Ron's 914, High oil temp Options

[Ron914]

Hello all,
It's been about 4 months since I passed my smog test and thought I would be on the way to finally be able to drive my 4 year project .

Well I have been enjoying driving it but only for short trips around town because I feel it has a high oil temperature problem . This is after a short drive around town of 30 minutes . A 45 minute drive will bring the needle on the gauge right to the red zone ,which looking at Phil's calibration photo would indicate about 250F , I don't continue to drive once I get to 250F and pull over and let its cool .



Not exactly sure why or if it really is high ( I don't want to damage my new motor ) but I was given a few things to check by the members hers @Superhawk996 , @emerygt350 .

First I checked my oil Temperature sensor to verify type and operation.

It is a VDO 200 C sensor .


I have the later oil gauge . I removed the sensor and placed it in 212F boiling water and it seems within the correct range on the console gauge .

I am using a Efeng turkey fryer thermometer to check against the gauge in console . The thermometer is accurate . The gauge ( apex seems close to the same reading



There was a discussion the other day on this subject with the question of whether missing a cooling tin on bottom of engine could cause the overheating problem @930cabman .

I have the same issue as I have the tin that the shift rod passes through removed because it the shit rod comes into contact with the tin installed and it shifts better with it removed .

Wondering if I should work on getting it reinstalled to help my cooling ?


I have also worked on the cooling flaps /thermostat but will start a new post for those questions .

I saw a comment about the type of oil . It sounds like Synthetic oil might be a better choice for air cooled oil .

I currently have no oil in my motor and was wondering if Mobil Syn oil would be better than putting back in the Valvoline VR1 20-50W ?

[burton73]

Ron, Happy that you completed your smog. I just got this oil for my 6 and by Bud, Alan Sobin got the same for his 6. We are changing our cars this week

HIGH ZINK FORMULA conventional oil not synthetic. I have been told that this is the stuff. If you have a different word on Synthetic versus conventional, please tell. I have heard of people getting leaks from synthetic oil.

Best Bob B

[Ron914]

Ron, Happy that you completed your smog. I just got this oil for my 6 and by Bud, Alan Sobin got the same for his 6. We are changing our cars this week

HIGH ZINK FORMULA conventional oil not synthetic. I have been told that this is the stuff. If you have a different word on Synthetic versus conventional, please tell. I have heard of people getting leaks from synthetic oil.

Best Bob B

Hi Bob,
When I first filled the new motor with oil I used Castol , used to get it at Wallmart for a good price then it became unavailable and they started stocking this oil . Im currently using Vavoline .

My comment on using synthetic oil was prompted by a comment that it handles high oil temps better than Dino oil . I've done 3 oil changes in less than 700 miles since the rebuild .

Currently I have not put oil back in after pulling the oil temp sending sensor to test it . Just considering the opinions here on Synthetic . I guess I'm just looking for a little insurance as I negotiate this oil temperature problem .
I want to do Oscar's drive in May but not sure if 250 + miles is a good idea yet .