Oil temp 140 deg !

[grasmere59]

On holiday at the mo in Harlech and on the way towing the caravan we came across a whacking great hill near blaenau ffestiniog ,i had to drop to 2nd gear with my foot buried into the carpet the oil temp rose to 140 deg's and the water temp started to climb,heater on full and managed to keep the water temp in check without going into the red but a bit of a close one,got back on the flat and all settled down again.Got to plan a better route for the return journey methinks

[GingerMagic]

The return journey will be downhill though, you may need to rely on the trusty 406 handbrake....

Yes, change the route..

[Doggy]

That's a bit more extreme than anything I've experienced, I did get the oil temp up to 140 climbing the hills into Andorra on a scorching day, but the water temp never moved. On the way down the oil temp dropped to 90 degrees, so hills do make a difference.

[grasmere59]

Perhaps it's time to retire the old 406 from towing duties or fit an aux oil cooler somehere as I don't want to cook it.

[rwb]

Water over 90 is definitely panic stations.

Maybe worth checking whether all the fan speeds are working? When my fan was seized a fault code was logged but I didn't have any error message or warning light.

Still, if you have to go all the way to Wales to find a hill big enough for it to get a sweat on then I'd say't job's a good un.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Been for a good long run today down the M6 20-21 deg outside, sat at 60 mph / 2000rpm ish oil at 105-108 deg & jumps up to one mark 125 deg ish if sat at 3000 rpm's
& it's got oil up to max 5-40w full sinth & less than 2000 miles old. So not suprised at 140 ish towing when under load . I am thinking of fitting an oil cooler to mine .
I'll post on here all the detail's if I go for it

[scotty73]

Perhaps it's time to retire the old 406 from towing duties or fit an aux oil cooler somehere as I don't want to cook it.

I don't have the luxury of the oil guadge and thank f*ck for that I've had enough squeeky bum moments while towing due to the water temp...You could do what a mate done for me reguarding the water and fit a switch for towing.

Two weeks ago these Welsh hills had a pasting from my 406 we went up one that was a real arse wiping moment and the temp stayed on 90 degrees... the whole 35 mile part of the journey was not meant for caravans but my 406 loved it... I just flicked the fan switch before the journey and job done.

[grasmere59]

The water temp didn't go that high to be honest,it stopped I division from the red and held steady when we had the heater blower on full,i think the oil temp gauge is a pain in the backside as I've never had a car with one and have never missed it,it's just another thing to worry about,i'm not sure about fitting a switch to the fan as it's got a p.c.b in the fan itself and not sure what that would do hard wiring it,i think an additional oil cooler is the way to go as I'm sure the water picked up the extra heat from the water/oil cooler under the oil filter,think of it,if the oil is running at 140 deg and has the coolant water running round it's bound to transfer heat to the coolant?

[Sonia406]

Water over 90 is definitely panic stations.

Maybe worth checking whether all the fan speeds are working? When my fan was seized a fault code was logged but I didn't have any error message or warning light.

Still, if you have to go all the way to Wales to find a hill big enough for it to get a sweat on then I'd say't job's a good un.

We had this conversation on Thus didn't we? Our water level didn't go above 90 EVER.
In my opinion the 406 has a good cooling system, want a sh*t cooling system, go for an 806... We blew 3 head gaskets within 6 months of each other...
I wouldn't get another 806 if you gave it to me....

I also snap what was been mentioned before, I don't have an oil temperature sensor but if I had, when I nearly ran out all together it would of registered 'on FIRE'
It was one of those moments I went to top her up, removed the oil filler cap and I actually saw STEAM

[mjb]

i think the oil temp gauge is a pain in the backside as I've never had a car with one and have never missed it,it's just another thing to worry about

It's a good indication of when your cooling system isn't coping, and gives you some warning before the STOP light comes on (or your engine seizes...). My V6s would usually be rock solid in the oil temperature department, but the few times it did start to creep towards the red were a good indication to back off (even a 150mph wind in the radiator ain't enough to stop one of those things from overheating at full tilt ). Turbocharged cars can be even more prone to overheating under prolonged load as you've discovered, but in this case it's probably more likely the turbo will go before the engine

Also, I find an oil temperature gauge reading cold is a great reminder you shouldn't be using the loud pedal too much yet. The BMW M5 takes this further, having lights around the rev counter which gradually extinguish with oil temperature to tell you how much oomph it's "safe" to use - high revs on a cold engine being rather bad for it and all... I wish mine had that (but at £170+ for an M5 cluster, I ain't getting one)

As someone who prefers prevention to cure (and has less than perfect restraint at times, especially with a V6/V8 soundtrack), I think oil temp gauges are pretty handy for driving style correction. I really miss having one

[Doggy]

On balance, I prefer having it to not for the reasons Matt has explained above.

Prevention is a long walk and a large bill avoided.

[grasmere59]

When I get home i'm going to flush the cooling system out and I've a new brand new radiator in the garage so i'll fit that aswell with new coolant so i'll know that's that covered.