Low Oil Temps

[Fastcapy]

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[sonex892]

Mike.
If it was indicating a temp rise with the preheater it suggests the sensor is working. Running without the cowling is probably your problem. I would put the cowling on and run it before troubleshooting it more.
Steve
VH-ZSX
Sonex 3300 TD

[MichaelFarley56]

For what it's worth Mike, I see the same thing here in Ohio. I can preheat for a few hours (running a small ceramic heater with a dryer duct up into the cowling) and that gets my oil temperature indications up into the 70-90 degree range. After I start the engine, the oil temps drop back down to the 40-50's which tells me that the actual sensor is being heated, as well as the oil at the bottom of the sump. Once oil begins to circulate, the overall oil temp stabilizes at a lower indication until it can all warm up.

It takes me a while to get oil temperatures to rise as well. I can sit and idle for 10 minutes, taxi out, do a runup, and even after all that I may not have 100 degree temps yet, and this is with the top mounted oil cooler that's completly taped off with aluminum tape! One thing I've done that helps is preheat, start the engine and let it idle for a while (normally until the cylinders get up to 200 or so degrees), and then shut down the engine for 15 minutes. That lets the oil absorb some of that heat which can help things warm up. Or another way of doing the same thing; start up, idle for a while, taxi to the fuel pump and put some gas in the airplane prior to flight.

Ultimately, I don't think it's just you. The oil just takes a while to warm up and while the heads on these engines can get warm, I don't think the block really gets all that hot.