Re: track day problems, 4th to 5th
 

Watch the water temps. Because of the radiator/bypass design it is very easy to overheat and blow a head gasket in a race environment.

Tyler

Re: track day problems, 4th to 5th
 

[quote=Tyler Townsley]Couple of things to remember.
1. The oil cooler has a thermostat that does not open until 230 degrees so unless you reach that temp or have the thermo changed it does not matter what you do to the cooler.

The oil thermostat opens at about 185 degrees. Take a slow (60 - 70 mph) highway drive in 6th gear on a cool night and the oil temp gauge will stay between 182 and 188 the entire time.

Re: track day problems, 4th to 5th
 

[quote=zrss]Recommend you review the manual. What you are seeing is the effects of the radiator cooling on the oil temps.

Tyler

Re: track day problems, 4th to 5th
 

Let me ask a dumb question.

If the oil cooling thermostat doesn't open until the oil temp reaches 230, doesn't this mean that oil doesn't circulate through the cooler? If this is the case, then I dont think in 4 years I've ever seen anything close to 230 oil temp. How do I drain the old oil thats siting in the oil cooler? In the event that the therostat opens someday, I dont want the old oil possibly contaminating the fresh.

Am I worried about nothing?

Thanks

Rick

Re: track day problems, 4th to 5th
 

I read in the Helm manual that there is a constant minimal flow of oil allowed through the cooler at all tempuratures. The reason given was to prevent a slug of cold oil going into the engine when/if the oil thermostat opens.
Based upon that I would think that the oil cooler always has fresh engine oil inside.
One thing that I have noticed on my car is that even after a slow drive home from work the oil cooler pipes are hot. So there has to be something flowing through there even at lower operating temps.

SharkPilot

Re: track day problems, 4th to 5th
 

Correct on the minimal flow. Per an engineer on the project this minimal flow was to warm the engine oil quicker in cold climates. They found in tests done in severe cold the engine oil did not warm to the temps desired so they used used the oil cooler to warm the oil from the radiator temperature.

Tyler

Re: track day problems, 4th to 5th
 

Thanks for the answers...