[BHarvey]

After having an oil temp gauge for a while now I have some data for WHEN my car is fully up to temp, ie- when it STARTS getting good mileage.

As we all know the coolant temp comes up quick, less than 2 miles even on a cold day, but the oil temp lags way behind. On a 70f day it usually takes around 15 miles to get the oil up to 180f or so and that temp is when my car starts getting good mileage.

This morning I did a 49 mile trip with a starting temp of 39f and ending temp of 43f. The oil took 35 miles to get to 180f! I struggled to get over 35 mpg during oil warmup, but brought it up to 39 mpg by the time I finished the trip.

Had seen this trend developing the past few tanks as cooler weather arrived.
This morning after the trip I took the belly pan off and insulted the oil filter and oil pan. Both are in the air flow at the bottom of the radiator shroud so that does explain why it takes so long to get up to temp.

Will know Monday morning how well it works but am looking for another solution just in case the temps get too hot, or 212f+.

By the way, on 80f days the oil temp only runs 185-193f, or about 5f over coolant temp.