Question Normal Ideal Operating Oil Temperatures

[Fearless]

Looking to build a fan assisted oil cooler system for old shiney (I know I can buy several different makes but I want to do it myself) and I cannot find what the realistic good oil temperatures are to be for the 103 TC motor. Any help would be greatly appreciated I'm looking a fans come on at 200 or 210 off at 180 to 190 degrees do these temps. sound in the ball park of optium temperature ranges? thanks Fred

 

[nucseal]

Looking to build a fan assisted oil cooler system for old shiney (I know I can buy several different makes but I want to do it myself) and I cannot find what the realistic good oil temperatures are to be for the 103 TC motor. Any help would be greatly appreciated I'm looking a fans come on at 200 or 210 off at 180 to 190 degrees do these temps. sound in the ball part of optium temperature ranges? thanks Fred

I don't know if this will help you or not. I have the DK Customs Jagg Oil Cooler with filter relocation. My oil temps hover in the 200 - 210. I have never seen the temp exceed that range, no matter how, including triple digit heat.

 

[MDF48]

Which Gauge?

I don't know if this will help you or not. I have the DK Customs Jagg Oil Cooler with filter relocation. My oil temps hover in the 200 - 210. I have never seen the temp exceed that range, no matter how, including triple digit heat.

Pat, just wondering what oil temp gauge you are using?

 

[Fearless]

I don't know if this will help you or not. I have the DK Customs Jagg Oil Cooler with filter relocation. My oil temps hover in the 200 - 210. I have never seen the temp exceed that range, no matter how, including triple digit heat.

Thank you I think that is what I was looking for my old oil cooler is in sad shape 10 years old and never combed out or boiled clean. It's time to replace it OEM aftermarket one's are available but still smaller than I need to improve the oil cooling system. Thank you for the fast response. :good: Ride safe Fred

 

[nucseal]

Pat, just wondering what oil temp gauge you are using?

Going to have give me some time to look it up. Kevin @ DK Customs directed me to the one he is using, which I bought. I'll PM him and see if I can find it again.

 

[nucseal]

Pat, just wondering what oil temp gauge you are using?

Going to have give me some time to look it up. Kevin @ DK Customs directed me to the one he is using, which I bought. I'll PM him and see if I can find it again.

Found it sooner than later. Here is the URL:

https://www.jescustomaccents.com/Black-Faced-Temp-Gauges_c37.htm

 

[rae mendonca]

temp guage

Found it sooner than later. Here is the URL:

https://www.jescustomaccents.com/Black-Faced-Temp-Gauges_c37.htm

If you buy one from JES be sure to get the oil filled one. I went through 2 air filled ones in a month. He then sent me an oil filled under warranty and its been good for two years now and totally accurate

 

[MDF48]

Thanks

Going to have give me some time to look it up. Kevin @ DK Customs directed me to the one he is using, which I bought. I'll PM him and see if I can find it again.

Thanks for the reply. If it is the one Kevin uses I know what it is. I thought you might have installed a round gauge in the fairing or somewhere else on the bike.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Good luck with your cooler project Fred. I believe HD once stated 230 degrees was normal oil temp for Twin Cam engines I would prefer 200 degrees @ 85 degrees air temp

 

[Fearless]

Good luck with your cooler project Fred. I believe HD once stated 230 degrees was normal oil temp for Twin Cam engines I would prefer 200 degrees @ 85 degrees air temp

Nice to hear from you Jack I am thinking about using a fin installed thermostat coming on at 190-195 and off at 170-175 given the margin of error with that style I plan on lower settings. Thank you for your input I was hoping you would chime in. Thanks again I will keep everyone posted. It is my intention to make this cooler a switch out with no real changes,so it can be removed when wanted. Ride safe and put a few miles on for us here in Pennsylvania... I really appreciate you. Fred

 

[DK Custom Products]

Realistic, ideal oil temps for the Twin Cam on a Stage I Trike are in the 200-230 range, when measured at the oil tank. Of course, the oil is much hotter in the engine.

The reason for the 30 degree range is the oil will vary based on speed, load and ambient temps. I would not want to see over 230 when climbing a hill, at 70 mph, fully loaded on a 100* day.

Of course, on a shorter than 20 minute ride on a 50-60* day, level ground, it may not even reach 200*.

Unless you do a lot of short rides, I would not even bother with a thermostat. Why not give the engine and oil every chance possible to reduce temps by letting it flow immediately?

I regularly ride in the 30's and 40's and do not use a thermostat.

Kevin

 

[rhino 2]

Just a question about engine oil temperatures...........How low is too low....:Shrug:....

 

[DK Custom Products]

Just a question about engine oil temperatures...........How low is too low....:Shrug:....

I've never seen it on a Twin Cam, but if the bike was fully heat soaked and the oil temp in the tank was below 180, I would investigate, and possibly take action, depending on what I found.

Kevin

 

[Fearless]

Realistic, ideal oil temps for the Twin Cam on a Stage I Trike are in the 200-230 range, when measured at the oil tank. Of course, the oil is much hotter in the engine.

The reason for the 30 degree range is the oil will vary based on speed, load and ambient temps. I would not want to see over 230 when climbing a hill, at 70 mph, fully loaded on a 100* day.

Of course, on a shorter than 20 minute ride on a 50-60* day, level ground, it may not even reach 200*.

Unless you do a lot of short rides, I would not even bother with a thermostat. Why not give the engine and oil every chance possible to reduce temps by letting it flow immediately?

I regularly ride in the 30's and 40's and do not use a thermostat.

Kevin

Thank you for your thoughts on this project the use of a thermostat was only for turning on and off the fan I may possibly use. The cooler came today it seems of quality construction now I need to fabricate the mount for it. Unlike the HD cooler the cooling chamber is the very bottom of the cooler which needs a little protection. A sandwich steel rubber washer will give me the clearance needed on a 1/8" plate the same thickness as HD mount. The new mount will be a bolt on addition of the OEM no chop and butchering here.

This evening I will be forming the mount it needs to be angled 10 to 15 degrees to level it and give little more ground clearance. I plan to use the hyd. press should be an simple operation. Once I have this ready to go I will install OEM cooler and go for a cold ride for me hopefully hot enough to get the oil temperature up to where it normally goes so I will have a baseline temperature. I have a long reach thermometer to use a good one at that. After inspecting the OEM cooler it is full of road grime and dirt 10 years old it needs at least washed out at best boiled and the fins straighten a little however it's going to be history soon.

 

[Fearless]

While I was in the Man Cave

Well tonight I fairly well have the mount done. I took a good look at the OEM oil cooler Wow



So I then shaped the mount for the cooler



Figured out the spacing for the oil cooler close fit but it will work.



I still must manufacture lower mounts for the cooler spacers of sorts so air flows under the cooler and cools the regulator I think that is what it is.

The unit looks very well made I'm taking my time when I finish install the support it will make a trip to the powdercoat shop an old friend of mine. So if anyone is wondering it is only 3/4" forward than the OEM and no lower. I don't believe it will cause issue there. Fred

 

[Gorilla]

pict

Well tonight I fairly well have the mount done. I took a good look at the OEM oil cooler Wow

View attachment 82331



Fred i got them to load here ted

So I then shaped the mount for the cooler

View attachment 82332

Figured out the spacing for the oil cooler close fit but it will work.

View attachment 82333

I still must manufacture lower mounts for the cooler spacers of sorts so air flows under the cooler and cools the regulator I think that is what it is.View attachment 82334

The unit looks very well made I'm taking my time when I finish install the support it will make a trip to the powdercoat shop an old friend of mine. So if anyone is wondering it is only 3/4" forward than the OEM and no lower. I don't believe it will cause issue there. Fred

fred look above

 

[Fearless]

fred look above

The cooler doesn't any larger than the oem let me see how the project I'm working on turns out. Thank you for posting it you should be able to move it when weather brakes in Florida and it gets hot. Thank you for your time and effort. ride safe and if you... do think of us Yankees in the cold. Fred

 

[Jack Klarich]

Looking good Fred

 

[Fearless]

A little progress

Really busy possibly changing employers again LOL. So to catch up on the oil cooler swap I fabricated the mount for the larger oil cooler

Next was locating where the new one would have enough clearance between the lower mounts on the crash bars. I had to space out the left side 1/2" worked out perfectly.



The New oil cooler doesn't seem to positioned very much farther forward than the OEM.

 

[DK Custom Products]

View attachment 82750Really busy possibly changing employers again LOL. So to catch up on the oil cooler swap I fabricated the mount for the larger oil coolerView attachment 82746

Next was locating where the new one would have enough clearance between the lower mounts on the crash bars. I had to space out the left side 1/2" worked out perfectly.

View attachment 82747

The New oil cooler doesn't seem to positioned very much farther forward than the OEM.

View attachment 82749View attachment 82750

Looking forward to seeing how this works out...you should get a nice result in lower temps.

One thing I only now just thought about. Have you fully compressed the front forks (simulating hitting a big bump) to make sure there is clearance between your fender and the new oil cooler?

Kevin

 

[Fearless]

Looking forward to seeing how this works out...you should get a nice result in lower temps.

One thing I only now just thought about. Have you fully compressed the front forks (simulating hitting a big bump) to make sure there is clearance between your fender and the new oil cooler?

Kevin

Thank you for your input I tried to check that as best I could. The new oil cooler looses only about an 1/2 to 3/4" to the old OEM. I don't know of a way to fully compress the forks to see. As you can see there is a little difference I made every attempt to keep it as low as possible to avoid interference with the fender. Any suggestions on how to compress the forks would be greatly appreciated. ride safe Fred

 

[rae mendonca]

compressing front forks

Thank you for your input I tried to check that as best I could. The new oil cooler looses only about an 1/2 to 3/4" to the old OEM. I don't know of a way to fully compress the forks to see. As you can see there is a little difference I made every attempt to keep it as low as possible to avoid interference with the fender. Any suggestions on how to compress the forks would be greatly appreciated. ride safe Fred

put the front wheel in a wheel chock and snug it down with tie downs

 

[Fearless]

I ended up using a 3/8" piece of strap drilled and tapped the pictures here show R&D wood spacers for try and fit. Previous Pictures I used were with the 1" box iron.

 

[DK Custom Products]

Thank you for your input I tried to check that as best I could. The new oil cooler looses only about an 1/2 to 3/4" to the old OEM. I don't know of a way to fully compress the forks to see. As you can see there is a little difference I made every attempt to keep it as low as possible to avoid interference with the fender. Any suggestions on how to compress the forks would be greatly appreciated. ride safe Fred

It's a bit of a PITA with the fairing, but ratchet straps is how we've done it in the past. I would Not use the handlebars.

The reason I thought of this is that I have seen a few 2 wheel Ultra's that have had a ding in the front fender after hitting a hard bump. The combination of totally compressing the front forks AND a bit of flex in the fork tubes ran the fender into the regulator.

Of course the TG has more rake, so that fender is further away, but it also seems like the oil cooler is sticking out further.

Probably no problem, just like to double check everything.

Kevin

 

[Tomswede]

Realistic, ideal oil temps for the Twin Cam on a Stage I Trike are in the 200-230 range, when measured at the oil tank. Of course, the oil is much hotter in the engine.

The reason for the 30 degree range is the oil will vary based on speed, load and ambient temps. I would not want to see over 230 when climbing a hill, at 70 mph, fully loaded on a 100* day.

Of course, on a shorter than 20 minute ride on a 50-60* day, level ground, it may not even reach 200*.

Unless you do a lot of short rides, I would not even bother with a thermostat. Why not give the engine and oil every chance possible to reduce temps by letting it flow immediately?

I regularly ride in the 30's and 40's and do not use a thermostat.

Kevin

Thinking about installing an oil cooler as described, says it mounts in the fairing behind the vents ? Looking at the picture , it don't look like any space left unless it mounts in front of the vents, is that where it goes?

 

[Fearless]

Thinking about installing an oil cooler as described, says it mounts in the fairing behind the vents ? Looking at the picture , it don't look like any space left unless it mounts in front of the vents, is that where it goes?

View attachment 82800

I believe the one Kevin uses is one that attaches to the frame upright on the front to the gooseneck. It may possibly be a Jagg oil cooler. I could be wrong though. Ride safe Fred

 

[DK Custom Products]

Thinking about installing an oil cooler as described, says it mounts in the fairing behind the vents ? Looking at the picture , it don't look like any space left unless it mounts in front of the vents, is that where it goes?

View attachment 82800

The Oil Cooler package for the Twin Cooled bikes (Twin Cam & M8) can be seen here, at this LINK, with a bunch of photos.

The Oil Cooler, which is a Jagg, combined with our patented Mounting bracket, mounts right behind the vent in the lower left fairing.

Here is a photo of it-

Here is a video with some more info on it-



Kevin

 

[Fearless]

Still Waiting for warmer temperatures

Just to update this thread I'm ready to have the new mount welded and installed. I'm waiting for warmer temperatures, I have ridden the trike and checked the oil temps. however riding with air temps. at 55* the oil only goes to 185* and ET 208* and it would not be a good baseline comparison.

Last two are close to fit on the larger oil cooler OEM is really small. Fred

 

[ron49th]

Oil Temperature Location Measurement

Realistic, ideal oil temps for the Twin Cam on a Stage I Trike are in the 200-230 range, when measured at the oil tank. Of course, the oil is much hotter in the engine.

The reason for the 30 degree range is the oil will vary based on speed, load and ambient temps. I would not want to see over 230 when climbing a hill, at 70 mph, fully loaded on a 100* day.

Of course, on a shorter than 20 minute ride on a 50-60* day, level ground, it may not even reach 200*.

Unless you do a lot of short rides, I would not even bother with a thermostat. Why not give the engine and oil every chance possible to reduce temps by letting it flow immediately?

I regularly ride in the 30's and 40's and do not use a thermostat.

Kevin

Hi Kevin - when you say oil measured at the oil tank, using your mechanical gauge - could there be a difference in temperature for the oil being measured at the drain plug location - that is where my sensor is for my oil temperature gauge - should/could those two locations have similar readings?

Thanks

 

[DK Custom Products]

Hi Kevin - when you say oil measured at the oil tank, using your mechanical gauge - could there be a difference in temperature for the oil being measured at the drain plug location - that is where my sensor is for my oil temperature gauge - should/could those two locations have similar readings?

Thanks

If your sensor is at the drain of the oil tank, that is going to be very close to the same as a dipstick oil temp gauge.

If your sensor is at the drain plug found on the bottom of the engine, that temperature is going to be quite a bit hotter than at the tank. That is right below where the oil is being squirted onto the bottom of the pistons, which is where a huge amount of the heat comes from that is being absorbed by the oil.

Kevin