250F is high if you are  using dino oil...........Oil starts to break down
after 230F per Gene Berg...............

Adam P
81  Westy "The Brick "
70 Single Cab "Whitey"
74 Beetle "Ol Yeller"
73 Transporter (STILL at paint shop)
1988 Vanagon Wolfsburg
75 Campmobile "for sale'
Used Vanagon Parts for sale (mostly aircooled)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Glen" <simonglen@BIGPOND.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, July 04, 2002 6:55 PM
Subject: Re: Repost: Aircooled vanagon acceptable oil temperature /
timingproblem?

> I've looked at the "bus-boys.com" website discussioin of VDO oil
> temperature gauges and I'm not impressed by the over-simplified
> recommendation that an "acceptable oil temperature reading should be
> between 190 to 210 degrees, depending on the ambient temperature".
>
> 1.  Ambient temperature makes an enormous difference.  An oil
> temperature of 210F would be fine for my Type4 engined Westfalia on the
> open road in mid-winter where I live.  The weather forcast has predicted
> heavy morning frost and temperatures from -2C to +14C for today's
> mid-winter temperature.  But, during December summer weather 250F would
> be quite acceptable on the open road.  If I then powered the car up a
> long steep gradient, then I would expect the temperature to get even
> higher, such as up to 275F.
>
> 2.    I use a dipstick sender for my car's oil temperature.  I am now
> used to my car's normal running temperatures.  If something goes wrong I
> will notice the oil temperature is getting too high and then stop,
> investigate and try to do something about it.  Just two examples: (1)
> unknown to me the carbon brush in the distributor cap disentigrated and
> caused the timing to be far too retarded.  I knew nothing about it until
> the oil temperature started going up abnormally.  I stopped,
> investigated and eventually found the problem and replaced the cap.  (2)
> unknown to me rocks in deeply rutted off-road conditions had pushed
> engine cooling tin-ware up to the pushrod tubes and had actually
> punctured one tube which was slowly leaking oil.  The oil level was
> declining and the little oil left in the sump was getting hot.  The
> gauge told me this.  I stopped, investigated, found the problem and
> replaced the offending pushrod tube at the roadside, topped up the oil
> and went on my way.  Higher than normal oil temperature will also let
> one know about many other quite diverse things going wrong such as too
> wide a plug gap, paper caught in the cooling fan fins, thermostat not
> working, carburettor running too lean, dust or mud clogging up barrel
> fins, etc.
>
> This is why I use an oil temperature gauge.  It gives me early warning
> of impending disaster.  It has been absolutely invaluable and has
> allowed me to achieve very high mileages from stock standard unmodified
> and well-tuned engines in sometimes very arduous conditions.  It really
> does not matter whether the dipstick sender is not giving a totally
> accurate reading.  It is the relative reading that is important and by
> this I mean that once you have established normal readings for your car,
> an abnormal reading will alert you to danger no matter what that reading
> is.  And, that, afterall is the whole purpose of having contact with the
> engine room by means of a gauge whether it be for oil temperature, amps,
> coolant temperature, oil pressure, cylinder head temperature, etc, etc..
>
> So, I believe the first thing one must do after fitting an oil
> temperature sender and gauge is to establish what is normal for your own
> particular engine, provided that it is well tuned to start with.
>
> Simon Glen
> Toowoomba,  Ausatralia.
>
> 80 Westy Pokey wrote:
>
> > I am posting this again because I only got one reply and
> > Gerry seems to have been having problems lately:
> >
> > This weekend's hot weather pushed my oil temperature to 250F
> > to 275F. I didn't run her long last night, but I did notice
> > that the 12 O'Clock position on the gauge is 210F, so
> > although my 250F to 275F is hot... I think Adam's 110C to
> > 115C is not right. What is that in Farienheit? Bus Boys gauge
> > page:
> >
> > http://www.bus-boys.com/bbvdo.htm
> >
> > Says: "Acceptable Oil Temp reading should be between 190 to
> > 210 degrees, depending the ambient temperature. 72-83 Buses
> > and Vanagons tend to run a little on the warmer side, so an
> > external oil cooler may be needed to bring the temp in-line."
> >
> > Adam has suggested my high oil temperature could be a timing
> > problem... can anyone elaborate?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Chris
>