Awesome writeup, thanks Mach4.

I would think testing for a failed oil thermostat could be as simple as touching the oil cooler. If it starts heating gradually, immediately after your engine is started, vs. staying cool for some time and then going up to temp all at once, you likely have a failed thermostat. An infrared non contact thermometer would probably work well enough to diagnose a problem as well.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap