Cozzi Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 (edited) I have a Mishimoto Aluminium Rad with twin fan back plate, and the Mishimoto Oil Cooler with a thermostatic sandwich plate. The car takes a while to warm up on startup, and recently in the cold weather isnt ever reaching the normal operating temperature. This also isnt helped by me turning the heaters in the car. Sitting in traffic the car will warm up as normal, but travelling at speed on the motorway seems to be overcooling the car and the water temp gauge starts dropping to the point as shown in the picture. I have read into this on other forums, and people have fitted a lower/higher temp thermostat when fitting better rads, im assuming to stop the water running though it until certain temps?. I have thought of just putting my number plate over the grille on a temporary basis to see if this helps the problem during the winter when im on the motorway etc. Could it be a air lock (seems too consistent with high speeds and cooling) Faulty stat? Need a higher or lower temp stat? Any help would be appreciated? Edited November 4, 2013 by Cozzi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-350 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Drive it harder. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Neither are really needed for normal driving, and that's why your seeing low temps, the oil cooler in particular is not at all necessary unless your running a track car, and the big rad is just compounding the issue, I would presume you have a thermostatic oil cooler take off plate? other than removing them the best you can do for now is to cover the oil cooler to stop airflow through it, and partially cover some of the rad, unless you oil temps are getting to 100c you will never get rid of the water vapor and acidic contaminants produced during the combustion process, its not good for the engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT4 Zed Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Drive it harder. +1 or fit a super/turbocharger I have a similar set up and my guage sits just a tad higher than yours but this means nothing as what you need is to log oil temps and wrt this my temps are just perfect in all driving conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozzi Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 Neither are really needed for normal driving, and that's why your seeing low temps, the oil cooler in particular is not at all necessary unless your running a track car, and the big rad is just compounding the issue, I would presume you have a thermostatic oil cooler take off plate? other than removing them the best you can do for now is to cover the oil cooler to stop airflow through it, and partially cover some of the rad, unless you oil temps are getting to 100c you will never get rid of the water vapor and acidic contaminants produced during the combustion process, its not good for the engine. I might sell the oil cooler, as you say it doesnt suffer from getting hot with already bigger rad, and the occasional track day next year wont really warrant it? ill block off some of the rad and the oil cooler for now. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arran Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Thats a coolant gauge not oil so id suggest the rad is overcooling, not really needed on a daily tbh. The oil cooler is thermostatic so will only open at a certain temperature why not hook up an oil temp gauge thats what im doing when the cooler goes on. Should be fine for a daily as well maybe just cover the oil cooler to just to help a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 (edited) Definitely fit an oil temp gauge, an oil pressure gauge is also a very good idea, As far as thermostatic oil coolers, , even when the thermostat is closed there is always a small flow of oil through the cooler, it helps with not suddenly introducing cold thick oil into the oil system, so In effect if the oil is already cooler than it should be, that minimal flow wont help. Because the std system has a water cooled oil cooler (unless you have removed it?) having a larger rad also has a direct influence on cooling the oil, so this will also just compound the issue. Edited November 4, 2013 by Tricky-Ricky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arran Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Im leaving my standard water oil cooler on, heard its the best way to run it, so you ensure you can get up to temp just like normal I think most people have it setup like that, never seen the removal of the oem cooler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozzi Posted November 5, 2013 Author Share Posted November 5, 2013 I moved the numberplate down covering some of the grille last night, and seems to have solved the problem. drove about 20mile round town and another 20 on the motorway and the car has reached temp and stayed there. Ill just have to keep an eye on the gauge for a little while, and move the plate back once the winter is over lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taras Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 As Arran said. Thats the water gauge. If your oil thermostatic plate is working ok then it shouldn't bring the water temp level that low. Maybe it's your water thermostat that is on its way out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozzi Posted November 6, 2013 Author Share Posted November 6, 2013 I know thats the water gauge, but its still dropping at high speeds, which would suggest that its overcooling the water. if the oil plate is thermostatic, it wont push the oil though it because of how cool the car is running? now I have covered some of the grill with the number plate, its warming up and staying warm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozzi Posted November 6, 2013 Author Share Posted November 6, 2013 Sorry I think I understand, the thermostat could have failed in the open position?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taras Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 (edited) Sorry I think I understand, the thermostat could have failed in the open position?! correct. A warn out water thermostat would stick open so water is constantly flowing making it over cool when you drive and warm up when you stop. Your oil cooler would have to be so cold that it cools the engine before cooling the water down so got nothing to do with the oil cooler or oil thermo. Edited November 6, 2013 by RT-Performance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozzi Posted November 6, 2013 Author Share Posted November 6, 2013 New Mishimoto Water Thermostat on order Why i didnt grasp that concept straight away ill never know! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Mcgoo Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 (edited) Hope it sorts your water temp problem. However, as advised, if you are running an oil cooler you really need to get an oil temp gauge fitted. Even with a thermostatic sandwich plate it will flow oil long before it's stated temperature and could still be stopping the oil getting to a decent temperature, even if your water temp seems fine. What size is your oil cooler? There are people on here that have had oil running as low as 60'c on a motorway run in winter and that was on supercharged and turbo'd cars. On a standard zed (depending on cooler size) I would think you'll be running your oil a bit too cold on a run especially in winter. I'd rather have the occasional hot oil when driving hard then constantly cool. Edited November 6, 2013 by Sam Mcgoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Mcgoo Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Some info here: http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/57618-oil-coolers-and-oil-temps-information/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozzi Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 After removing the Thermostat to replace it, I found it looked like its been swapped for an aftermarket 62deg low temp one. could this have been causing the problem? also how do I know which one it is, as I believe NISMO, Cosworth etc all make these and it may be fine and worth selling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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