oil temp, lower when it's hotter?

[Doel]

It's been unbearably hot here in the south this week which has caused something I can't figure out. When it's normal summer temps, 85-95, my oil temp is usually a bit over 200, 210ish. The last few days when it's been over 95, it stays consistently around 190ish. Driving fast, slow, stopped, doesn't matter, it stays under 200. The pic snapped below was during rush over traffic, while I'm stopped on the interstate, after driving 20+ minutes. Anyone else ever experience this or have a reasonable explanation for it?

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

Yes, this happens. Greater than 95F ambient you can expect coolant temp to be around 185F and a corresponding oil temp. Less than 95F ambient, coolant temp goes to around 210-215F and oil temp also rises as you noted. It's a little warmer here, so I noticed it a couple of months ago and no one could really explain how/why this actually happens. You can literally see the changes in temps when you are right around that magic 95F setpoint, above or below...

Unfortunately, in some forums when you ask a question it becomes hard to stay on topic....

Coolant Temp 3.3L - N54Tech.com - International Turbo Racing Discussion

 

[Doel]

Yes, this happens. Greater than 95F ambient you can expect coolant temp to be around 185F and a corresponding oil temp. Less than 95F ambient, coolant temp goes to around 210-215F and oil temp also rises as you noted. It's a little warmer here, so I noticed it a couple of months ago and no one could really explain how/why this actually happens. You can literally see the changes in temps when you are right around that magic 95F setpoint, above or below...

ha well I'm just glad it isn't just me. Really weird, the car must be monitoring ambient temps and increasing fan speeds or something to keep internal temps down. Maybe at 95 and above the car automatically triggers max fan speed to keep everything as cool as possible.

Maybe a tuner out there can figure out exactly what's triggering it and give us a switch to cool the car off while we're staging for 30 minutes

 

[STINGER]

Noticed the same thing as well. The oil and water thermostats are electronic, so it is a combination of everything working together including the fans to achieve the desired temperatures kia wants for a certain setting etc.

 

[MerlintheMad]

This is new! Something every day. And it's completely counter intuitive. We must live in "Opposite World"!

 

[BertBert2019GT]

I wish my base GT would tell me oil temp/torque/boost!

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

The oil and water thermostats are electronic, so it is a combination of everything working together including the fans to achieve the desired temperatures kia wants for a certain setting etc.

Didn't know that but now that makes this whole thing reasonable...

 

[Onno P]

Same here. It does make sense to ‘create’ a bigger buffer when it is hot outside.
I had an Alfa 164 3.0V6. Built in a switch to be able to switch on the fan. That way the low oilpressure warning did not come on every time i had to stop.

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

I wish my base GT would tell me oil temp/torque/boost!

Get a JB4 and have a reason to look at the boost.

 

[djerickd]

Wouldn't it be more beneficial for the car to run COOLER when tuned?

 

[5tinger]

During low loads/ conservative driving conditions or at lower ambient temps the engine management system maintains higher oil temps allowing improved efficiency.

However at high external temps and high loads the oil temperature is reduced to prevent damage from high loads and temperatures.

The system is variable and at first baffled me how oil temps were higher when driving slower.