<VV> Oil pressure & Temp gauges

[Frank DuVal]

It is true that the more information you have about the inner workings 
of your engine the better you can determine trends and problems. So the 
more instrumentation the better you will be informed. If there are too 
many gages, which ones do you keep looking at instead of where you are 
going?

BUT, in regular driving of a Spyder, all you need is the idiot light 
that flashes RED in your face if oil pressure goes to 0. All  you need 
for temperature is the head temperature. I can tell you from experience 
that the head heats faster than the oil when your foot is to the floor. 
The head is where the combustion is taking place. The oil gets the heat 
later from that source through a lot of metal. So there is a delay. If 
you don't look at the temp gage, you will still get a RED light and 
buzzer going off when a high temp is reached. Then a gage is nice so you 
can see if lifting the foot is getting the head to cool down. If the 
head temp is OK, the oil temp is 99% probably OK also.

So, No the turbo will not heat the oil faster than the head. Not even 
the little stream of oil that goes through the turbo bearing will heat 
fast, as the flow is great. Now, when you shut off the engine, the oil 
is not flowing and the oil in the bearing gets hot. But that is a 
different problem.

Drive the car and don't worry about extra gages. I only worry when the 
head temp on my Spyder goes above 500 °F for extended periods. Remember, 
the cars are supposed to be fun. Put your foot into it when appropriate!

Frank DuVal


Dave Thompson wrote:

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>Now, I have a spyder so I have a CHT gauge. In aviation circles, if I had to
>make a choice, I should use a CHT over oil temp due to the fact that CHT
>changes quicker than oil temp.  However I suspect that it may be different
>on an auto application due to the fact that the RPM and engine load is
>constantly changing where an aircraft tends to hold the same RPM for long
>periods of time. More like a car on the freeway. I also "think" that the
>turbo will heat up the oil faster than CHT will show an increase. Am I
>thinking correctly?
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>All comments are welcome.
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