Oil Starvation

[Inu-Hanyou1776]

Was reading my recent copy of the Annual 2006 edition of Engine Masters magazine, and come across a tech article about oiling systems written by none other than the late, great, Smokey Yunick himself. Must have been one of the last things he wrote.

Anyway, while I was reading the part about keeping the oil pump pickup covered when using a wet-sump system it got me to wondering.

Since 4x4s like ours sometimes get some serious off-camber action going, it got me to wondering a few people's engines have been seized up because the oil got to sloshing around enough in the pan to uncover the pickup due to the vehicle getting off-camber by 45 degrees or more.

Maybe this is a non-issue because I would assume you would've already gone over and rolled, and killed the engine if you got 45 degrees or more off-camber, at least in a K5 anyway.

 

[76zimmer]

I've wondered this also, seems for serious off camber regularity, dry sump would be the only way to go, unless you have a garage full of spares.

 

[sled_dog]

very few have had real issues with oil starvation. Planning ahead is the best way to deal with it. before I button up my 383 I'm puting a few baffles into the oil pump pickup area to try and keep oil down there.

Very very few run dry sump systems on crawlers. Though it is the obvious best choice, it is EXPENSIVE. A good dry sump system costs as much as most peoples engines. So unless you have a lot of dry sump spare parts, it doesn't make sense to put a $3000 dry sump system on a crawler that cost $5000 total.

 

[Inu-Hanyou1776]

That's what I was figuring sled, most people who are concerned about this probably run something similar to what dirt trackers run when they have to run a wet-sump, a pan with heavy baffling in the sump to keep the oil there.

 

[Inu-Hanyou1776]

Just remembered something. I remember an article in 4Wheel & Offroad a few years ago where they put an oil accumulator in a vehicle because the particular vehicle was bad to get completely vertical and all the oil would leave the pan and go elsewhere in the engine, exposing the pump pickup and cooking the engine in short order.

 

[beater_k20]

you'd be surprised how long an engine will last without oil.

its not one of those things where you lose the prime in the pump, and the engine is automatically junk. a properly built engine should be able to survive this type of situation many times, if it isnt allowed to go on for extended periods of time. is it good for it? obviously not, but its not the end of the world if it happens. as for worrying about oil starvation when 45* off camber or more, dont waste the time thinking about it. at that point, you should be thinking about how to avoid putting your rig 90* off camber or more, cuz its about to go there on its own VERY quickly.