After having seen and hearing all the comments on Keith's oil
problem.I have the following thoughts. With a wet sump system there is
a need to keep the oil as far away from the crank as possible yet keep
enough oil in the pan to keep from cavitating the pump and also keep
the oil temp down. This is why you see some oil pans with kick outs in
the bottom of the sump. I agree that solid slit type windage trays do
nothing but bounce the oil back onto the crank adding more air to oil.
Seems the proper way to go is to widen the sump at the bottom, run a
screen type windage tray to break up the oil and help separate the air
from the oil. Do away with the dip stick, to hard to tell the actual
level in relation to crank. We use to mark the side of the pan to show
bottom location of the crank. We then mounted a sight tube type level
gauge to the side of pan so we could actually tell at all times how
close we were to the crankshaft. Make sure you have the proper gap
between the pickup and the bottom of the pan. Too little you can
cavitate the pump too much and the oil might not reach the pick up all
the time. Oil viscosity is a strange thing, too thin it over heats and
breaks down. In an ideal system there would be no metal to metal
contact. If the oil is too thin then it will be squeezed off the
bearing surface and you have scrub. Not a good thing. A thicker oil
can cause a loss in horsepower, takes more to power to push it. It
also has more of a tendency to stay in places where you don't want it
to. Like the crank and sides of the block where it constantly drips
onto the crank causing aeration problems. I have know people to
re-route the oil drain backs from the heads and lifter valley using
tubing back to the pan. Oil viscosity has to be careful balanced so as
to prevent bearing damage yet not cause aeration problems. Just my
long winded self as usual running off at the mouth.
BillB
---- Original Message -----
From: Richard Kensicki <richk@sparta-junction.com>
To: Keith Turk <kturk@ala.net>
Cc: <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2000 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: Oiling answers
> Keith;
> More food for thought: One of the engine builder references I
have made
> these comments:
> People put too much oil in the pan, there's 3-5 Hp being lost
there
> There's too much junk in the oil pan, baffles just deflect the
oil back into
> the crank
> Run a light weight oil for tight clearances, heavy oil for
loose
> clearances.
>
> This is a oval engine builder and their engines are usually dry
sumped and
> the oil preheated.
>
>
> Rich
>
>
> Keith Turk wrote:
>
> > Okay I thought I would share some of the answers to the Oiling
System
> > Problems I had last weekend.
> >
> > Light weight oil Whips up easier then Thicker Oil. My thought was
that it
> > would get back to the pan faster and provide HP.... and I think it
would if
> > you aren't whipping it up.
> >
> > Cavitation of the pump can occur due to many things... Oil
aeriation due to
> > whipping the Crankshaft through Oil...( to much Oil ) or if the
Pan and
> > Pickup don't have adequate clearence. Solid Baffles arn't as good
as Wire
> > mesh Baffles in the pan and can add to Oil getting whipped up.
> >
> > A Crank scrapper might help also....
> >
> > and Most importantly Proper Breathing of the Crank case... If you
can
> > imagine the bottom of this engine at Rpm there is a Mini tornado
caused from
> > the Crank and Rods spinning around... the Rings are allowing some
blow by as
> > are the valve guides. All this Pressure is building up and not
giving the
> > oil much of a chance to expell it's air. Hence the Oil contains
it's air
> > and the Oil Pumps it out at a decreased Pressure.
> >
> > Okay so Now to fix the Problem... I am going to swap back to a
Pan, Pump and
> > Pick up that I know work in this Car. and as I am doing this I am
going to
> > take some measurements and Make sure I had 1/4 to 3/8" clearence
between the
> > pan and pickup originally... Just to see if that was one of the
problems.
> >
> > Guys Like John Beckett Run a Wet sump system successfully so I
know it can
> > be done... everything just has to be right!
> >
> > Keith
>
>
>
>
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