labrat Posted February 23, 2002 Share Posted February 23, 2002 Okay, with my sbc in my 280 ZX, i'm having some heating problems at highway speed. i've moved my tranny cooler lines to an external cooler ( not radiator), put a gutted thermostat in to slow down the water through the rad., and replaced the old wore out carb with another old wore out carb i had in the garage. My question is, how hot is too hot? what temp should i worry about the eminent failure of my engine? How hot is just too hot to run? Thanks guys, i appreciate the input! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 23, 2002 Share Posted February 23, 2002 180 degrees is a good on an older SBC and 195 degrees is acceptable on newrer SBC. Oil can begin to break down at over 200 degrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted February 23, 2002 Share Posted February 23, 2002 USE MOBILE 1 SYNTHETIC oil its perfectly happy and will not break down at temps up to 260f degs.(and can handle 275 degs for short periods (days at a time but not constantly) with no damage to the oil)BTW you need oil temps of about 215f degs minimum to burn off impurities in the oil so try for oil temps of 215f degs, water temps of 180-200f degs.(lower oil and water temps cost you power) and thats from SMOKEY YUNICKS RESEARCH FOR G.M. RACING AND NASCAR RACING ENGINES on whats best for long term engine wear and power production!! and even normal mineral base oil can run 225-230f degs for weeks without significant break down!(but above 240 degs it starts to break down) to quote SMOKEY,"the best mineral oils flash(burn)at 320 degs f but a good synthetic can withstand operating temps as high as 500 degs f for hours" BTW SMOKEY WAS TALKING ABOUT OIL TEMPS on the bearing surfaces not in the sump. try for that 260f max sump temp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted February 23, 2002 Author Share Posted February 23, 2002 Thanks for the input! At least this lets me know when I need to pull over and cool down... Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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