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Reply to "Oil Temp Seems High"

How do you know what the actual temp of the oil is?   If it is a "band" gauge with no numbers on it, then you don't have a clue.  What you need to do is get a candy/baking thermometer with a long ( 8" - 10" ) probe (the same length as the bottom of your dipstick) and a range of 175ºF - 250ºF.  When you've finished your "semi-spirited drive" on a freeway, hop out, pull the regular dipstick, put the candy thermometer down the dipstick tube and see what it says - Then you'll know what the oil temperature really is.

At 77ºF out and after a fast freeway run, the oil cooler fan should be running - that's normal.  Besides calling the builder of your car, you need to determine what the oil temp is for different needle positions on your gauge so you'll know what's going on, like cold, after a five-minute warm-up and freeway temps.

I suspect that you might have a temp sensor on the engine that is a little off from what the gauge is expecting to see - that's pretty common with the parts we have to deal with these days, and you may only have to change oil temp sensors (they're cheap).

But first, though, find out what oil temp you really have and don't rely on a questionable gauge.

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