On 20 Jun 96 at 0:24, Sami Dakhlia wrote:

> Date sent:      Thu, 20 Jun 1996 00:24:41 -0500
> Send reply to:  dakhlia@wuecona.wustl.edu
> From:           Sami Dakhlia <dakhlia@wuecona.wustl.edu>
> To:             Multiple recipients of list <vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu>
> Subject:        Re: oil temp up

> I rechecked the gauge's accuracy and found that, this time, it is dead
> on. Boiled a full kettle of water on the Westy stove and dipped the
> dipstick sensor in it: gauge showed about 210-215F. Of course, this
> does not yet prove that it will also correctly measure higher
> temperatures, but the 285F reading this past weekend becomes even more
> disconcerting. I now come to suspect that the oil cooler is not
> working at all and my plan is to check the oil pressure relief valve. 
> As you know, its function is to let oil bypass the cooler when it is
> cold and thick and my guess is that it is stuck. I really hope that's
> the problem, since this would be a relatively easy fix. Could 285
> degrees have harmed the oil (Mobil 1) so that it should replaced?

According to info at:

http://wj.net/f-body/trivia/syn_oil.html,

synthetic oils should be good for well beyond that up (to 500-700F)

and Mobil claims up to 470 F for Mobil 1.

Shawn
'88 Westy 322k (Kyra)
'85 Jetta TD 341k (Jenni)