900 degrees EGT, sustained.. or 200 degrees EOT is where I always start thinking about down shifting. 5th gear usually does it, keep the RPM's between 2200 & 2450..... or Slow down to what the loaded Big Trucks are doing (or a little better).... Geared accordingly.
Your leaving a TON of performance on the table using 900* as any kind of a marker...
Max EGT from International (guys who make out motors) is 1250* sustained. You can pull all day long at 1250* and not hurt a thing. You can also go well over that line for short times and not hurt anything as well.
Your watching EGT's not to protect the turbo, your turbo exhaust wheel could stand temps in the 2000-2200* range with no damage. Your watching your EGT's to protect your aluminum pistons.
Aluminum starts to soften at about 1300*, however you have to remember that EGT stands for Exhaust Gas Temp, not piston temp. You have a layer of air that protects the piston, cool fuel coming in at every stroke along with cool air. You have piston cooling jets that spray the bottom of the pistons with oil to cool them (see pic)
Bottom right hand corner you can see the U shaped jet.
Oil temp is a differant story... Your PCM will begin to defuel at about 240* depending on the PCM code. Most of the time your oil temp will run about 10-20* above the water temp. With a 7.3l you will never have issues with oil temps unless you have a serious mechanical issue. Pulling 30k GVW I have never seen oil temps over 238* at the HPOP and 250* at the cooler.
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