Oil Temp and a 1500

[nkitmitto]

I was headed up north (live in AZ) this weekend. First time I've towed with my new RAM. I just added the AirLift 1000 to help with the sagging in the back. The tongue weight on my trailer is about 665 lbs. It's a 23' toy hauler, it weighs 4900 lbs dry. Fully loaded (2015 Polaris RZR 900, 50 gallons of water, 30 gallons of gas, food, clothes, etc) weighs about 7700 lbs. My truck is rated to tow 10,000 lbs, with the axel ratio of 3.99. Driving to the camping spot and even back home, my oil temp was hitting 260. It never went over 260, but at 260, that seems extremely high. My buddy who's towing a MUCH bigger trailer with a much bigger truck, is running at 210-215 degrees for his oil temp. Is it normal for RAMs to run this hot for oil? Ambient temperature was about 75 degrees today. Going up hill, and down hill. Up hill, I'd sit around 2500-3000 RPM with tow mode on, slowly decreasing in speed. Not trying to accelerate, but not trying to come to a grinding halt either. However, even when I got close to home (about an hour away), it was all freeway. Mainly straight, no up hill, etc. My oil was at 255 degrees.

I'm worried my truck is having oil temp problems. I haven't seen anyone reporting their trucks running this hot. Thoughts?

 

[HLram]

WOW! That seems way high. I towed my 27' camper full of crap the other day about 4 hrs up and down hills, on flat ground, all types of terrain up to 65-70 mph for 95% of the trip, and my oil never got over 210/215 even in the hills. Plus there was a noticeable side wind most of the trip, too. Usually stayed around 200 degrees. That was in 90+ degree weather. Maybe even 95 degrees. I have 3.55s. Seems way too high for me. Hope you don't have anything wrong.

 

[NYCruiser]

Do you have an oil cooler?


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[h2oman]

Do you have an oil cooler?


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^^^This is the question.

 

[Pitch1]

If OP was driving the truck in his Sig,2013 Ram 1500 5.7, he has,"Heavy Duty Oil Cooler" as standard equipment. No additional equipment should be needed to operate with in specs.
I don't know how it would effect oil temp, but you are killing that engine, lugging the RPM's that low. You got a load goin up hill, hammer that thing, get your RPM,s up around 4000 4200. That is the engines design peak.

 

[NYCruiser]

I think I read that the factory oil cooler has a thermostat controlled bypass. Maybe something is wrong with it?

 

[nkitmitto]

If OP was driving the truck in his Sig,2013 Ram 1500 5.7, he has,"Heavy Duty Oil Cooler" as standard equipment. No additional equipment should be needed to operate with in specs.
I don't know how it would effect oil temp, but you are killing that engine, lugging the RPM's that low. You got a load goin up hill, hammer that thing, get your RPM,s up around 4000 4200. That is the engines design peak.

Interesting. I was thinking that the lower the RPMs, the lower the oil temp. So I was trying to keep the RPMs as low as possible.

I was driving the truck I attached to show the load and the truck. I guess I'll be calling the dealership. Still have factory warranty on it.

 

[smurfs_of_war]

Interesting. I was thinking that the lower the RPMs, the lower the oil temp. So I was trying to keep the RPMs as low as possible.

I was driving the truck I attached to show the load and the truck. I guess I'll be calling the dealership. Still have factory warranty on it.

It's an oil to air cooler. Keep that hemi spinning and it will help, but your RPMs are similar to mine when towing around 5500 and I get nowhere near those temps for oil.

 

[NYCruiser]

Where does the oil temp stay when you're not towing? Mine's usually around 210-215

 

[nkitmitto]

Where does the oil temp stay when you're not towing? Mine's usually around 210-215

Around 225-230. However, I am in AZ, and it's typically 100 degrees here or more for the past few months. I've only had my truck for 2 months. So I don't know how it is when the temp isn't 100 yet.

Currently, the dealer is saying 225-230 is normal for the 1500 when not towing.

 

[NYCruiser]

The good news is that the engine is covered by 5 year/100,000 warrantee. Hope you don't end up needing it.

 

[nkitmitto]

The good news is that the engine is covered by 5 year/100,000 warrantee. Hope you don't end up needing it.

Unfortunately, it's only 32,000 since I'm the second owner. But I got the extended warranty with it.

I had to call Chrysler and they called the dealership. Dealership said there was nothing they could do, they can't reproduce the problem. I told him that is his problem, not mine. My truck is running extremely hot, and people who are towing about the same as me are running around 230-240. He said "As long as there are no lights coming on, I wouldn't worry". I'm an 8th of the gauage away from red lining my oil temp! This isn't a feasible answer. He said they'd take a look at it. Chrysler created a ticket to track the issue, told me if I'm not satisfied with the results, I can call them back.

Chrysler seems great. Dealership... Not so much. If I'm towing back on a Sunday (and they're closed), I'm stuck until they open up....

 

[NYCruiser]

You may want to change the oil to fully synth if you haven't already until they get it sorted. It will withstand the higher temp better


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[nkitmitto]

You may want to change the oil to fully synth if you haven't already until they get it sorted. It will withstand the higher temp better


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I'm going to request this at the dealer. Not sure if they'll actually do it for free though. But if they put the wrong oil in it to begin with...

I won't be towing for another 2 weeks or so. So I'll let them troubleshoot and pay them to change the oil if needed. It'll be worth the money so they have the record of them doing the service and can't blame Fletcher's or something for a bad oil change.

Do you know off the top of your head the temp range for synthetic?

 

[nkitmitto]

At what temperature should my fan kick into high? It doesn't do so until about 258.

 

[NYCruiser]

I think I've seen synths rated over 350 degrees. The fan is operating on coolant temp


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[TRCM]

and the oil temp is gonna be right around the coolant temp anyway.....only difference will be how much the oil cooler coos it downb.

Have you checked to make sure your oil cooler isn't plugged with mud/leaves/debris ??

 

[nkitmitto]

and the oil temp is gonna be right around the coolant temp anyway.....only difference will be how much the oil cooler coos it downb.

Have you checked to make sure your oil cooler isn't plugged with mud/leaves/debris ??

No I have not, I'll check that tonight when I get home!

 

[Bigbird]

I agree that your oil temperature is way too high and you should be running a full synthetic oil that meets Chrysler warranty requirements. I use Quaker State.
I realize that you are talking about the 5.7 engine, however, on a recent 2415 round trip to Florida with my Pentastar, 8 speed, and 3.21 rear end I was pulling my Winnebago TT (21.5' 4500# loaded) most of the time between 65 and 70 mph. Here is a typical photo of the EVIC while towing in tow/haul mode. I used an iphone4 to make the photo. This would be a good way to document your high temperature for Chrysler and the dealer.

 

[nkitmitto]

So I told the dealer it was at 260 degrees when towing. They said "There's no light, there's no worry". Chrysler is saying they can't do anything, they rely on their dealers and their dealer is saying there's no problem. I recorded my oil temp sitting at 215 degrees just after 15 minutes of driving down the freeway, home from the dealer. They did an oil change, and put what my manual calls for, 5w/30 synthetic BLEND. I'm at a loss of what I can do here other than get a second opinion (of which I plan on doing). I could change it out to a full synthetic, but I wonder if that'd void the warranty at all? What do you guys think?