86iroct5

on my new motor in my iroc, gen I sbc 350ci head cam intake etc.. stock oil pan, new stock pump with high flow spring, stock pick-up. 10w-40 conventional oil. confirmed proper oil level.
mechanical autometer guage
~60psi cold start
~38psi warm idle

during hard braking/panic stops i lose oil pressure, to about 10psi, comes right back up after a second or two.

i know this can be caused by a few things, the oil pickup becoming dislodged or shifted or poor oil return to the crankcase.

i havent done much as far as tearing into things but i wanted to know what other scenarios i could be facing before i drop the pan to see. i want to rule out poor oil return because i get good pressure everywhere else and only experience this during braking, is that logical thinking?

bigal55

iTrader: (1)

Oil is running away from your pick-up on hard braking. That implies either low oil level, no or inadequate baffle, or your pick-up is too high in the sump. Pick-up strainer should only be about a half inch above sump bottom. If you do remove the oil pan, take a straight edge and run it across your oil pan rails near the pick-up. measure the distance from the rail to the bottom of your strainer. Now run the straight edge across your oil pan rails and measure the depth of your sump. The sump depth should not be more than a half inch greater than your pick-up measurement. HTH.

86iroct5

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/me...t/model/camaro

this is the pick up i have. maybe it doesnt sit low enough in the pan

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

If you have modified the car to brake an turn harder, you may also need a roadrace oilpan with a extra quart, baffles and trapdoors.
Its what i had to do.

86iroct5

stock brakes with hawk HPS pads. no issues in turns

86iroct5

any ideas people? i want to have a few ideas to look for before i pull the pan

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

If your oil pump pick hasn't fallen off, you'll need a better pan.

AlkyIROC

Baffling, trap doors and better oil control.

Loss of oil pressure is a common occurrence for drag racers. The oil pump pickup should be no more than 3/8" off the bottom of the pan but that probably isn't your issue.

At high rpm, the oil pump is pumping a lot of oil to the top of the engine. The high flow spring isn't helping. You would be amazed at how much oil is under the valve covers and in the lifter valley at high rpm. There may be less than a quart still in the pan. You need to get oil in the engine back into the pan as quick as possible. That means no lifter valley screens or plugs to restrict oil return, painting the inside of the lifter valley to reduce surface tension, opening up oil drain holes. A deep sump pan with extended length pickup can add capacity but the oil in the pan can still move around and away from the pickup.

You also need to control the oil flow inside the pan. a race pan with a trapdoor baffle will help keep the oil in the sump instead of moving to the front of the pan during hard braking. An oil pump baffle can help keep oil from going up the back of the pan during hard launches.

If you're having oil control issues during road racing or drag racing, an oil accumulator is your final option. It will maintain oil pressure for a brief period when the oil pump can not. My 3 quart accumulator will maintain oil pressure for 20-30 seconds before it empties.

It's hard for me to watch my oil gauge while going down the track. I had a 2" red light on the dash hooked up to a 25 psi switch. Even then, I didn't notice it enough although even under hard braking, it wouldn't come on. I've swapped out the red light to a super bright small strobe right in front of me on the dash. If pressure drops below 25 psi, I can't miss the strobe blinding me.

Although I haven't installed it yet, I want to put in a 10 psi kill switch. If oil pressure drops below 10 psi, it will kill the ignition and prevent any engine damage due to low oil pressure. If it's a momentary thing due to hard braking or something, cranking the engine to get oil pressure again will allow the engine to fire back up. Of course this is for a track only race car. Not really a good option for a street car.

An oil pan with kickout sumps can increase capacity without needing a different pickup tube but the pan should still have baffling to keep the oil in the sump.

86iroct5

would you be able to suggest a better pan that would not take up ground clearance? i know there are pans with kickouts and though im not sure if they are only wider and not deeper as well.. im really not trying to have a pan that sits lower than stock.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aa...make/chevrolet
seems to have a pan depth of 7in where as a stock pan is 7.5in. let me know if im interpreting that correctly.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

I use a canton road race pan. Stock depth with kickouts. Works great.

AlkyIROC

My BBC sits lower than stock and I use a Moroso 8 quart pan and have no issues plus I also have a 3 quart accumulator. I keep the oil level in the pan just below the baffle so technically, there's no oil sitting in the front of the pan. It's all in the sump. I adjusted the length of the dipstick to read full at that mark. A full oil change for me is 9 liters.

Look to see where the bottom of the pan is and check to see where the bottom of the k-member is. I doubt you'll have any problems with a deep sump pan with a SBC sitting in the stock location.

Using a deep sump pan also requires a longer pickup tube. If you use a kickout pan, the stock length pickup tube normally has no problems.

I think going to a larger capacity oil pan is only a bandaid solution to your problem. A good stock size race pan with baffling and or a trap door will probably lessen your oil control problem but won't fix it 100%.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I'm not sure which style 350 block you have, but I have a one piece RMS and I use this pan: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g3603
I have not had issues with the pan bottoming out or being too close to any other exhaust or suspension component. It really is a great pan. If you chose the pan with the kick outs you will not be able to run long tube headers and still be able to remove your oil filter. You would have to do a remote mount oil filter or remove the header to get to the filter (yuck). Shorty headers would need a custom Y pipe or a turbo setup for a pan with kick outs.

You can buy inexpensive 5 QT oil pans with simple baffles or a trap door which would bring the oil capacity to 5.5 or 6 qts depending on filter size. Been a decade since I have seen a stock thirdgen oil pan but i thought they were 4 or 4.5 quart with a 5 qt total system.

If you are going to pull the pan I would put a regular spring in the pickup, you have no need for anything more than a stock M55 pump.

You can't do much to improve oil circulation inside the engine and heads without disassembling the entire block and spending quality time with a rotary tool and then having it hot tanked.

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