Is the engine warmed up when the oil or the water is up to temperature? Ot both?

 

My coolant temp gauge seems to be a rather liberal with fully warmed up readings; two blocks from the house and its already sitting in the middle of the scale. So, I just keep an eye on the oil pressure gauge.

You have an oil temperature gauge?

 

Same here, my temp gauge gets to the normal operating range a lot quicker than the oil pressure drops to it's normal operating range.

 

The coolant temperature is what is read as engine temperature on the dash guage.

 

I say oil temperature.

Water is to cool the engine, and the water is pressurized. The volume of cooling water moving through the engine depends or several factors include whether the thermostat is open or closed.

Is that the correct answer?

 

I should have mentioned that I'm thinking of adding a Oil Temp gauge. It seems to me that the Oil Temp the better indication of the engine being up-to-temp, ie., ready to push hard, high RPMs, etc.

 

It's warmed up when the oil temp is elevated to operating temp. I have an oil temp gauge that reads oil temp in the oil pan. It takes only a couple miles for the water temp to raise, but another 5-8 miles for the oil temp to get to about 180 degrees F.

What I recommend to people is to wait till the oil is warm before driving hard.

And, watching the oil pressure gauge is a pretty good way of checking the heat in the motor.

 

High pressure = low temp right? or is it backwards?

 

You are correct!

Cold oil is THICK, it thins as it heats up. Next time you get in you car with a cold engine, check your gauge, the oil pressure will be around 80-90 psi at about 3000 RPMs. When warmed up, it should drop to around 60 psi.

Caution: Your actual numbers may vary!

 

On a cold morning (~35 degrees) I'll be right at 120 psi at 3,000 rpm! I'll take off out of my driveway and when I forget to shift low, watch my oil pressure gauge peg out!!

 

oil pressure all the way !!!

 

+1 on this......you want oil flowing freely at operating temp.....so base warm-up on oil.....when my oil pressure has dropped to its standard level, I know I am warmed to operating temp.

 

Ferrari's have both oil and water temp guages, what my friend tells me about his Maranello is that the temperatures of both rise at the same rate, dont know how this relates to the engine having dry sump lub system.

Oil pressure mainly depends on engine speed as the gear pump is directly geared to the crank shaft (I think some newer engines have electrical gear pumps). But when oil is cold the indicated pressure is higher, but actually lesser pressure is seen by the lubricated parts.

 

how bad is it to run 120psi cold engine harder than usual?

 

I drove truck in Greenland (current temperature minus 14 degrees). When I parked the truck, I plugged in the engine block heater (or left the engine running). I doubt if anyone drives a 350Z in such extreme conditions.

 

You make more bhp when its cold (air - more o2)
so ppl probably do it

 

Go by the oil pressure gauge. My .02
Revving the engine with it pegged at 120psi cold is insane. Don't do it.
Will

 

sometimes in the morning i have to make quick gettaways

 

J, congrats on the 3,303 posts in 4 months. PLS make your future posts informative.

Thanks!

 

LOL, I hear you. It was 12 degrees last month one morning when I took the Z to work. I was late and I was thinking at first, "hell ya I'll make up time if I take the Z" and then as I got going I watched the oil pressure hit 120 at less than 3000rpm, and then I was thinking, "damn, I'm going to be late as hell taking the Z!!"
Will