Cracked Sump

[Mark P]

Whilst going for a blat on Thursday night, heard a loud crack, checked underneath the car, and in the road and could discover nothing obvious.

 

On Saturday, went to drive the car again, to discover oil all under the car, and upon closer inspection a craked sump in the location of the front bolt. Checked the oil levels, and still showing on the dipstick, so I trust that I didn't cuase any problems driving home Thursday.

 

Is this a common occurance on the Superlight. I understand that is is lower than a standard roadsport or similar, but the road where this happed was not particular bumby or uneven (although I was driving quite fast !!).

 

Apart from the obvious (drive slower) is it something that we just have to live with ?

 

 

 

 

Imagine my disapointment on Saturday to discover my weekend run would not happen !!

 

[Jam Mad]

i have a 1700 x flow, so a different spec, but as far as i know it is very much a feature of caterham ownership that you need to be aware of the road to prevent potentially damaging contact.

 

mine is so low that i need to drive it like a motorbike; spending as much effort observing the road surface ahead as on all the other driving considerations.

 

i like it, it makes it more involving, and the rewards for having such a low center of gravity are fantastic.

 

cheers,

 

j

[JP]

Unfortunately you just have to be careful. Also bear in mind that the lowest points under the car are the exhaust and most important the oil filter bracket. The latter is also far more fragile than the sump - I know this from experience!

[pie_boy69]

You will be able to get the sump welded if youknow a good Tig welder and then when you get it weldedyou can get the guy doing the work to build up using weld on the ribs etc to make it stronger and even run a ridge round the sump plug to stop it getting ground away.

Keith

[Simos]

Verily I smote my sump twice on road works and yea did on each occasion cause such a fissure to be created that at once did all the oil surge from the sump without into the world. Whereup it occasioned such a covering of the surfaces underside that even now, 10 years later no rust dare set foot thereupon.

 

Yeah, it's fairly common is what I'm trying to say. I changed to a dry sump which on a BD raises removes the problem and I've hit nothing since then. However I believe a K drysump does not remove your problem. Mr 69 has the right idea I suspect.

 

[Simos]

I should also add that it is unclear from your post whether you hit or think you hit something, however if you believe an impact was to blame then a finger check of your engine mounts for cracks might be an idea as they take a fair knock in such instances.

[KevSull Too]

Mark,

 

Second day of ownership of my SL I gave the sump a fair old knock. Didn't split it but hit it hard enough to trip the fuel cutoff and dent the bonnet. As Simos mentions, check your engine mounts, after close inspection of mine I found that they were both split in half. Caterham sell them for approx 30 squid on their web site (so no need to even talk to anyone!) and changing them is quite easy (if you can get a jack under the engine!!!)

 

Since then I've hit it a few times, but so far been lucky. It seems like a very tough piece of ally.

(Guarenteed, I'll bugger it up now after saying that)

 

So in conclusion, it seems like part of the package of living with a SL.

[murph7355]

Without wishing to take advantage of the misfortune of others, I should have a wet sump available in the next week or two...

[CHRIS CLARK]

I think (given a certain outfits response so far!) that you'd do better hanging on to it for a while Andy!!!

 

I have worn the ridges away on the front of the sump which means at least five mm of ali has gone. I was worried after travelling down the infamous cambered Toms Lane on last years 'Rumble' run as I could smell oil & suspected a cracked sump. Got back to Caterham HQ and found very hot, sticky tarmac stuck between the fin grooves!!

[Mark P.]

A word of warning !!!

 

I have just parted with £220 (+ £27 for the gasket) for a new sump from Caterham. The old one was totally buggered with a crack accross the bottom and near the front fixing. Not possible to weld, without having to re-machine etc etc.

 

 

[V7 SLR]

K series dry sump does raise the sump pan's lowest level slightly, although not a lot (about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch overall), but the important thing is where you measure it from. At the front of the wet sump you get a huge bluff "face" which is what most people tend to hit. The dry sump pan is very much higher at that point, although it slopes downward as you move towards the back of the engine, so overall clearance is only slightly better, but a lot better where it counts at the front.

 

Saying that, it has CATERHAM embossed on the bottom of the dry sump pan from new, whereas mine now says CATer....

 

The crossflow has a pressed steel sump pan. On my old P-reg xf I thought I had escaped sump pan damage until I stood under the car at its first MoT, at which point I could see that it looked as though someone had spent an hour bashing it with a ball-peen hammer. But, although it bent a lot, it didn't leak.

 

The infamous "Len" once told me, if your sump pan's unscarred, you ain't trying hard enough. Wise words. wink.gif