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Date:         Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:38:27 -0500
Reply-To:     mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject:      Re: Watching Oil Temp (long, as usual)
Comments: To: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <1311116208.26578.321.camel@TheJackUbuntuNetbook>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

---- Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> wrote: > On Tue, 2011-07-19 at 13:14 -0400, Edward Maglott wrote: > > > I'm pretty sure the coolant flows through the heads and that is where it > > picks up most of the engine heat. > > > Oh -- okay. The only heads I've ever held were from an aircooled. They > had no plumbing for coolant. > > So on the waterboxer, where is the oil picking up the extra heat that > shows on the oil temp gauge but not the coolant gauge when the engine is > under demand?

The oil is picking up heat from all parts of the engine it is in contact with, and that heat is reflected in the oil temperature reading. The coolant is also picking up heat from all parts of the engine it is in contact with. That heat is also reflected in the coolant temperature reading. The two differ because the coolant measurement is made at a point where the coolant is cooler than the oil temperature. It would actually be a rather odd system with absolutely equal heat distribution, especially since the coolant has a cooler (the radiator) to reduce its heat burden. That is, there is at least one point in the cooling system that is considerably cooler than the heat source, the engine. Perhaps that is true for the oil, also, especially if there is an effective oil cooler in the system, but oil is less effective at heat transfer than is coolant, and any oil cooler, though it might be a good one, is still less effective than the very large radiator. Or, put another way, the engine produces heat faster than the oil and coolant combined can remove it, so there is a temperature gradient in the system. The coolant is measured at the cooler end of that gradient. The oil is measured at the hotter end. The oil is also directly in contact with the hardest working, greatest heat producing parts of the engine, the bearings, rods, cam and so on.

my thoughts. experts may differ. mcneely > > -- RJS > > sent from my old aircooled heads

-- David McNeely


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