The oil temp gauge on my 997.2 seems low to me. Its been cold here recently but even on the warmers days like today(54deg) the oil temp gauge doesnt read more than 175F. It doesnt seem to matter if im driving on the freeway or in traffic. It never goes above 175. I've always thought that 210f was optimal. the water temp is bang in the middle. something wrong here? tks

 

You are not exercising your engine enough and long enough.

175F for street driving is quite normal actually.

 

I see. Hmmmm? The last thing I want to do is start a OIL debate, but "I gots to know."
Since my engine is running below the 212 F (100 C) should go to a "thinner" oil?

 

Your Porsche gauges are far from accurated. Your oil and coolant temperatures are considerably hgher than indicated by the gauges. Your engine temperatures cannot be as low as 175F after warmup.

 

the Bimmer + Fcar both read pretty close to 210F under similar condition so I think youre right. Going to have it checked out. tks

 

I tend to side with 1999, he knows more than most.

FWIW, running Mobile-1 0W-40, the gauges on my '05 997S are typically at:
Oil: 220
Engine: 175
CATTMAN

 

Your coolant temperature is really 190F+ once warmed up and can rise to 215F+. Your oil will always be higher than your coolant temperature after full warm up. I think all 997 coolant temperature gauges peg themselves at 175 regardless of how much hotter your engine really is. Just another example of Porsche precision.

 

You are fine. My brand new 997.2S on a 30 mile drive (normal driving) never got oil above 175F (50F outside temp). I've seen oil much warmer in other conditions.

Your oil and car are fine. Incidentally, if you constantly see oil at 220F or above... you'll have to change oil more often as very hot oil changes its properties. Same for tranny oil.

 

My 08 997 usually takes a solid 10 miles of highway driving to warm up to an oil temp of 200 F. That's with cruise set at 65 mph. If I start driving harder it will head up to around 215 F.

 

The oil temp on my '09 C4S runs significantly lower until very warm than the '05 C2S that I've had. I seem to remember reading somewhere (Excellence?) that the "new" engine has electric oil pumps instead of the usual mechanical. That means that the oil pressure is not necessarily related to the engine speed so in most situations will also likely be lower. This is supposed to create optimum pressure and less parasitic drag so more power. Maybe that is the reason for the lower oil temps we're seeing

 

+1...the gauges in your 997 are what I call dummy gauges. they are not accurate and coolant gauge is pegged at 175 no matter what.