Has anyone here ever installed an oil temp gauge on your crossfire? I'm curious as to what it actually is when warmed up.

I pulled the dip stick after some hard driving and it felt like it was well above 250*F, damn thing cooked my finger. I'm thinking about mounting an aux oil cooler but I just can't seem to find a port to return the low pressure oil to? Anyone have some ideas on this?

 

That's a good question. I don't recall seeing any kind of external oil lines, and the cartridge filter makes is darn near impossible to fit an adapter. I recall that another forum member, DynamicS, installed an after-market oil filter system that used toilet paper rolls as the filter medium. Take a look at his post about it here. There pics of the installation near the bottom the first page.

 

wouldn't your oil temp be almost the same temp as the engine/water temp?

most external systems for cooling and filtering have you pop a hole in the side of the pan for the return.

 

Not really, I've seen oil temps on other cars go as high as 260*F and water temp around 200*.

I think that will be the only way to run some sort of oil cooler, I just don't want to drill a hole and tap into the pan. Unless I could find a spare cast aluminum oil pan, then I would do it. I'm also worried if I tap into the test port, that might starve the bearings of oil pressure after exiting the oil cooler and back into the case.

 

keep in mind ... OEM engineers keep the oil temp where it is to reduce oil contamination ... we've seen situations on my other forums (neons.org) where guys running turbo setups also used large oil coolers to reduce the chance of the bearings cooking and coking (process where the oil turns to a hard black substance on the bering surface) up upon shutdown and what they found is that it cooled too well and their oil analysis results came back with high levels of contamination as a result of the minor blow by that comes through from the combustion chambers into the crank case. these contaminants where normally burned off by the higher oil temperatures.

also, synthetic oil is more than capable of handling these temps without coking up...

 

yeah I guess your right, this engine has been used for many years in a variety of cars, and the MBZ engineers are no slouches. I guess that is why the synthetic oil is mandatory for this car.

 

too hot to touch with my finger.

 

Mercedes ran an external oil cooler on a few vehicles. It was sandwiched between the oil filter housing and the timing cover. Some had engine coolant running in there and others had external oil radiators.
Unless you're running an endurance race, I wouldn't bother with an oil cooler. I had one on the hot rod for years but didn't see any appreciable gain.

 

In my many conversations with various MB engineers, The oil temp was an issue on this engine... That's why they built a 8.5 qt pan... The pan also has heat syncs molded into it, unlike the rounded pan of most cars. This was designed to disperse much of the heat build-up... I have not installed a temp sensor, but it might not be a bad idea if you plan of running your car hard...

 

My SRT only wanted 7.75 qts of oil. That's all we put in any of the 112 motors at work.
All of the modern Mercedes run high capacity oil systems. The V-8 cars usually take 8.5 quarts and we'll slide 9 qts in the V12s.
The pans do have ridges in them. They're designed to work as heat sinks as well as stiffening ridges.
Considering that the twin turbocharged V12 takes barely a quart more than the V6, I wouldn't be too concerned unless you've gutted your car and are hell-bent on embarrassing Elises at the track.

 

Just wait till the season starts in March... I've got my eye on a few cars that need some Crossfire humility... One very specific S2000 needs a good whack upside his head...

 

would it be too much to ask you for the part number on that special oil cooler adapter??

 

you know I was thinking, what if I taped into the test port and then returned the oil through the big plastic oil filter hold down cap. I might be able to find a machine shop to cut a new oil filter housing cap out of aluminum, would look really cool. I just wonder if there is enough pressure difference between the oil test port and the oil filter housing?

 

The oil filter housing is under pressure.

 

ot... feets your car ('65) is sooo in your face !!! that thing is menacing. love it.

 

yes both the test port and the housing cap are under pressure but I'm sure it's not equal pressure so oil should be able to flow through the port into the center of the filter cap.

how are you making out on that sandwich adapter part number?