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What is a normal oil temp on a Pantera? I know mine is high but I do not know what is normal for most Pantera's. I am not sure what is a good target. On a long highwy run mine will get up to and stabalize at about 240. Water temps 190-200. It has an oil cooler behind the wheel well but I doubt it gets much airflow there.

Gary #1905
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Dang!

Just did a road trip/ autoX weekend with my temp gauge . . . and who knows which or if any gauges are "correct" but results follow:
(65 ambient, fluidyne air/oil cooler, water temp on the veglia gauge runs close to 160+/-)
highway cruise: "150"
90 sec autoX run: not quite "180".

amazing and/or totally wrong?
First, how fast are you driving? In most Panteras, oil temp and water temp will stay within a few degrees of each other (assuming accurate gauges), up to maybe 120mph, where water temp will remain at about 190-210 while oil temp will begin to climb up to perhaps 275 degrees F. Even with synthetic oil, at that temp you are at the edge of engine failure. So umless you venture into such speeds often, a Pantera doesn't need an oil cooler IMHO. Second, what hook-up do you have from block to the oil cooler? If its a 'bypass cooler' where only a part of the oil is routed throu a cooler, your results will be about like mine- worthless. IMHO, the only method worth hauling around in your car is a full-flow cooler, with 3/4" ID or larger oil lines. And the only oil cooler type I've seen work on a Pantera is a water-to-oil cooler, not an air-to-oil cooler, unless you've done some serious bodywork so full ram air goes through the cooler unimpeded. Stuck in a wheelwell, under the car with a scoop, mounted up in the rear window area- none get the airflow needed to remove more than a few degrees of heat. And using a water-to-oil cooler presumes you have a big enough radiator up there to absolrb the extra heat exchanged from such a cooler. The stock radiator certainly won't. Finally, only a few degrees too much total ignition timing will quickly raise both water & oil temps above 'normal. Most street 351-Cs on todays gas run best with 34-36 degrees total timing.
Thanks Jack, That information is usefull. Speeds I am refering to are highway/interstate speeds. It cools down in city traffic. The oil cooler is stuck in a wheel well. I think I am going to make a ram air scoop for it possibly with a little inertial seperator to rid it of debree. I thought about a cooler with a fan but this seems to be more of a problem at highway speeds so I should get the airflow when I need it. I purchased the car with a fresh re-built engine. I need to do a compression check to check for blow by. The oil is not getting dirty but there were other problems with the engine when we got it. I am not totally convinced something else is not wrong. I was having some oil pressure problems when I got it. I dropped the pan a couple of weeks ago. It is obviously a fresh re-build but the oil pump was scored. I checked bearings and a few had the babot wore off. There is a story here but I don't know what it is. I plastic guaged main and rod bearings. They were good. Crank was not messed up. No evidence of heat damage, just looked like the initial start up was done without oil. I put new main/rod bearings and a new oil pump. Pressure is good now. It had a VDO oil temp guage not hooked up. I got a vdo sensor and hooked it into the oil line before it goes through the cooler. I believe the temp.

I guess at this point I am going to do a compression check to check for bad rings and make an airscoop for the oil cooler. Thanks for the input. I am heading out of town till Sunday so I won't be able to reply till I get back.

Gary
Your oil pressure gauge is undoubtably reading wrong, and 90% read low. A 351-C that shows a true oil pressure of 35 lbs while driving is ready for a complete overhaul. The missing babbet means very low oil pressure. A fresh engine with a good pump will show 70psi at idle, cold and at least 60psi hot at running speeds. My fix for the gauge is a cheap mechanical gauge mounted on a pipe tee fitting, with the stock sender in the side port of the tee. Then, you can check real oil pressure vs the stock gauge which is essentially an idiot-light on most Panteras (it shows the engine is running). The fix for the scored pump is to replace it with the stoch hex driveshaft, with a new Melling pump & a hardened Milodon shaft. All this will run maybe $75. Only a barbarian would rebuild a motor & use an old scored pump in it IMHO. Good luck-
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