Click to view attachmentTook my '74 2.0 to a car show yesterday about 40 miles away.
I took the back roads on the way there and by the time I got there the oil temp had leveled off at 230' - I am told this is warm but not cause for concern.
On the way home I decided to take the interstate and after about 20 mi. at 75 MPH THE OIL TEMP HAD CLIMBED TO 260' (2200 RPM in 5th)
So I got off this road and after a break to let it cool, I proceeded on the back roads keeping the R's above 3,000 at slower speeds but it didn't seem to help much.
Made it home with no problem and a pull of the dipstick shows good, unburnt, clean oil.

How concerned should I be and what should I look for?
NOTE; ambient temp was 85'
Thanks in advance for any help.
CHAZT

The air dam is disrupting under car air flow which would naturally lead to higher temps at sustained highway speeds…

not necessarily , very common issue with the 2.0 cars it seems; my 75 has had the same issue and i had a similar thread started a couple weeks ago on this same subject. mine was hitting the 240+ range with temps at 95 degrees outside, but pushing that 225- 240 range with air temps in the 80's which seems a bit more than it should be. , some factors include RPM's, hills vs flat land, type of and viscosity of oil, air flow under car and around heads, and thry oil cooler. im going to put in an external larger cooler replacing the stock one - looking at the kits that Tangerine racing has right now. I got up to 250-260 climbing the tail of the dragon last year at octeenerfest and it was only 75 degrees out!!

- what oil are you running? are you sure there is no debris under the tin or over the oil cooler?

Phil

I agree the air damn will cause part of the extra heat

is it carb'd
maybe richen the mixture
double check the timing and possibly retard it
and if you have never taken the tin work off to clean out the stock cooler that might be in order also

good point , my temps did improve when timing was reset and i was running a bit more rich. i was on the lean side and that does make a difference, even with d-jet, .
- some have had seen a temp difference using a thinner lower viscosity oil, going from a 20/50 to a 10/40, etc.

How are you doing 75 mph @2200 rpm in 5th?

It's the air dam. Take it off and retry. I used to run that type for AX but left it off for longer distance.

All the easy stuff that should help. In the end, if you want to see below 220 on hot days after running hard and long a oil cooler is almost always needed.

Air Dam removal.
Remove rain tray
make sure engine flaps operating
make sure undercarriage chassis flaps present
Check fan for obstruction
Tune and check mixture with sniffer or the like.

Right after I installed the low airdam on my car, oil temps started running high. I installed an after market, aux. oil cooler fed through a NACA scoop in the rocker panel, via a 3 inch duct to a cowl surrounding the cooler. Resulting in much cooler oil. You can do something like that or simply go back to a stock front valance. (But where's the fun in that)? By the way, your car looks great.

I also had the issue with oil temps getting to 230. At that time I did not have an air dam. I added the air dam and went into the Megasquirt configuration and flattened out the timing advance a bit. Now the oil temp stays at 195 on the highway (70 mph during an hour drive on the highway) and in town it may push up to 205. Air temps were in the high 70's.

That would be closer to 60mph wouldn't it? Not that I'd know. I don't run 5th gear at any less than 3500 rpm, preferably closer to 4K. Running at 2200rpm in 5th is a great way to overheat your heads and cause burned valves and/or cracked heads. That's a lot of air-resistance your car has to push through at that speed, and it causes a lot of unnecessary load on the engine with your rpm's that low. This isn't a water-cooled car, don't drive it like one.

Fuckin classic , I love it

My car ran 20 degrees higher when switched from 10/40 to 20/50
I switched back and it's back to normal.

And what brand are you running now?

refrerence what Jake Raby has said; third comment down

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...temp,and,normal

Valvoline VR1 With added zinc.

I'm going to go back and recheck the timing, and do an oil change . I've been running 20/50 vr1, will try the 10/40.
See what happens.

Thanks for all the input guys.
I am running Quaker State straight SAE30 (non-syn).
I will look under the tins and check the cooler for obstructions and remove the air dam for now to see if it helps. (do the simple stuff first)

The flaps are wired open because I do not take this out in cold weather.
It still has the OEM injection system which has been trouble free since I disabled the cold start valve.

75MPH @ 2,200 IN 5TH - that's what I am reading.
Anyone else think that is whacked?
CHAZT

Do a little research on what is considered an acceptable oil in these cars.
I dont believe that Quaker State is on any of the lists of oils to use.

I'm just a little above that and I have a modified 4th and 5th gearing (has and flipped x) to give me closer to a 4.4 and 5.5 equivalent. So I run about 600 to 700 rpm less than a standard box on the freeway. Either you also have this set up or your tach is off.

Thanks for the advice and the compliment. Your car looks great as well.
Do you also have a 2.0? Doesn't look like a six.

Stock gearing and tire sizes look like this for a -4, I believe:

Click to view attachment


I was thinking that my oil was a little too hot at 205-210 consistently on the highway in the -6. Maybe not...

Silly question, how does everyone know how hot the oil is running. I just have the Oil Temp gauge but there are no indicators for actual temp.

Any help is appreciated. I live in Austin and this is my DD. I want to make sure that I am not cooking it when it is 100 outside.

Thanks

It's there . If you look closely under the ring you will see the temp .

FAT Performance 2.2 liter type IV. 147 hp.

So I looked at my gauge face and there are no numbers. There was only a part number.

I did the LED backlight to the gauge hence the green light, but there is no scale. Please let me know if anyone out there is interested in selling a gauge.

I suggested on another thread: Buy a $30-50 craftsman Digital Multi Meter (DMM) from Sears (make sure it has a thermocouple port)

You can poke a thermocouple down the dipstick tube when the engine is "hot" and you can get a baseline #.

If you dont have a DMM, you need one with this car.

Sure but how will I know if it is "too hot" vs "just warm" in the baseline test?

I use a IR thermometer and shoot it at various locations to get a baseline. Oil filter, return tube, ect.

Once you get a temp reading you can correspond that with what the gauge is telling you, and have a pretty good idea of your temps.

In my past experience with that gauge (going from memory), straight up and down is about 205, needle on the left side "M" from the word TEMP is 220, on the right side of the "M" is 235, once it approaches the "P" you are in the danger 250 zone.

I have the markings on my gauge but it was not accurate. I used a multimeter to get the temps at every level and marked them as shown in the picture

This will help, u have the top right gauge, assuming you have the correct sender, diagram states the temps.

Stolen from another forum. Correlates surprisingly well with my dipstick thermometer. I have the earlier gauge and the VDO 150C sender.

Edit: HAH!!

That image is wildly helpful!!!

Thank you so much for sharing. I live in Austin Tx and I am constantly scared of the temp.

Hi all, well, I'm going to put a oil cooler in the stock 1.7. I'm going with a 12"×9"×4" deep fan cooled oil cooler. Going to put it on the passenger side by the trans. I'm doing this cause the 914 has been running hot in the summer time. Been running at 230 to 240 after a good ride in this heat, around 98 degrees. Should this help. My stock cooler is in good shape and clean. Been freshly tuned also. I'm hoping it'll bring down the temps. Timing is is correct and fuel pressure is good. Engine is a stock 1.7 FI. Sooooo, what u all think about this.