oil a bit toasty

[peterh 0]

Has anyone had any problems with their oil cooler getting blocked on a VR6? Or any other problem which gave rather high oil temperature. Was rather shocked to find my oil sitting at 140degs! today.

 

Am I right in thinking there is a thermostatic control over the oil flow flowing thought the oil cooler?

[tango 0]

i think when it comes to oil people are kinda stumped,

thought i'd reply coz i hate it when i see someones post unreplyed!!

i'll ask my garage at the weekend and hopefully he might know something he's got a wee golf vr6 lots done to it so he knows what he's on about,

so-oil cooler poss blockage or another reason for high reading of oil temp.

 

i'll be back!!!

[peterh 0]

Cheers for that. Im going to try replacing the temp. sender before stripping the oil cooler down. I cant believe the oil is really getting to 140. However Ive had experiance of temp senders going before any they normally just stick or go completely randomly mad...

[dr_mat 0]

There's no thermostatic control of the oil heat exchanger, afaik. It just cools, relative to the water system.

140 deg oil is not that unusual..... if you happen to have been doing 130 mph for an hour or so in hot weather .. !

What's the water temp like while the oil is reading 140? Any evidence of oil/water mix?

[tango 0]

High oil temp= check your thermostat housing+coolant pipework,

normal motorway driving u ncan reach temps of up to 115 but not 140,

who's gonna be driving for a length of time at 130mph!!!

we all want 2 but come on!!

 

also if your VR is running ok then it could be a faulty temp sensor ,imho.

 

anyother feedback and i'll let you know.

 

Jim .

[peterh 0]

Ok, i might have worked out what is going on now. I did think the other day on the motorway it could be a case of high engine to chassis resistance + alternator current causing the problem. So to see if it had any effect i turned the headlamps off. But as i was on the motorway in the dark i didnt leave them off for long.. Got home tonight and turned the headlamps off and noticed after about 10seconds the reading dropped quite a bit... Out came trusty multimeter, placed it across engine and chassis, got a noisy 0.2volts between the two. I noticed at the weekend the chassis ground on the battery negative lead was a bit corroded. I couldnt be bothered to sort the proper ground out tonight so I made up a big thick ground lead which ive wired between the off-side subspension turret (to the mount for the emissions control valve) and a bolt on the aux. belt tensioner. I made sure all the connections where clean with a bit of scotch bright.

I now have no voltage difference between chassis and engine block. Ive been for a drive and the oil is now at reasonable levels. Its still a bit high, but is only about 10-15degs above coolant temp. I replaced the thermostat at the weekend as I felt the old one was running a bit cold at 75ish.. GSF gave me a 88deg stat and the coolant is now running about 98ish.. So ill probably put the old stat back in soon.

 

Ive only just got this car so im still on a bit of a learning curve.. I mean so far ive nearly fixed the ABS as well... But thats another longish story.

[tango 0]

nice one Peter,

i just got my Rado 2 weeks ago,got a few wee problems but nothing major i'm hoping.

will get a few pic's up when i work out how 2.

getting a wee steam clean under at the weekend so i can sorce my oil leak,

fingers crossed it's nothing major.

cheers,

Jim .

[peterh 0]

Mine was sold under the impression it was a 2.8L VR6. Which is a simple assumpsion to make when the plastic cover says 2.8L! Ive since found the engine code is ABV not AAA, and the throttle body looks rather like the 2.9L one. The bottom end could be 2.8L still i guess. Luckly I have access to a rolling road. So tomorow I should have some power figures to help me make my mind up.

[tango 0]

i think i read somewhere that the 2.8 vr6 is an import,all UK rado's are 2.9,

i'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong!!

is your rado modified in any way?

[peterh 0]

Yes she is a little modified having a K&N cone filter. Other than that she is std. Ive not opened up the ECU yet, but to my knowledge she isnt chipped. I had her on rollers today and I will post the power graph up shortly once ive scanned the results. But lets just say im thinking this is attually a 2.9L with the wrong plastic cover!

[peterh 0]

Power graph as obtained this afternoon. Run was in third gear. I did runs in both 4th and 5th as well, but road speeds where getting very high and I believe the losses would have been high. However I was getting consistent readings of 215-216 bhp.

 

[dr_mat 0]

264.2 lbft / 72 revs? Sounds a bit dodgy to me!

Neither scale makes sense, from a torque point of view, though the torque curve *looks* about the right shape - peak at 4750 rpm (apart from you're missing the top end 2ndary peak around 5500).

[peterh 0]

Yeh, the axis is a bit odd. Ignore the right hand one. The lefthand one is correct, with HP and lbft. The RR software is german. I think the 264.2 came about when initially spinning the wheels up in 1st gear before shifting to 3rd. Its to do with the torque being back-calculated off the instantanious power using the instantanious rpm. For this power run i set the rpm to be obtained from wheel speed in 3rd gear. Hence the error when in first.

 

Wondering where this peak at 5500 is gone, maybe somthing to do with the cone filter messing up the tuned length of the intake tract?

[dr_mat 0]

Sorry, but I don't believe the 216bhp either ...

(210 lbft on a N/A 2.9 VR6? I don't think sooo..!!) Drop that left scale by about 20-30, and it might be representative!

 

The loss of torque top end, compared to the 4750 rpm peak:

That could be down to fuel supply, could be the cam sensor, could be blocked CAT (so I've heard).

Got any errors on the ECU?

[tango 0]

How's she going Peteer,i've not been on for a few days ,

things ok?

looks like your sticking out plenty of bhp,nice one!!!

my baby is going sweet,we've got a rolling road at the end of the month ,going to try and make it ,see what she's putting out!

[StuartFZR400 0]

Pete - nice one.

 

You never did mention water temp. Was this high too? If not, then yeh Id wouldve worried too. I mean 115 is fine and add another 10 is fine too. These oils can take massive temps. Just ensure that water doesnt get above 115 ever.

;)

[dr_mat 0]

The RR software is german.

 

It occurs to me the graph will be reading in Nm not lbft then. So 210 Nm is about 150 lbft, which is around 30 lbft down on a healthy VR!

 

Good call on the earthing, I think a lot of people are replacing temperature sensors without checking this out first.

 

The VR uses an 80 deg thermostat usually, so you should get a proper one before you put it all back together!

[peterh 0]

Well the whole oil thing started due to low water temperature. It was one of the first things I did to the engine when i got it, I got a new thermostat. I was given a 88deg one by GSF. I fitted it after which the coolant ran hot as well, about 90-95degs, and the oil went up as well. However I did think that the oil being near 140 was still too high even concidering the water was 95. The earthing problem was definately having an effect on things. Ive since put the old stat back in (80deg) one and things have cooled off. The highest ive seen on the motorway is 104deg oil temp. The water looks on the gauge like it runs cool. However I had a code reader plugged in the other day and I had a glace at the coolant temperature reading the ECU was reading, and it was about 85 with the gauge reading 75ish.. So i think the coolant gauge is just out a bit. Ive given up worrying about temperatures now. The latest thing bugging me is the ABS.

 

Appologies about the 216bhp, i had another look at the output from the rollers and found the 4wd-correction had been left turned on!! The real figure should have been 205bhp and 200lbft, still a bit high, so might not be correct. I used the rollers in a bit of a hurry so it could well be a bit out.

 

My ABS problems are the main anoyying thing at the moment. When I got the car the ABS light never lit. But then I found the bulb had blown!! So i replaced the bulb with a red LED and a 1k resistor and then it stayed perminatly alight. I read the fault codes and found it moaning about +Batt supply. I cleared the fault and checked the fuses and wiring, all looked ok. So i puzzled over it for a few days then read the fault codes again, to find front right sensor electrically failed. I checked its resistance and sure enought it was an open circuit. Got a new one from GSF for £19 and fitted it. Bingo the light went out. Great... only 2miles later not so great. Ok the light was still out but every time i use the brakes and get to a slow walking pace, just as im about to let off the brakes the ABS seems to apply itself, chatting the valves and I think limiting non-existant slip on the rear wheels..

A few days later i read the codes again, rear left sensor mechanically faulty.. Ok i think and after work i remove the sensor to find the end of it covered in magnetic rubbish. I wipe it off and decide to clean the left rear at the same time. Only that one wouldnt come out, so i left it. Drove home, ABS still playing up. Long story but I decided to clean the other sensor and damaged it getting it out in the end. GSF dont do them and VW want either £67 or £97 for a new one!!

 

Ive stuck it back together and put it back in. I still dont get any ABS light indicating a fault but the system is still playing up. Yet I can stand on the brakes and the ABS all works fine. So i do still suspect the rear sensors. Its like one of the rear ones looses the signal before the other, indicating wheel lock-up and then the ABS back the brake pressure off to it.

 

Ide buy two new sensors and two rear brake discs, only sods law says after spending best part of £250 on that lot it still will be playing up. Finding technical info on the Teves MK4 ABS system is like getting bloody out of a stone, so im not sure what to do next.

 

Christ this really is a long story, sorry for boring people!

[dr_mat 0]

Most common reason for rear ABS sensor-related problems is the ABS cages that are supposed to be fitted and rotate with the wheel. They get corroded and battered and bent, or even worse..

Particularly when the fault is "mechanical" in VAG-COM.

 

And yeah, 205bhp is more like it, but 200lbft is still pretty optimisitic for a standard VR .. :) Whatever! :)

[peterh 0]

Does a set of rear discs from VW come with new cages? Ive heard that VW discs tend to be better than GSF ones?

[dr_mat 0]

Think the cages are separate parts, but I could be wrong ...

[Supercharged 2]

Cages are seperate - about £10 each...

[peterh 0]

Anyone know what this wire is for? Its a black wire i would guess in the region of 1 - 1.5mm sq. Its part of the loom which goes from the ECU down to the starter motor region. The loom also has the crank sensor and front knock sensor wiring in it. The black wire in quesion isnt connected to anything, and I can not find any old eye terminals or other connections that look like a home for it.

 

Ive had a good look thought all the wiring diagrams and can find no refenence to it. Any suggestions? Also I cant find anything that doesnt work which might explane a dodgy connection.