry about but even so, don't skimp on changing your oil regularly (not that you ever should skimp on that with any vehicle!). __________________ Robert -My Basset Hound Is Smarter Than Your Honor Student and Barack Obama - Last edited by Robert_Nash; 04-06-2009 at 11:02 AM.