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Changing Foam Sump Baffle


JP

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I'm about to do this for the first time. Is it an obvious procedure, or are there any problems to be aware of. I'm expecting a simple matter of sump off, remove a few bolts old baffle out, new baffle in and sump back on. Is that it?
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JP

 

That's broadly it.

 

1) Drain oil.

 

2) Remove sump. There are the obvious bolts from underneath and two more that go into the sump from the bellhousing at the rear of the sump. Carefully remove sump taking care not to damage the wolverine gasket.

 

3) Remove oil pick up pipe (one or two bolts - can't remember offhand). Remove baffle plate with foam baffle.

 

4) Make holes in new foam baffle for baffle plate bolt holes and for where dipstick will poke through (use old foam baffle as a template). Believe a soldering iron is quite good for this (just melts the foam where required).

 

5) Replace baffle plate with foam baffle - don't overtighten the bolts as they're only bolting into aluminium.

 

6) Replace oil pickup pipe taking care not to damage or dislodge the O ring (check this is not damaged) - again don't overtighten the bolts.

 

7) Replace sump.

 

It's a bit of a messy job cause of the oil that's left in the sump, but the procedure is pretty straightforward.

 

Dave

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Pretty much *cool*

 

I found I had to trim the new foam slightly and nearly cross-threaded one of the small bolts holding the oil feed pipe and metal baffle plate to the bottom of the engine and had to fettle the holes slightly to get it to line-up properly - apart from that, no problems 😬

 

At 12000 miles I did find some grit in the sump when I removed it and never really got a satisfactory explanation of how it got there - I assume it was casting sand residue.

 

I also took the precaution of pumping-up the oil pressure prior to starting the engine.

 

BRG Brooklands SV 😬 It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

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Job done! Cheers for the advice...

TonyC - I had exactly the same problem - it seems that when you replace the baffle plate, the middle hole for the oil pick up pipe just does not line up??? *confused* No grit in the sump fortunately.

Dave - soldering iron tip is excellent - cheers!

Having now taken it all apart and had a good look, I'm not sure how much the foam actually helps - or what it is supposed to do. I expected it to be sitting in the bottom of the sump, slowing down the sloshing around of oil. I suspect it is just there so that when you fill the oil level up to the top mark with engine running, the crank is not sitting in an oil bath. To address the oil surge issue, has anyone fitted rigid baffles to their sump...and would this help??

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I do not have an appollo.

It's just that as the pick up pipe emerges below the foam in to an other normal (albeit shallower) sump, I don't see how the foam helps with oil surge...

Unless I'm getting the oil flow wrong - maybe it serves to keep the crank bathed in oil, in which case the low pressure readings on hard cornering should be less of a concern as at least the bottom end is luricated *confused*

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  • 4 months later...
At 12000 miles I did find some grit in the sump when I removed it and never really got a satisfactory explanation of how it got there - I assume it was casting sand residue.

 

Just done mine at 14.5k (although it was allegedly done at 4.5k when I asked for a big service at Millwood too...)

 

Bit of grit in there - nothing to worry about though. Also literally one or two tiny bits of broken sponge mesh in the oil-pickup, but again, nothing to worry about.

 

For the record, the sump gasket has to be put in place before the metal plate holding the sponge is replaced as the plate overlaps part of the gasket.

 

I also had the hole aligment issues - so the solution was to loosely do the plate up and then fit the pickup pipe.

 

I got zero pressure (SPA gauge) for the first few seconds - so turned the engine off, let it settle again and then restarted. ISTR I did this twice before pressure came up as normal. I don't think this is an issue -given that the engine was basically dry.

 

I'm a little concerned that after 6.5-ish litres of oil (I've got an apollo), I'm still not getting anything really showing on the dipstick - but then again, the stated capacity is 7litres, and the car was gently inclined (front higher) - so I'll check again tomorrow now that the car is off its' stands.

 

I also checked the cam-cover (didn't remove the gasket - but might try this later) - as far as I could see, I don't have any sponge in the cam-cover - and from what I've heard recently, I should have... The jury is out on the usefulness of the sponge in the sump - I simply cannot guess what it's supposed to do in the cam-cover...

 

Keep BC free and open for ALL. Membership No. 43xx

 

Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻

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Thanks.

 

Hmm - thinking back (and thinking about what was left in my sump when I removed it today), I guess I had the 'normal' oil change volumes in mind - rather than a completely dry engine...

 

I'll sort it tomorrow before I attack the cooling system...

 

Very little fur on the apollo plug, BTW - less than at previous oil changes, ISTR... *thumbup*

 

Keep BC free and open for ALL. Membership No. 43xx

 

Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻

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