Fluid Temps
 

Which is likely to get to normal operating tempurature first?

Coolant, Engine Oil, Transmission Fluid, Power steering Fluid?

I'd think that it'd be

engine oil
transmission fluid
coolant
p/s fluid

but could be wrong.

I think coolant would be first, engine oil last or second to last.

Well from watching the pressure drop on my handy dandy oil pressure guage for years I would say the coolant way before the oil does.


Although on really cold days in the winter it seems to be the oil, and during the summer the engine warms up so fast I don't pay attention.

Put an infrared thermometer on your PS reservoir. My bet goes to it. It has the smallest volume of fluid and starts working as soon as you turn the wheel. It also has no cooling system.
Learned some things when I had to work on the power steering of my Bluebird Wanderlodge. Made some modifications that dropped the fluid temperature 100 degrees.

No idea about the PS fluid. My 190E 2.3-16 has an oil temperature gage so I can watch it warm up. It lags the engine coolant by 10 miles on the highway. Given the PS system has no cooler, I would think it makes relatively little heat being pumped around the circuit. But that is just a guess. I would think the manual transmission fluid, little more than a liter and half or so, warms up pretty quickly, but like the PS fluid, I am not sure that its normal operating temperature is not ambient temperature dependent (unlike the engine oil and coolant). Jim

Does the P/S system on our cars actually get hot? I don't think it does....I've checked my fluid before after over an hour of driving, and it was barely warm....

Should run at 150 degrees.

what are some average driving conditions before you guys are see operating temp on your coolant?

About 3-5 blocks depending on outside temperature.

During the summer about 100ft. Now it takes about 3/4 of a mile for the guage to move, and more importantly to get heat!

it can take 2-3 miles in winter for me, even if I was plugged in.