Engine oil temps reached 272 and now the hemi tick

[Fitz-0518]

Very helpful. I agree the site referenced is comprehensive and thorough. (patience, time and logic is required) The thermal breakdown temperatures and oil viscosity information is helpful to us old school guys to understand what our new generation engines require when we chase "best wear protection"

 

[meedom]

In any temperature extreme situation you should consider PAO/Ester based fluid, in engine and transmission and diffs. Search hemi tick in the forum, overwhelmingly the best choice for a truck in this situation is Redline 5w30. It isn't hype, it is formula, it is built for the extremes with high additives like moly and ester based fluid. You can't fake your engine with a brand name, group 3 oils do not compare to esters when towing. Another option would be Motul, but this forum has had many more redline users with many testimonials with people that were in your situation. Pair it with a high flow synthetic royal purple filter. You can warp your heads with those temps quickly, I'd be careful. It has happened several times here, at those temps you can warp heads in short order.


I would look at the upgrades to counter that as well, oil pump upgrade and/or oil cooler and/or upgraded fan. Feelings on what should be happening should give way to accepting what is happening and dealing with it.

I would also slow way down on those grades, everything you do will help. If you warp your heads you will still have to do some of this stuff anyhow if you plan on towing a lot, you will just add that cost to it. good luck

Thanks alot BBB, now I gotta worry about warped heads. Thanks alot!....

 

[Burla]

Naw, if you had warped heads you would know it, just keep your engine below 230f, 240 briefly probably ok, you will be fine. If you are going over that, do things to make the temps lower. I think coolant boils at 265, so that tells you how bad driving around at 270 is. Just fix it guys if you are running hot, the cost is too high if you ignore it.

 

[droopie85gt]

^^^^^^ This^^^^^^

OP, Your engine oil got way to hot, keep in mind your engine is cooled by oil Directly, and cooled by coolant Indirectly. Oil inside your engine can be 90 degrees Fahrenheit Hotter than oil sump temperatures, therefore your oil was way past its thermal stability threshold. And if you click the link in my signature or in droopie85gt post you can go look at Mobile 1 and see it performed poorly when heated 270. Change your oil ASAP, and choose a good oil from the oil testing site. I look for fantastic anti-wear characteristics and stable thermal stability when making my oil selection, both will be very important for you moving forward.

HA...I couldn't remember how I found the site....maybe it was your signature! Your tests have me almost completely sold on Quaker State Ultimate Durability 0W/20 for my Pentastar. The dollar/anti-wear rating is fantastic! Thanks for maintaing a great informative site!

 

[Burla]

Did I not post this here? Winter rating is irrelevant, look at the weights of the oil and the visc drop with heat.

 

[HammerHead]

HA...I couldn't remember how I found the site....maybe it was your signature! Your tests have me almost completely sold on Quaker State Ultimate Durability 0W/20 for my Pentastar. The dollar/anti-wear rating is fantastic! Thanks for maintaing a great informative site!

I'm just a fan of the oil testing site, I haven't done any oil testing myself. I have learned a lot from this guy, even his questions and answers section is very useful.

 

[Fitz-0518]

Did I not post this here? Winter rating is irrelevant, look at the weights of the oil and the visc drop with heat.

I may be too stupid to understand what I am looking at. Is it saying that 15-50 degrads faster or more at high operating temp. And 0-15 does not?? Is this available for 0-40??

 

[HammerHead]

I may be too stupid to understand what I am looking at. Is it saying that 15-50 degrads faster or more at high operating temp. And 0-15 does not?? Is this available for 0-40??

Interesting question. I wouldn't say it's degrading but thinning out more as the temperature increases. So the question in my mind is the 20 weight oil more stable than the 50 weight oil past normal operating temperature?

 

[Burla]

I may be too stupid to understand what I am looking at. Is it saying that 15-50 degrads faster or more at high operating temp. And 0-15 does not?? Is this available for 0-40??

Have to ignore the winter rating, so looks at those as 5,10,20,30,40 and 50 weight oils. So take the temp in question 270F, find where you would put a dot on the line representing 270f, and then go back to the left and see where the visc is. At 270 degrees 50 weight has a visc of 10, which is right above 20 weight at operating temps. 20 weight has a visc of 6 at that temp. The bottom line, your engine is screwed at that temp, you have no protection.

 

[Burla]

Degrades would be the wrong word, but I understand what you are saying. Thin oils are more stable as far as heat, but the end point is what matters. At 270F- 50 weight oil has 4 points higher visc.

 

[Fitz-0518]

Interesting question. I wouldn't say it's degrading but thinning out more as the temperature increases. So the question in my mind is the 20 weight oil more stable than the 50 weight oil past normal operating temperature?

The graph suggest that. That conclusion is consistent with the blog referenced in this thread. Good information. The tier 1 thinner (engineered) oils i.e. 0-40 5-30 provide better wear protection and dissipate heat better. I am thinking about the Amsoil 10-40 testing I am doing in my 03 5.7. Now, understanding this information, I think a better choice might have been 5-30. Thanks

 

[HammerHead]

The graph suggest that. That conclusion is consistent with the blog referenced in this thread. Good information. The tier 1 thinner (engineered) oils i.e. 0-40 5-30 provide better wear protection and dissipate heat better. I am thinking about the Amsoil 10-40 testing I am doing in my 03 5.7. Now, understanding this information, I think a better choice might have been 5-30. Thanks

In my experience my older vehicles did better with conventional or synthetic blend oils over a full synthetic oil. Less oil consumption, less engine chatter. Oil really is application specific depending on what your engines needs related to its use. There is a time when thicker oils can provide some benefits over the manufacturer recommended oil weight.

 

[Fitz-0518]

In my experience my older vehicles did better with conventional or synthetic blend oils over a full synthetic oil. Less oil consumption, less engine chatter. Oil really is application specific depending on what your engines needs related to its use. There is a time when thicker oils can provide some benefits over the manufacturer recommended oil weight.

Can see that and it makes perfect sense. The point that you and others have made about some engines love RL some love Amsoil is understandable. That is my test goal for my 03 and GN.

 

[huntergreen]

I don't see myself using anything thinner than 5/20 in a hemi.

Ben, yes change the oil, but the dealer needs to figure out why the temp was so high. I am not sure if a different, thicker oil will help this. I suspect not.

 

[Bengully]

Any idea whether or not adding a bigger oil cooler it aftermarket cooler would help? Maybe even a larger pan?
I suspect it got hot because if how long I had it in high rpm's.
I'm willing to try anything before posting away another 50k for a Cummins, even though I kind of want to anyway...

 

[Fitz-0518]

Respectfully,,listen to what Hunter suggested. Focus on and get to the bottom of why you got a high temp spike. Can you remove the oil sending unit and test the thermal sensor. Is it reading correctly. You can test that. Just hate to see parts/cost before the cause has been diagnosed.

 

[huntergreen]

Any idea whether or not adding a bigger oil cooler it aftermarket cooler would help? Maybe even a larger pan?
I suspect it got hot because if how long I had it in high rpm's.
I'm willing to try anything before posting away another 50k for a Cummins, even though I kind of want to anyway...

IMHO, a larger cooler would cover up an issue.

 

[meedom]

Any idea whether or not adding a bigger oil cooler it aftermarket cooler would help? Maybe even a larger pan?
I suspect it got hot because if how long I had it in high rpm's.
I'm willing to try anything before posting away another 50k for a Cummins, even though I kind of want to anyway...

I'm in the same area and you know by my posts that I have experienced the same temperatures under the same conditions as you. I'm going to get an external oil cooler before I take my next trip up those Hills with my 7 to 8 thousand pound trailer. Please remember to let us know how your trip to the dealer goes and what they had say...

 

[HammerHead]

The 180 degree thermostat helped me keep my engine oil temps down when I was racing.

 

[Fitz-0518]

Been following your oil temp issue. Any determination or fix for what caused it?