Right, since getting my dry sump fitted by day tuner I have regularly checked the oil even though it has hardly been driven amd it has always been
below the bottom baffle in the tank, I got told it should be just below the top baffle so I bought a litre of the same oil and topped it up, much to
my surprise it was still below the bottom baffle, but have to breifly running my engine to circulate the fluids there is now too much oil in the tank,
it is now an inch above the top baffle.
Why is this?
Thanks
a dry sump system basically works like so...
instead of all the oil collecting in a 'deep' pan at the bottom of the engine a much shallower pan is fitted which has a pipe fitted at the
lowest point of the pan which leads from the pan to some sort of additional pump (not the standard oil pump) a 'scavenger' pump which pumps
the oil from the shallow sump to the oil tank than a different oil pipe goes from the tank to the normal oil pump on the engine which then circulates
the oil through all the oil veins and to every where in the engine that oil is needed then then the oil ends up at the shallow sump and then gets
pumped round the system again and again...
I HOPE THAT MAKES SENSE
Basically dry sumps are fitted so that the engine oil can be stored in a different place to allow the engine to be situated lower in a vehicle.
and you thought your oil level was low because when the engine isnt running the 'scavenger' pump isnt pumping so the oil from the tank
slowly seeps back to the shallow sump so the oil level appears low but it is actually not low it is just in the engine rather than the oil tank.
the way to check the oil level on a dry sump system is to run the engine for 3-5 minutes then turn the engine off and check the oil level in the tank
sort of within the next minute or so, (release the cap on the oil tank slowly incase there is any pressur that needs to be released.
HOPE THIS HELPS
Right i didnt know the oil seeped back through the pump. I did try checking the oil a minute or so and you couldnt really see as the top was very
foamy, it worrie me at first but after a bit of research I read this is normal, the oil returns pretty much foamy and twice the size due to the
agitation in the engine then the tanks are designed the split the air from the oil to return it back to its normal form.
I have pretty much got that right haven't I? Or am I wrong?
Ideally you want to check the oil level in the dry sump tank as soon as you've switched the engine off.
(Eventually the oil will run back into the engine sump)
I made a dipping stick up for mine which was basically a piece of solid straight wire.
There is also a theory that if the dry sump tank is sat on some rubber that helps to take some of the agitation out of the oil as if its solidly
mounted to the chassis the tank can be 'shook' by engine vibration.
I mounted my tank on some 3mm sheet rubber and it seemed to work fine (XE Engine).
Its really important that you don't use right angled fittings on the dry sump system, Use only swept type fitings if required.
The more straight fittings the better.
Right, it was probably fine then, they did tell me how to change the oil but not how to check it! Looks like im going to be buying a syphon tomorrow
to remove the litre of oil I've just added :-/
Cheers guys
*If* you are using a catch tank on your set-up the extra oil will be 'blown' into that.
I'm lucky to have an electric syphon machine and this allows the whole of the dry sump tank to be emptied, Some tanks can be split but sadly the
SBD one can't and i was always worried about any crud gathering at the bottom of the tank below the
outlet fitting
quote:
Originally posted by parkiboy
Right i didnt know the oil seeped back through the pump. I did try checking the oil a minute or so and you couldnt really see as the top was very foamy, it worrie me at first but after a bit of research I read this is normal, the oil returns pretty much foamy and twice the size due to the agitation in the engine then the tanks are designed the split the air from the oil to return it back to its normal form.
I have pretty much got that right haven't I? Or am I wrong?