Oil temperature
 

Dear Nissan's customer service reps, techs, enthusiast and people that take Nissan's side on this
I have a Nissan's 2010 touring roadster with sport package. This car comes with Nissan's famous and most used VQ37VHR engine. This engine has a problem with high oil temperature and will go into limp mode at about 280 degrees. Nissan knew of this condition thus the limp mode. I don't track my car but I have been reading that track users in these cars do produce those temperatures. So when trackers complain about a few laps around the track and limp mode kicks in; I can understand Nissan's responds of," add a mode for cooling your oil", even though this car is advertised as a "sport car". But us cool drivers are finding out that just light spirited driving and driving in hot climates or stuck in traffic pushes the car into high temperatures like 280 degrees. Now to my question; how hot is hot? My car temperature is normally around 180-220. But with spirited driven or stuck in traffic on a hot day has reach up to 260. My point is even going into limp mode stuck in traffic will not reduce the oil temperature. Are these high temperature going to cause damage within the engine at some point. Don't you think Nissan's owes us an oil cooler or some other solutions to this premeditated future damages to our investments. I know this is a dead horse issue but.... thinks in advance for your help in this matter....Z fans or disappointed consumers awaits your response.

What is this hot oil you speak of? Also, eagerly awaiting response from Nissan Corp to your post :ugh2:

Mine has hit 245ish when driving spiritedly on the highway, and I'm pretty sure your oil should not reach a certain temp much higher than that or it needs to be changed right away because the temps change the viscosity of the oil past operating specs or something, but maybe the temp would have to be like 300 and that's why limp mode kicks in at 280 or around there. Looking into oil coolers is a must, especially in TX where I'm at

I have a 2012 Z comes with a small oil cooler and driving the car on the toll way pushing it here and there not constant at all at night have reached 260 i think nissan really f*cked the 370z in many areas i have 9k miles and im already getting a transmission put in

n i was using eneos 5w40 right now i just put in motul 300v 5w40 hoping i see a difference in oil temps and also i started my car today not even 2 mins later the car was already at operating temp (coolant temp) this car gets hot quick and stays hot i wish they would of done what mazda did with the rx8 for coolant temps is keep the fans on for a little while after the car is turned off to help cool the coolant and prevent some damage to the engine.

do tb bypasses,oil catch cans,and some under hood cooling mods with a toggle switch to your fans.even in a run i did to 150 mph in 75 ambient with high humidity.my oil only went to 219 from 200 oil temp at beginning run and cooled back down rather quick.up rev fan control is a must !!! i use pennzoil platinum

The oils of today are not the oils of just a few years ago where there was concern hitting temps of 260F or greater. The materials used to build engines have also advanced which require advanced oil formulations because of the higher heat generated by the engines - higher HP = higher engine temps and especially for performance cars. So, todays advanced oil formulas must meet certain specs in order to get API SM or SN certification. One criteria is to protect the engine with oil temps up to 300F. Don't believe me? Go look it up. So the Z goes into limp mode at 280F. Makes sense to go into limp mode below 300F vice higher than 300F. 260F is no longer an issue but some choose to hold onto old ideas about oil temps. Nissan now adds an oil cooler of sorts but no matter what you own, if your gonna track a vehicle, you need an oil cooler - oem or after market.

This is an old topic but Nissan already replied to this argument. They said they didn't put an oil cooler to keep the price affordable. That for normal public driving they don't think that will be a problem but if there is high temp problems that's why the computer protect the engine with the limp mode. So that is the protection Nissan installed.

But they also replied that for track enthusiast people to go ahead and buy an oil cooler.

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I agree that Nissan messed up but adding an Oil Cooler is a small price to pay to make an awesome car perform even better.

^^^^^^ What he said.

Mr. IDZRVIT,
This is all we are asking of NISSAN. To assure us that our engines are not damage from high oil temperatures.(what we might think are high temperatures) The statements you made about how oils and engines have advanced to the point should be placed in NISSAN'S genetic response to the hundreds or thousands of people worried about their investments. Could you please direct us, simply layman's to this information concerning modern oil breakdowns and at what temperatures. I have read many article concerning oil temperature breakdown and not come across the number you speak of. Thanks in advance to your response.

where can i find all the info to do these mods? tb bypass?? keeping the oil temp down is important at least to me as i want my investment to last me i dont want to have trouble with the engine before i finish paying the car off and run out of warranty that would suck lol

Just put in a 25 row oil cooler with thermostatic plate. All problems resolved you won't see over 220 even driving insane. I live in Houston and drive in 5:00 PM traffic where I see temps up 110 temps never go above 200 running normal and only up to 220 when flooring the heck out of it for sustained periods.

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...nt-delete.html
http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...cans-370z.html
and adding an oil cooler is all good but it still doesnt have anything to do with the coolant and how hot it gets which is why fan control is recommended.now,you will want to remove as much heat as possible from going into the engine via intake unless im missing something lol.the tb bypass and catch cans helps to do just that.:)

If you have a 2012 and you're getting into limp mode or near it on the street, you are driving like an idiot or there is something wrong with your car.

im not reaching limp mode but i dont like how hot it gets and i live in texas where its really f*cking hot

I'm in Houston too and crawling down Hwy 59 for ten miles in stop and go traffic in last summer's insane 110°+ temps never saw my temp gauge above 220°. Running it hard on the twisties in the Hill Country has never seen the temp above 220° either.

Haven't tracked the car yet, but if I do, I'd seriously consider getting an oil cooler.

ive seen temps above 240 but not 280 when limp mode comes on, and it comes with an oil cooler maybe its not enough? and ive seen 220 alot in traffic i try to get around someone it just gets up their not really pushing it just going to 4-4.5k rpm for a burst of speed and then back to cruising in 6th gear or back to neutral depending on driving situation i'll look at it closely tomorrow on my way to and from work. i'll be to give more of an exact number and maybe the oil change to motul will keep the temps down as well but i'll see

Catch cans and TB coolant bypass have almost nothing to do with oil temps :).

There's some easy things you can do: e.g. change your coolant mix (more (distilled!)water, say 70/30 instead of 50/50) and use UpRev to turn on the fans earlier. There are already some really long threads on this whole topic that started years ago, you can read them.

I really wouldn't worry about it unless your temps are running away from you out past 250, which it really shouldn't do idling in hot traffic. It's high RPMs combined with low speeds (low airflow) that are going to run up the temp. Try a higher gear if you're seeing temp spikes in traffic (and if you don't have UpRev-modded fan speed control, make sure your AC is on: it keeps the fans running). I could easily see someone crawling along in 5-20 mph traffic staying in first gear the whole time having more problems than, say, someone who goes ahead and uses 2nd (or whatever applicable gear that doesn't drop the revs so low as to lug the engine out).

not really worried about coolant temps just that it gets up to temp really quick more worried about oil temp

Coolant temps and oil temps are related. Anything you do to keep the block cooler will help with the oil temp situation as well. The reason you don't see much movement on your coolant temp gauge is because the dots are set up on a non-linear scale where the "normal" dot has a very wide range of temps :)

which is why i told him about the tb bypass and catch can.both of which provide cooler air going into the block.:)..thats not going to fix his issues without a fan mod but every little bit helps

The TB Bypass makes a (very minor) difference in intake air temperature, but that's not really going to affect oil/coolant temps. Catch can has nothing to do with any kind of temperature really (at least, no pragmatic effect from the tiny volume of slightly-cooler PCV airflow, but even again, that's intake air not radiator-cooling air).

Ugh that gauge is causing Nissan and this forum more headache then its worth. Look at the corvettes, temps approaching 300F (150C) are common and no limp mode.. In most cars you have no idea what the temps are. I bet most stock sports cars if taken to the track will get to 280+ no problem and even day to day driving will get them there too. The thing is you don't know in these other cars because there is no gauge.

If Nissan could require synthetic they wouldn't even need to put that limp mode in since synthetics can take well over 280 deg.

There is no way you can reach 280 to hit limp mode by just spirited driving in the streets. You will see these temperatures if you track your car for sure but not just driving around town a little aggresive. Why? Because you have traffic lights, stop signs, yield signs, pedestrians, other cars, trucks which you will need to slow down for. As fast as your car heats up to normal operating temperature, it will cool just as fast while its resting at idle. Unless you keep your shifts between 6 to 7 k RPMs repeatedly and extended periods of time which of course no one in their right minds would do.

Nissan didn't include an oil cooler because 95 percent of the people who own it will never track their cars. The Z is still a sports car with or without an oil cooler. It may not be a full track ready car (Non-Nismo) but it does its job in bringing a smile to your face when you press on the accelerator and weave in and out of traffic. Irregarless of the oil cooler being a factor in choosing to track your car, consider the factory warranty as well. You can void your warranty if the dealer suspects any abnormal wear and tear on your car tied with track friendly add-on modifications (oil cooler), ect. LOL

To add, with today's synthetic oils, you dont have to worry much about temperatures reaching 280. Synthetic oils are tested all the time to keep their viscosity almost intact to temperature approaching 400 fahrengeit if not more. As pain in the *** limp mode may be to some, Nissan includes the limp mode to cover all their bases since not everyone adds synthetic oil in their cars you know.

Go here Motor oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and scroll down to the section on ILSAC. The entire article should be read.

Oil breaks down significantly faster when operated above 230ish.

So while, yes, you are correct in saying that 260* temps are not a major concern by themselves, they do open up the door to additional complications.


There are some good G37 threads on BITOG for those interested...

Motor oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Did you take the time to read the above? If you did, try to comprehend what they are saying. If the oil is tested at 300F for 100 hours and the bearings (the most critical component in your engine) show minimum wear, then I interpret that as oil that is not breaking down at 230, 240, 260 or 300F and is protecting your engine. If you disagree with this then please explain what is breaking down the oil? Complications? The test standard for certification is again, running an engine (doesn't matter what engine is used) at 300F for 100 hours virtually non-stop!!!

G37 owners talking about oil means the same as Z owners talking about oil. Most know jack sh1t about how oils function yet they offer all kinds of 'expert' advice. And they still can't acknowledge that oils have improved greatly just in the past few years overcoming the 260F barriers of the past. You appear to be one of those that just can't accept or resist change. Please don't take offense because there are lots out there who think the same as you. Do some reasearch, and not BITOG, on what the test standards are that the oil is required to meet or exceed in order to be certified as an SM/SN and ILSAC. The link I provided is just a starting point for those who want to educate themselves on the test standards.

+1. Comparing current lubricants to those of just 20 years ago is like comparing our VQ37VHRs to a late-'60s Ford 289 V8. They do the same thing - gas in, HP out - but the VQ is soooooo much different (HP/displacement, reliability/longevity, octane requirements, &c). Same with modern lubes - they are just a LOT better than they used to be (but then, much more is demanded of them).

re oil temperature
 

Mr. falcon fixer,
are you saying that 180-280+ oil is not hot and is not a concern of yours? Got a SCRIPTED message back from, Nissan consumer affairs. Was going to reply back to Mr. ?????, but after 3 days the message magically disappeared from my inbox; is this possibly? Basically it said if you don't speed or track your vehicle you will not have oil temperature problems, like many in this forum believe; I DON'T. Notice Nissan's is not saying that these temperature will not damage the car. Nissan is out right telling us you are ether breaking the speed limit to get high temperatures are on the track. I would take this to the next level, but this is not my expertise. I will participate in any actions needed to resolve this matter. I just want to drive my "sports car" stuck in traffic on hot days like I have done in my 5 past non "sport cars" without overheating issues. AND I DID'NT HAVE TO PAY FOR ANY ADDITIONAL MODES TO DO IT.

Go get us a new gas tank that won't fuel starve too, thanks!

FWIW, I had a really hot-weather track event this weekend at MSR-Houston, and I was pushing the engine really hard. I'm on a 19-row cooler and at the very end of the hottest sessions I'd peak right at 260. That's basically 20-25 minutes of non-stop high-RPM and heavy throttle time. In the space of my single cool-down lap it would drop right back to at least 240, and it'd be back to 220 by the time I reached my spot in the paddock. On the cooler (weather) runs of the weekend, the numbers would drop about 10 degrees.

Not ideal, I really need a 25-row on the hot days around here, but didn't hurt anything either, other than making me want to swap this oil out a little sooner than usual. I just can't imagine what someone would have to do on the street to hit 260 even without an oil cooler, much less 280 (which is the first layer of ECU limp-mode protection).