Another Vegas Run and Oil Temps scared me

Super Tanooki

Yeah, I live in Vegas, and it's hot as hell right now. I don't have my Z yet but it's worrying enough that I'm thinking an oil cooler could possibly be a mandatory purchase to run the car smoothly out here without worry.

Now I'm wondering how much fitting costs...

280z/300zx

I live in vegas and have had my Z for about a year now. Even right now that we are seeing temps between 115-120 my oil temp has never gone higher than 230-240. Typically while cruising it's right at 220 and even when stuck in traffic it sits at about 220-230. The only times I've seen it hit the 230-240 mark is when I've been on the fwy going about 75-80mph and then have to come to a near stop due to traffic and the damn 15fwy near the strip. Then it shoots up to about 240 for a few minutes and then calms back down to 220.

Even when I auto-x or drag race the temps are never higher than 240. Mind you those races are short (anywhere from 13sec to 70sec) but still. I'll even admit to a few hwy runs that lasted minutes and the temps never got above 240.

Lastly I've done the California to Vegas run when it's been in the triple digits; mind you it was only about 102-104. The car did great and never had high oil temps. I even did a few pulls against a C6 Vette on one of my trips back to Ca and again the temps never got higher than 240.

Not sure why the OP had problems but I would definetly check the oil level in the car. Also how fast where you going and in what gear when going up Baker hill. If going the speed limit and in the highest gear the rpms may have been a little too low causing you to lug the engine (essentially making it work harder). I know with my 6-speed manual that if going up a long incline at speed limit (65mph) the rpms make the car feel a little less comfortable than say if you had it in 5th. I could definitely see going up Baker hill with the a/c on at 114 degrees and only having the rpms at 2200-2500 causing the motor to work a little harder. I'll be honest, I typically do about 85-90mph going up that hill (as do most motorist driving that stretch of road) which has the rpms at a nice and healthy 3k+.

There are a lot of factors that come into play but what I can tell you is that living here I've never had a problem with my Z. I too was worried prior to buying it but so far no issues.

Super Tanooki

That's good comforting news, thanks! And TamZ it'd be good to know what was the cause of your high temps if you ever get to the bottom of it...

PapoZalsa

Saturday me and my friend were crusing at about 70mph. Both of our Zs oil temp was closed to 245 and the outside temp was about 104ºF.

However Nissan and some other people claims this is not a problem, however Nissan gives you the part # for the oil cooler. I'll let the warranty cover it if something happens.

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billydsz

Most cars don't have an oil temp gauge and now we know why. I bet most cars' oil temps get very high from time to time but because there is no gauge we are fat dumb and happy.

I predict Nissan pulls the oil temp gauge in future revisions. lol.

m4a1mustang

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370Zsteve

260! Holy Crap!

It was 105F here in NYC the other day, I was in heavy traffic in Da Bronx and my oil temp never went above 220. Of course that is almost sea level and with very high humidity.

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370Zsteve

Somebody's been drinking Unicorn Blood again.

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SOLD MY Z MARCH 2018 - another Core OG moves on - new ride 2019 Z Corvette Grand Sport - no mods necessary but already have eyes on HFC and intakes LOL IT NEVER ENDS.

Lug

Nissan put a throttle limiter in at 280 because they think you may get excessive bearing wear at 300. If Nissan thinks your car is fine at 260, I don't know that anyone here has the technical know how and access to Nissan data to really be able to refute that. Remember, the 280 limit is just a precaution, not an engine failure.

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Chuckster

I live in New Mexico and I've seen my oil temperature get up to 250 on a hot day.

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flashburn

I remember some people saying that the performance starts getting reduced (presumably by the ECU) starting at a certain temperature (before limp-mode), maybe something like 250 Degrees? Does anyone have any more info on this or if it is even true? They seemed to claim the performance reduction was gradual until finally hitting limp mode at 280.

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TamZ

I'm at Hurricane harbor today so can't answer each post but appreciate all the responses! As for gear it was in Auto mode so not really sure which exact gear. I also didn't notice any performance issues after 250.. but I kept it at 65 so maybe that would make it harder to notice.

Thank for all the replies. .I thought I might get razzed because maybe I was worrying for nothing.

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Tammy