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Dry Sump Tank Volume (attn Steve Mell amonst others)


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I'm mid way through winter mods which include dry sumping my VX XE. Engine should be circa 230bhpish with any luck. Caterham pan & pump but seperate tank which is basically the Pace/SBD tall but narrow tank that'll fit at end of footwell. Tank is about 3.25 litres capacity, so they'll probably be just over 4 litres in the system once it's filled. Is that enough? Car wil be used for road & occasional track days. Anyone else use this tank - any problems? Steve?
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I my oppinion it is not enough, the larger the capacity the better. More oil is preferential as it is able to absorb more engine friction ie heat, this is certainly a good thing for any high performance /upgraded engine especially if you intend to use it for track work. Why would you want to reduce the amount of oil that the manufacturer intended this engine to run with? More oil also can absorb a lot more particles and toxins given of by the combustion process, therfore enhancing engine life. *thumbup*

 

Support the 7 Society...... Ehhh?

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I put a big tank in at the time I DS'd. I thought I might use the car on Centrurian races or similar so the extra would be good (hang the extra oil weight).

You can always go for a bigger tank later if you have space.

 

Concerning the heat thing, a DS system is better than a Wet Sump where the oil is in contact with the heat sorce (engine) the whole time and WS is only about 4l so it should not be a problem. That said the VX WS pan has big cooling fins and is in the direct airflow.

My road oil temps have dropped a bit DS vs WS. On track they are lower too.

 

Hants (North) and Berkshire Area club site here

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here

 

 

 

 

Edited by - stevefoster on 10 Jan 2005 12:18:29

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Works fine on mine but that's for sprints only. The longest event I do is 1.5 miles and oil temp is rising throughout the run even with a laminova cooler.

 

I think if I was doing regular trackdays I'd want more. If it was occasional trackdays I'd want an oil temp gauge and keep an eye on it and back off if oil temps go over 100C.

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Matthew,

 

The only problem I had with the slim SBD tank was under certain circumstances it would vent too much oil into the catch tank. After much discussion with Steve (SBD) and Neil (Pace), a mod to the neck of the tank was made which has now cured the problem completely. Steve told me that this mod would be included in all new tanks.

 

As far as temps are concerned, in normal robust running it is usually around 80-85 degrees. Track work will see these climb a bit but nothing frightening. I think the max recall on my Spa guage once showed around 105 degrees.

 

*arrowright* *arrowright*Harry Flatters *arrowright* *arrowright* *thumbup*

AKA Steve Mell - Surrey AO and Su77on Se7ener

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I have this tank on my 225HP VX and have run the car in this form for several years now including long hard motorway type driving at 7000 rpm +, sprint type driving, and recently two trackdays on the new circuit here, the last one being five X 20 minute sessions.

 

No problems, no high oil temps, 90C max. I do have a cooler, but also remember that ambient is relatively high here in Dubai.

 

 

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removed the footwell on mine and fitted the 5L split pace tank(JPE manifold), seems to take just under 5L of oil when running, any more and it seems to vent to the catch tank as Harry says(only on track), did see the modification to the filler neck on the red Busa( Mr Griffith, i think), and I plan to modify my tank to this spec.Think Mr Wong also had a large tank made to fit over the gearbox, and remember him saying to me he was concerned about the capacity of his first tank, this was also over the tunnel I think.I have a QED sump and caterham style scav pump using the uprated internal engine pressure pump.

 

Edited by - k.russell on 11 Jan 2005 17:59:52

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The tanks that fit in front of the footwell usualy have a baffle half way down. The tank usualy splits in half for cleaning. If you have one of these fill to about 2" below the baffle. The idea is that the oil is returned to the tank the runs down the side, across the baffle and into the lower tank thereby removing the air from the oil. Check the level with engine running.

 

My Caterham supplied tank holds about 6 litres. I have riveted a tab on one of the holes in the baffle so I can see when the leval is 2" below the baffle as it's difficult to judge.

 

If you are opening the tank to clean use a lint free cloth. You do not want the bits from a yellow duster mixing in the oil.

 

Another issue is oil coolers with DS. I've got an oil cooler and a oil thermo unit. The oil doesn't go through the cooler till 80c. The gauge has nevr gone over 80c and then only when hammering at the Brize Norton speed thingy. I guess an oil cooloer is not needed unless car is used for hard competition.

 

Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Mem No 2166, the full story here

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norman, good idea that, always struggle to check the levels,was running about an inch below the baffle, but it did chuck out on multi laps at curborough, i had dropped the level and it then did seem ok, it was something i was keeping my eye on, may weld on a boss to check temp at a later date.
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Peter, 3.92 diff, Quaife six speed sequential with the highest available six gear ratio. Don't have my gearing figures here at the moment, but thats moving a bit.

 

Yes, we can run like that here, not legal, but nobody cares. There are speed traps close to cities, but through the desert its a free for all.

 

One time while doing this along with some bikers, my altenator fan split in two, one piece fracturing the nosecone, and the other going out through the sideskin.

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