Oil temperature high issue

[Jeff180sx]

Hi Guys,

I am planning to bring my IS to trackday just for fun. So considering basic monitoring gauges. 

I just bought an OBD2 multimeter from eBay for basic monitoring. I found out that my car oil temperature is abnormally high. Easy over 100°C on normal city driving. And easy over 120°C if have push it hard for a little bit.

Do you guys facing any similar problem ?

 

Thanks 

[NemesisUK]

Sounds pretty normal to me. You want it over 100c to drive off water condensation.

What pressure are you getting? As long as you can maintain good pressure those temps should be fine

[Linas.P]

If it is Automatic, then I would say taking it on track bad idea (for many reason), but main would be that you will need to replace ATF almost after every use. Obviously depends on how you "track-it", there is obviously a difference between just driving around the track and properly racing it. Main issue is that IS250 does not have ATF cooler, so if you do more than 1 or 2 laps overtime you will overheat ATF and then it will need to be replaced straight away. Considering the cost I think that becomes very uneconomical car to take to the track. 

I understand that by getting some gauges you specifically want to monitor it to prevent overheating, but that is exactly the point - it will overheat after few laps and it either going to be very boring track day or very hurt gearbox at the end of the day.

[Jeff180sx]

Sorry Guys , I should mention it earlier. My car is 06 IS250 Sport MT.

I am not quite sure, but I always heard my friend said good oil temperature is below 100°C even in race. And if above 115°C , then it is time to cool down. The OBD meter also has its default Oil Temperature warning at 120°C.

And it is easy to reach 115°C in normal driving inside CITY. So, just wonder if it is normal.....

 

Thanks in advance 

[Linas.P]

If it is MT, then it is less of an issue. Not that the oil would not overheat, it would still do as MT don't have oil cooler either and the oil would still need to be replaced. It is just that it is cheaper and more viable to replace oil on MT, than replace ATF in AT. Other thing, because MT is less sensitive to oil level it is easier to add oil cooler to MT, perhaps that is something you should consider if you planning to visit the track from time to time.

[Jeff180sx]

4 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

Sounds pretty normal to me. You want it over 100c to drive off water condensation.

What pressure are you getting? As long as you can maintain good pressure those temps should be fine

NemesisUK, 

I can't read oil pressure, just water temperature and oil temperature. 

 

You said over 100 is normal, but normal city driving reach 115°C , what do you think ?

I asked the same question to some others, some said the location of the default Oil Temperature Sensor also will affect the temperature.  Well , I don't know and I also don't know where the oil temperature sensor is ......

[Spock66]

5 minutes ago, Jeff180sx said:

You said over 100 is normal, but normal city driving reach 115°C , what do you think ?

Years ago I had a Golf Mk 2 GTi, that had an oil temperature gauge (and oil cooler) and gave pretty similar readings to your car.  Never took it on a track though, unless maxed out on the M45 counts...

[Jeff180sx]

5 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

If it is MT, then it is less of an issue. Not that the oil would not overheat, it would still do as MT don't have oil cooler either and the oil would still need to be replaced. It is just that it is cheaper and more viable to replace oil on MT, than replace ATF in AT. Other thing, because MT is less sensitive to oil level it is easier to add oil cooler to MT, perhaps that is something you should consider if you planning to visit the track from time to time.

Thanks Linas,

Oil Cooler is definitely something I am considering. Since , I may not be a hardcore trackday driver. It is just going to be my 1st time track experience, I am not talking about lap time, speed.... I just want to protect my car and safely finish the whole day event. 

 

So.... hope there is one IS owner who also install OBD2 meter can tell me what is his situation. 

 

 

[Jeff180sx]

3 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

Years ago I had a Golf Mk 2 GTi, that had an oil temperature gauge (and oil cooler) and gave pretty similar readings to your car.  Never took it on a track though, unless maxed out on the M45 counts...

What happened ?

What is the problem ?

please share 😊

[Linas.P]

4 minutes ago, Jeff180sx said:

Thanks Linas,

Oil Cooler is definitely something I am considering. Since , I may not be a hardcore trackday driver. It is just going to be my 1st time track experience, I am not talking about lap time, speed.... I just want to protect my car and safely finish the whole day event. 

So.... hope there is one IS owner who also install OBD2 meter can tell me what is his situation. 

I have OBD2, but my cars always been AT, so that wouldn't be relevant. As for trackday, you will surely finish it, what matters is only the cost of maintenance after that.

[Spock66]

27 minutes ago, Jeff180sx said:

What happened ?

What is the problem ?

please share 😊

Got to 120 no problem and no ticket, but that was way back....

[NemesisUK]

9 hours ago, Jeff180sx said:

NemesisUK, 

I can't read oil pressure, just water temperature and oil temperature. 

 

You said over 100 is normal, but normal city driving reach 115°C , what do you think ?

I asked the same question to some others, some said the location of the default Oil Temperature Sensor also will affect the temperature.  Well , I don't know and I also don't know where the oil temperature sensor is ......

I think you need to measure pressure as well to get a fuller picture. Oil just over 100c is fine, it will drive off contaminants as said before. The big but is the pressure must also remain normal. If pressure drops significantly with increasing temp you will have a problem long term.

An oil cooler is not a bad idea but you should look to include some sort of thermostat to prevent over cooling in normal driving.

[BC99]

On my previous car, an MGTF it had an oil temperature gauge, can't remember what the typical values were, i know driving it hard increased the temperature a fair bit. Looked up the gauge online and the red line was 150, although suspect issues if even close to that value in that car, i reckon 100-120 depending on driving. Also had one on a FIAT, but again i can't remember what typical values were.

I suspect the values you've posted are about right, 100ish daily driving and 120 when pushed. use them as your baseline if there are no other issues, obviously make sure good clean oil. Sender accuracy and position could make a difference when it comes to comparing to other vehicles.

[H3XME]

On 3/7/2022 at 10:37 PM, Jeff180sx said:

So.... hope there is one IS owner who also install OBD2 meter can tell me what is his situation. 

I'll have a look for you when I go on my lunch dude. I don't remember being able to read oil temp though. I wouldn't worry too much if you let it cool down. I removed all my engine covers and the blanking plate behind the grill for better air flow on mine. I don't do track days, but it does drift days without issues and that's arguably worse since you don't carry such speeds to cool it down on the go. Some cars run hot, my GT86 ran around 110 when driving normal, but it's a boxer engine so irrelevant.

If anything, keep an eye out on water temp, if that goes too high then it won't cool the engine down, and if you're planning on getting serious, I'd go for thicker oil since the operating temp is gonna be a lot higher than normal and change back to 5W30 after if it's daily driven.

[samplify]

@H3XME You mentioned you removed the blanking plate behind the grill. I've been thinking of doing the same. Have you noticed any damage to your radiator from stone chips or anything?

[H3XME]

7 minutes ago, samplify said:

@H3XME You mentioned you removed the blanking plate behind the grill. I've been thinking of doing the same. Have you noticed any damage to your radiator from stone chips or anything?

None at all. It's not really that exposed anyway.. I just had to remove it because of the mesh grill. It's been on the car for the past 30k miles and it's been fine. 

 

[Mr Vlad]

To correct a point made here. The is250 auto Does have a gearbox oil cooler. The cooler is a canister type and not what one would expect. It's located drivers side of the box. Confirmed to me by Lexus Stockport. Therefore by distinction the manual gearbox may well have one.

Just for an example of 'racing' the gearbox. I've driven from Rochdale to Leeds in sport mode 4th gear all the way. Ranging from 70mph and if I remember correctly the revs were 4 thousand. And also maxed out in 4th gear for a few miles. No adverse effects or excess heat noticed or smells. 

[H3XME]

4 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

I've driven from Rochdale to Leeds in sport mode 4th gear all the way. Ranging from 70mph and if I remember correctly the revs were 4 thousand. And also maxed out in 4th gear for a few miles. No adverse effects or excess heat noticed or smells. 

That's still very different to driving on the track, shifting at 6000RPM every gear, aggressively downshifting and putting the car under load 100% of the time. I don't think it would be as dramatic as something going bad after 10mins of driving like that as Linas suggests, but nevertheless these autos aren't made for this. Irrelevant now anyway, OP has a manual, he'll be alright but again, for any sort of racing I'd be seriously considering replacing the stock DMF with single mass flywheel from Fidenza for ~£600

[H3XME]

@Jeff180sx I had a look and I must say.. Are you sure you're looking at the right temps? Not water by any chance? I do not have an oil sensor therefore it cannot be read. Tried 2 apps, thinking it might be that, but it isn't because it came up on the 86, but not on the Lexus. Not all cars have oil temp sensors. And since your car is also 2008, I'd be very surprised if you have it. 

[Texas]

+1 on above!

oil at normal operating temp will run at well above 100’C so yes, could be coolant temp that is being monitored. But, and a big BUT is OP mentioned a temp of 120’ !!!! If it was coolant system being watched ( note coolant and Not water) it will go above 100’C quite easily ( in a pressurised system) but 120’C is not what you want to see😳