Awarded invention in PopSci: continuous engine oil heater.

Prashiy

2012 Invention Awards: A Higher-Efficiency, Lower-Emission Engine System | Popular Science

Read the above (URL) article in PopSci magazine June issue. An engineer won an award for his invention that does the complete opposite of what oil coolers do in our cars! This device or mod collects the hot motor oil before it returns to the oil pan and sends it to a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the engine's exhaust gas making the oil even hotter. Thereby, it continuously keeps the oil temperature high between 250F and 300F degrees, while the engine block remains at 200F. The article seems to imply that the less viscous and hotter oil increases the engine efficiency and reduces emission because it is easier to turn the crankshaft and run the oil pump. It claims that the system would cut the gas consumption by 7% and emission by 30%.

So perhaps this reiterates that there was a method to Nissan's madness in designing an engine that runs oil at very high temperatures?

However, wouldn't a 250-300F degree oil, in turn heat up the engine block above 200F or put too much strain on the coolant system? It may decrease the gas consumption and emission but the big open question is still the longevity of the engine components? Not sure if there is any gain in horsepower o/p because it is easier to turn the components in the engine? Also, if it is as simple as less viscous oil providing less resistance in the engine, why not change the type of the oil to a less viscous oil? A few things seem contrary to conventional wisdom here, so I thought I would post this and get your thoughts....

DEpointfive0

If you put 0-10 the engine would run really efficient too... But the life of the engine will go down because the lubricating powers of a thicker oil aren't there... Also... I believe borscht did a test on various engines, life vs oil temp, it's clear that if you rum at 300 degrees all the time the life expectancy of the engine is only like 150k miles?

DarkJak

If that were the reason our Z's came without an oil cooler, I feel like Nissan would have made some sort of statement about that helping with mileage, instead of adding an oil cooler for 2012.

Still, I'd rather pay a couple bucks more for gas than have my engine fail earlier.

IDZRVIT

I would suggest some of you do some research on what it takes for API SM oil certification. There are some others who wrongly believe that oil temps over 260F will destroy your engine. Whomever still believes this needs to catch up with the 21st century. That's old oil and materials technology. There have been advancements in engine design over the last several years. Yes, Nissan picked a limp mode temp of 280F. It wasn't a randomly selected number. Their engineers do know what they're doing. Nissan got a lot of bad publicity since the '09 was introduced regarding the lack of an oil cooler. Most folks experiencing limp mode were tracking the car or very spirited driving which falls outside of normal use. But, they've added an oil cooler now. Not sure how effective it is for those tracking their cars. Has anyone found the need to add a more conventional oil cooler because the factory oil cooler just isn't cutting it?

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