Oil Temp

Thats interesting. When I put my truck in tow/haul, the truck will not shift into 8th gear. Stays in 7th regardless of my speed. Now my truck has 3.92 gears, and @ 70, the tach is showing right @ 2000 RPM when in 8th gear. When I shift into T/H, the trans drops into 7th, and my RPM jumps to around 2200.

I wonder if your tow haul is working. When pressed it locks out the overdrive gear (8) and I sure notice the rpms have increased when that happens.

Your oil temps do seem a little high but I believe mine were the same during break in, then they dropped down a little. I am around 4300 miles now and my oil temps are closer to 210 to 215 when not towing.

Riccochet said:

Here's the pic I was trying to link yesterday. This was while cruising down the highway doing about 70 MPH, unloaded.

Coolant temps are fine, it's the damn oil that's higher than I'm comfortable with.

Yes, I'm in tow/haul mode. Honestly, it shouldn't make a difference unloaded. Actually, there was no difference in gear I was in at those speeds. Turning it on or off netted zero difference in RPM's.

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Look at the last few pages of the "Post up your avg. Xsmn temps" thread. 220ish for oil temp seems to be pretty common for the newer trucks.

Maybe those temps are, however on my 2017, even when I was running the OEM 203 degree thermostat, oil temps while cruising on the interstate (70 mph +) were around 210 to 214 degrees. Now with the 180 T-stat, oil temps vary between 199 to 206 at the same speeds. This, running Castrol Edge (black bottle) 0W-40 and Lubeguard additive. Temps were the same running Amsoil SS 5W-30 and Liqui-Moly.

I have really high oil temps. I found an article by Caroll Shelby that stated the optimal oil temperature is 213-248. On ramforumz, I saw a member post his temperature got up to 275 when he was towing in 105 degree heat. He contacted Chrysler and they stated not to worry unless it gets over 300. I also contacted Chrysler and they said it's dependent on what oil you use. I'm running a synthetic in my truck (Pennzoil Platinum). Now to my experience.

I tow a 5900lb trailer (CAT Scale) that is 32' long. Typical towing, I see the oil temperature from 235-261. What I have noticed is that it is directly related to engine coolant temperatures. I was towing in NM last month and my fan clutch stuck in the full position (full engaged) for about a week. During this time, my engine temp stayed right at or below the thermostat and my oil temperature never went above 235. While towing up a mountain into Santa Fe, the fan clutch resumed normal operation. My temps then got up to 261. Based on my observation, I feel that the fan clutch should engage slightly earlier and keep the oil temps lower. The HD Rams may have a heavier duty fan clutch to keep the temps lower.

During this whole time my transmission temps were rock solid.

Oil temperature on my 2016 4X4 5.7 CC with the 3.92 gears has gotten up to 275 when towing my 7000 pound loaded 21 foot toy hauler up a long 6% grade trying to keep speed at 60. I'm just hoping this was normal, glad I wasn't the only one....

I'm starting to wonder if it has to do with getting air over the radiator. That would point to the grill or active shutters on the Lone Star or Big Horn.

mfifield01 said:

I'm starting to wonder if it has to do with getting air over the radiator. That would point to the grill or active shutters on the Lone Star or Big Horn.

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I was thinking the same thing with my big horn but didn’t want to spend the extra money on a different grill. Does seem like these are a little more restrictive than the other models. Even if I take the shutters out I still had high temps.

West27 said:

I was thinking the same thing with my big horn but didn’t want to spend the extra money on a different grill. Does seem like these are a little more restrictive than the other models. Even if I take the shutters out I still had high temps.

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You have taken your shutters off?

I have been thinking about purchasing the Laramie Longhorn grille, but that could be an expensive test.

mfifield01 said:

You have taken your shutters off?

I have been thinking about purchasing the Laramie Longhorn grille, but that could be an expensive test.

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All but 4 so it didn’t throw a CEL and had the fan clutches removed and had my AC efan set to 190 and still had very high temps pulling 3000lb trailer in Idaho. Oil temp was 250-270. After that I put the clutch fan back on and highest I saw the oil temp get was 250 pulling a big hill. Still seems high to me but Dodge said it was fine so who knows.

Those temps do seem high. For the past 5 months, I've been pulling a 3500 # enclosed cargo trailer as we begin to relocate from Va to NC. Even in 95 degree weather at speeds between 65 and 70, highest oil temp I've seen is around 215 degrees. Steady cruising even at those ambient temps, the oil hovers in the 208-210 range. Off the interstate, still pulling the trailer, oil temps drop to between 199 and 204.

I am running a 180 T-stat, and the entire shutter assembly is removed. There is a thread on this forum that shows how to insert a 1 1/2" drywall screw into the little motor housing that moves the shutters, so that the screw stops the rotating arm at roughly the same spot it would if it were still controlling the shutters. Mine's been that way since April and over 10,000 miles. No codes or issues.

I have often had the same question about my oil temp. I have seen as high as 245 degrees. This was pulling 4500lbs and up a 6% grade. I wasn't running real hard. Just kind of mid way. As soon as I got to the top of the hill the engine and oil temp went down. I do think 270 is getting a little hot for oil though.