I disagree. And I'll start by admitting that I am not familiar with the
Lotus 51A . . . .
Modern oils . . ? Petroleum based and 100% synthetic do have higheer
operating temperatures as required by contemporary engines designed tro
operaate at these somewghat elevated temps.
To keep this simple, lets consider only 100% synthetics like Mobil 1 or
Redline.
Newer oils that are 100% synthetic have a higher critical temperature, the
point at which the oil turns to carbon. The base for a 100% synthetic
lubricant is a derivitive of jet engine oil. Visit the web page from Redline
Lubricants for an excellent explanation of how a 100% synthetic lubricant
works. www.redlineoil.com
A 100% synthetic can absorb more heat w/o failing as a lubricant, BUT your
engine is still running hotter than its' tolerances and materials were
designed to operate at. At that point your only margin for safety is the
lubricant. By keeping the oil cool, and at the proper temperature you can
you will lower the stress within the engine, and reduce the load on the
cooling sytem, radiator, etc. Remember that oil in any engine is the primary
source for cooling to the bottom of the piston, so by keeping your lubricant
cool you can run your engine at a higher level of power before you have
pre-ignition.
Your oil cooler should be set up with a thermostat for ultimate efficiency.
When the engine oil is over cooled w/o a thermostatically controlled oil
cooler you run the chance that the oil never reachs a proper operating
temperature. Numerous newer and present contemporary engines have t-stat
contolled oil coolers. One engine that BMW built a few years back is the S14
2.3 liter in the original M3. The factory recommendation was for a 100%
synthetic of 15-50 consistency, and that the engine was never to be run hard
until the oil temperature reached 210 degrees.
A 100% synthetic oil is much more stable than a conventional, as it
maintains it's viscosity at low and high temperatures.At the same time if
you were to run an older engine at a higher temperature ( ie: w/o an oil
cooler) you are requiring the engine to absorb a greater amount of heat.
This will tighten up all clearances, and possibly cause wear and damage.
Some of the additional heat can be dissipated thru the coolant, and
radiator, but again this system will then be asked to perform more work, run
at a higher temperature pressure etc . . . .
Mario Langsten
Bow, NH
-----Original Message-----
From: Ultra Precision Ltd. <Ultra.Precision@sympatico.ca>
To: Vintage race (E-mail) <vintage-race@autox.team.net>
Date: Sunday, February 27, 2000 4:15 PM
Subject: oil coolers
>Folks:
>
>I am new to this game, but I am very impressed with the amount of
>knowledge that seems to be out there on the web. I am in the process of
>getting a Lotus 51A ready for racing. It has been suggested to me that
>with modern oils, oil coolers are not really necessary as with a cooler
>the oil hardly ever gets up to temperature. I understand that from the
>same source that modern oils can withstand a higher temperature
>anyway. Any opinions please?
>
>Philip
>Lotus 51A
>
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