[Outdoorsman2012]

So I've finally made a few trips this year with my new Ram and TT. I have a 2012 Outdoorsman 4x4 QC with the 3.92 axle and 17" Rims. My TT is a 2013 Sprinter 266RBS with a dry weight just shy of 6600lbs and 29'4" Bumper to Hitch. Camping weight should be close to 7500lbs. Also this is a full height trailer not a ultra light that has 6ft ceiling so lots of wind resistance. I've have been camping for approx. about two months but have made only short trips usually around 40 miles. Everything has been going great. Mostly rolling hills in the Catskill Mountains in NY. My temps have been great, Trans hits 150F max and oil and coolant stay below 210F:smileup:. Gas milage all on the evic has been anywhere from 7-11 as no trips were long enough to calculate by hand. So last weekend we camped in a different area then last few trips and I knew there was some bigger hills and I was kind of excited to see what the truck could do. Needless to say I was overly impressed. Pulled most of them at 55mph and highest I went was 3300rpm. I was really trying to see what this truck could do, I wasn't trying to baby it. So as I was scrolling through the gauges just checking everything all the temps were the same except engine oil temp. That went up to 230F:SHOCKED:. I know I wasn't being easy, if anything I was speeding up the hill and going slower down them. Now this got me a little nervous since I really haven't seen a big hill yet at freeway speeds, (all county roads at 55mph max).

I see that some of the guys with the 13s run 240F normal operating which would concern me but is my 230F to high.

Have any of you guys installed engine oil cooler and if so which one and how has it worked?

I only have 3800 miles and planned on switching to synthetic shortly as I changed my oil at 1500miles and was planning on doing it anywhere from 4-5k. From the little I know about synthetic oil it can withstand higher temps but does lubricate better and allow the temps to stay lower longer or can it just sustain the higher temps better.

I also don't have any mods except aux lights and airlift 1000s, no level lift or big tires so nothing factors in there.

If you guys have mods that have helped for towing like intake and exhaust please let me know, not looking for a tune. I am really thinking about throwing a 18" magnaflow for sound not looking for any gain. I am also contemplating an airgrabber but I want to know how this affects low end torque. I don't care about torque or horsepower at 5k rpms. I dont race I tow and haul.

You guys that have a 2500 and can tow up to like 13000lbs how do you keep the temps low, i assume your cooling is better than the 1500 but do you guys have issues.

Thanks for input in advance

 

[TRCM]

The radiator fluid is what cools the oil/engine, and unless you have an auxiliary cooler or have added an aftermarket cooler, you will see 220-240 deg temps.

The radiator may be 210, but it can't remove all the heat from the metal in the block fast enough for the block itself to also be @ 210, and the oil runs thru this hot metal block AND removes heat from the bearings as it flows thru them, so without an external cooler, 220-240 deg is what you will see.

 

[fournierrandy]

Towing my 31ft 5th wheel that is 8250 dry, prob around 9500 loaded my temps are identical to yours. I put in synthetic 5-30 and so far my oil temp has stayed a few degrees cooler. I don't think these temps are bad.

 

[h2oman]

Yep. Me too. 220*.

 

[Outdoorsman2012]

TCRM sounds good. I've seen the inline one on e trailer where they install it on a 2009 ram 1500 and it changes the location of the oil filter, I was contemplating that one but would like to hear if anyone has something like that and how it works.

Fournierrandy, I couldn't find you when i looked. I was going to send you a pm bc i've seen your set up and new you were running the hemi which btw is a nice set up. I've contemplated running a higher weight for better lubrication but since i still have the power train warranty no point in changing from what the recommend bc if something breaks their going to fix it. Thanks for the info on synthetic oil too.

H20man, was also hoping you would have input as i know you tow too.

I know I was making the truck work and not taking it easy. I was trying to see how it would handle the hills here before I got away from home to find out I couldn't pull them.
Probably loosing speed up the hill and say making it over crest at 45-50 would drop the oil temp by 10 degrees. I know they're ment to rev but I was hoping that the temp would stay a little lower longer. Will be traveling a lot this year so we'll see what works best. May look into the cooler as an added comfort as it was approx 150$ which as i see would be money well spent.

 

[fournierrandy]

Check you manual.....in my manual is says if you are towing over so much weight to switch to 5-30.

 

[h2oman]

Check you manual.....in my manual is says if you are towing over so much weight to switch to 5-30.

Yeah. Forgot about this. Going synthetic will probably drop 5 to 10 degrees too. I know it did in my old truck.

 

[Outdoorsman2012]

Manual is pretty much useless... tell you what some of the acrynoms stand for but doesn't do anymore than that. It does state multiple times to use only 5w-20 for the mds feature though. I got 6.9 mpg on that trip so it tells you how good the hills were and i was trying to see what it could do. I did just see another post from a guy running at 4k rpms at 65 mph and his temp was 262. I think from what i've read dino oil is only good to 240 and syn to 260. Thats just plain and simple to high rpms for that speed. Will probably switch here to syn and try that.
Don't plan on working the truck that hard when i travel far away but was just curious what you other guys were seeing.

On the bright side the tranny cooler and radiator seem to work great. Worst is I spend that 150$ to install the oil cooler.

 

[fournierrandy]

Manual is pretty much useless... tell you what some of the acrynoms stand for but doesn't do anymore than that. It does state multiple times to use only 5w-20 for the mds feature though. I got 6.9 mpg on that trip so it tells you how good the hills were and i was trying to see what it could do. I did just see another post from a guy running at 4k rpms at 65 mph and his temp was 262. I think from what i've read dino oil is only good to 240 and syn to 260. Thats just plain and simple to high rpms for that speed. Will probably switch here to syn and try that.
Don't plan on working the truck that hard when i travel far away but was just curious what you other guys were seeing.

On the bright side the tranny cooler and radiator seem to work great. Worst is I spend that 150$ to install the oil cooler.

I forgot about the mds cause I don't have it! haha. But yes you should try switching to synthetic oil and just stay 5-20. I will be doing more towing this weekend for a longer distance and I will keep track of my temps.

 

[5500]

Engine oil does provide some element of cooling in modern engines.
A full synthetic oil will be fine at the temps you're seeing. I use M1 5-30 year round with no problems. Synthetic oil won't lower your temps, but will lubricate better under hot and cold, and tolerate higher oil temps without breakdown.

 

[Hermes1]

Does not sound out of norm to me or anything to be concerened with, especially if you use synthetic.