Low Oil Temp

[mindcrash]

I’m a few weeks out from having base-lined my new to me 21 200 Series (oil/filter, transmission, power steering, brakes, coolant, all three differentials) and lubed my driveshafts. Currently have 47k on the clock.

I only mention that as it’s the only work that’s been done on the vehicle in my 5 months or so of ownership.

That last couple of days I’ve noticed that my engine oil temp is only registering at about 1/4 on the gauge. It will go up briefly when under load but never get very close to the halfway mark and always goes back down to about 1/4.

I connected OBD fusion while driving today and temps were only about 130F and I read that normal temps should be between 170F and 230F.

I’m guessing my thermostat is stuck open, so have a new one en-route. My question is this: is this a critical situation or can it wait until Saturday for me to fix it (5 days) while I continue to drive the vehicle? I’m sure it’s not and ideal long term condition but for this short amount of time I’m hoping I’ll be ok.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fisher23]

That is normal.

 

[manofthewoods]

I’m a few weeks out from having base-lined my new to me 21 200 Series (oil/filter, transmission, power steering, brakes, coolant, all three differentials) and lubed my driveshafts. Currently have 47k on the clock.

I only mention that as it’s the only work that’s been done on the vehicle in my 5 months or so of ownership.

That last couple of days I’ve noticed that my engine oil temp is only registering at about 1/4 on the gauge. It will go up briefly when under load but never get very close to the halfway mark and always goes back down to about 1/4.

I connected OBD fusion while driving today and temps were only about 130F and I read that normal temps should be between 170F and 230F.

I’m guessing my thermostat is stuck open, so have a new one en-route. My question is this: is this a critical situation or can it wait until Saturday for me to fix it (5 days) while I continue to drive the vehicle? I’m sure it’s not and ideal long term condition but for this short amount of time I’m hoping I’ll be ok.

Thanks in advance.

I believe you are observing oil pressure, not temperature. While our vehicles DO feature a coolant temperature gauge, alas, they do not have an oil temperature gauge.

I and others have observed that the oil pressure at idle appears low with 0w-20 oil. Switching to 5w-30 (as the ROW uses) seems to move the gauge up a notch.
Happy Thanksgiving

 

[bloc]

I’m still curious what fluid was actually 130F. A stuck coolant thermostat on such a low mileage 3UR would be extremely rare.

 

[mindcrash]

I’m still curious what fluid was actually 130F. A stuck coolant thermostat on such a low mileage 3UR would be extremely rare.

I might over analyzing it based on replies thus far. Here’s a screen shot when I finished my commute this evening from ODB Fusion.

 

[bloc]

I might over analyzing it based on replies thus far. Here’s a screen shot when I finished my commute this evening from ODB Fusion.

View attachment 3780281

The issue is that we've never been able to find an actual oil temperature sending unit on the engine. It's not on the parts or wiring diagrams. I am speculating here but it is possible that it is calculated by the ECU, much like we can also display Catalytic Converter temp, for which there is also no sensor to report real temperature.

Either way, if oil temp were actually low, that would tend to increase the oil pressure you see on the gauge cluster. The fact that yours is reading near 1/4 scale while cruising, like so many other landcruisers/tundras/sequoias that have the same engine, suggests everything is operating as expected.

 

[Sandroad]

I agree with the above posts. I think you should skip the new thermostat; no sense in fixing something not broken. Further, I can’t see a need for oil temperature info anyway, so I suggest using that space on the OBD readout page for something useful.

 

[Sandroad]

Delete duplicate

 

[mindcrash]

Well clearly I should’ve RTFM and not assumed that gauge was oil temp.

Thermostat will be returned or boxed for future replacement and OBD will be updated to show something useful.

Thank you for the responses.

 

[Fisher23]

That oil guage reads 1/4 .. I'm not sure why they have it that way but near 95% of the time mine reads at the 1/4. Occasionally it has gone up to near the 1/2 but that was towing offroad in the Mojave at 107 degrees.

I think what you are seeing is perfectly normal.

 

[TheComedian]

That oil guage reads 1/4 .. I'm not sure why they have it that way but near 95% of the time mine reads at the 1/4. Occasionally it has gone up to near the 1/2 but that was towing offroad in the Mojave at 107 degrees.

I think what you are seeing is perfectly normal.

Yeah thats probably how Toyota sets the reading of their pressure gauges. Also my diesel does this. 1/4 while normal workload and up to 1/2 if under load.

 

[gasman4u]

I fill my '21 to closer to the "high" notch of the dipstick when changing the oil. Only then will the oil pressure gauge actually show movement when I go after the weekly Italian tune up. I think if you use some heavier stuff aside from 0W20, you may see more robust pressure at baseline but I cannot confirm.

 

[manofthewoods]

I fill my '21 to closer to the "high" notch of the dipstick when changing the oil. Only then will the oil proessure gauge actually show movement when I go after the weekly Italian tune up. I think if you use some heavier stuff aside from 0W20, you may see more robust pressure at baseline but I cannot confirm.

That's interesting. Because from a design standpoint that little difference in oil level shouldn't mean that the pump is sucking any air; and, the same would apply to the physics of pressure and the level in the pan (being such a small difference in level).
Never tested it myself though.

 

[skrypj]

But your coolant temp is normal. Which means your thermostat is fine. I wanna say these are 180F thermostats so 190F operating temp is where it would be under a little load. It usually takes the thermostat 15-20°F to fully open, so you would be wide open at ~200F.

 

[skrypj]

I fill my '21 to closer to the "high" notch of the dipstick when changing the oil. Only then will the oil pressure gauge actually show movement when I go after the weekly Italian tune up. I think if you use some heavier stuff aside from 0W20, you may see more robust pressure at baseline but I cannot confirm.

I can. I ran 0W-40 on my last fill and it def moved the needle up a bit more. But also I think the pressure bypass must open around 5/8 or 3/4 the way up the gauge because it stops around there.