Project White Lightning

[psyguy]

Hey guys

Drilled and tapped the gearbox drain plug and fitted a temp probe.

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Managed to swap the plugs out while loosing no more than a drip of oil from the gearbox

Added an inconspicuous switch on the center console behind the passenger seat, so I can switch between the engine oil and gearbox oil temp inputs for the same temp gauge. (Don't mind the subwoofer control...)

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Spirited back-roads driving raises the temps to about 65C.

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Interestingly, the almighty internet returned no meaningful articles when I enquired about the acceptable manual gearbox oil temperatures. Anyone have any good info?
The word on Lotus forums (that use the same transmission as the MR-S) is that heat can contribute majorly to the gearbox failures during track days and racing and a gearbox oil cooler is recommended. But again I couldn't find a reliable info on the acceptable temps. Don't want to be adding an oil cooler unless it's warranted by a reliable data.
Yet to test on the track.

[Benckj]

Very cool, me likes the gadgets.

[psyguy]

Yesterday I attended another track day (#4 since turbo).
Enjoyable and eventful day as ever. Was in a good company, too

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That's the only good news

Logged the gearbox temps for the first time and realized they go up to 130C (compared to max 80C on the road!) and would have likely climbed higher had I done more than three track sessions. Not ideal.

Engine oil temps got up to 125C which is not ideal either and I expected more from the upsized oil cooler (now 10 rows, up from 7 rows}. May need to go another size up on the cooler and save the current one for the gearbox oil cooler setup?

During the last session the exhaust changed note for louder and the boost dropped which on inspection showed to be a blown manifold-to-turbo gasket.

Among other bad news, the EGT probe popped out yet again. I decided to abandon it for now and just plugged the port instead.

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The heatshield that's supposedly rated 1200C (and made in the USA and costs and arm and a leg) started turning to dust and/or melting even though the temps (according to EGT) never go past 900C.

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Today I emptied for the first time (meaning after a few thousand kms) the fluid that got caught in the oil catch cans. There wasn't much and had the consistency of water more than oil. I'm not sure what to make of this?

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Some other drivers had worse news though: (Into the concrete barrier and ricochet to the other side of the track spilling oil along the way)

[Benckj]

Looks like you have some investigation work ahead of you to figure out what’s acceptable or not. Great having the data and info from gauges but interpretation means everything. Treat it as your baseline with further work required. Exactly why I installed 4 temp gauges on my A2W system so could understand what the patterns between road/track and summer/ winter.

[mknz]

Logged the gearbox temps for the first time and realized they go up to 130C (compared to max 80C on the road!) and would have likely climbed higher had I done more than three track sessions. Not ideal.

Engine oil temps got up to 125C which is not ideal either and I expected more from the upsized oil cooler (now 10 rows, up from 7 rows}. May need to go another size up on the cooler and save the current one for the gearbox oil cooler setup?

I'm more concerned about your gearbox temps. 80C is perfect for the road, but if you want to track more often then you'll want an oil cooler with a thermostat for it. You can replace it more often to compensate if you're not wanting to track very often.

As for the engine oil, that's fine, it's not great but a full synthetic in that weight won't start breaking down till somewhere between 130-140C. Ideal is about 90-100 road and 100-110 track. If you're space constrained then maybe a small fan would fit? Could even put the fan on a thermoswitch to shut it up.

Depending on what oils you use there's potentially a spec sheet. Track oils are normally the ones that specify ideal temps, but they are also designed to be changed more often due to a different set of additives.

It's pretty common to go up 10 in hot weight to make up for the extra temps, if your future temps go back down to 100 on the track I'd go back down to stock, especially if the turbo is water cooled.

[GDII]

The catch can is meant to capture oil and water vapour. If you are getting what you are getting then it would appear to be normal and of you are only getting that much after a long distance then the engine would appear very healthy.