It is a fact that wet-sump oiling systems are rare in racing. Given the g-loadings that most racecars experience, controlling the oil level while ensuring a constant supply of lubricant is far easier with a dry-sump set-up. However, some series still require the use of a wet sump, notably those for touring cars running to the FIA S2000 regulations.

Running wet sumps has caused problems for many years, as one engineer from a notable engine manufacturer Read more…

In the rarefied atmosphere of Formula One, engineers are often given the resources to investigate engineering issues that would be beyond the scope of other racing organisations. With the regulations limiting engineering freedom to an extensive degree, teams will go to great lengths to gain any advantage.

One example of this is the development work undertaken by the now defunct Minardi team in the production of a Read more…

Oil flow within an engine is something that is given great consideration during the design stage, be it by a manufacturer of a commercial unit or a bespoke race engine. However, ancillaries such as oil coolers and dry-sump systems are sometimes not subject to the same level of scrutiny. This can often be the case when the engine is being fitted to a car without the involvement of the engine constructor. Read more…

Where regulations allow, most racecars run a dry-sump oil system, with the engine lubricant scavenged from the crankcase and stored in an external tank. This allows for a higher degree of oil control, a reduction in the possibility of oil surge and starvation, better de-aeration of the oil and, where applicable, a reduction in installation height thanks to the elimination of the sump pan. Read more…

Engine oil is rather like that famous brand of lager that is said to refresh the parts other beers cannot reach, for in cooling the piston undercrown, valvetrain and bearings it is clearly performing a function in those areas inaccessible to the engine coolant. As in the case of the engine cooling system, this heat eventually has to be distributed into the passing air surrounding the vehicle.

For many years, and where natural flow of air around the Read more…

In the world of automotive engineering there is a strong belief that unreliability creeps in when humans interfere. Take servicing the engine oil system, for instance.

Consisting of a pump, a filter, some bearings and one or two other components - not forgetting, of course, the oil - when assembled under the cleanest of conditions and serviced regularly to the same standards, we can expect the engine to last for the full design life (generally at least 150,000 miles, or 240,000 km) and Read more…

When it comes to any form of competition engine, I prefer my oil systems to be like my Martinis - dry. But as 99% or more of the engines in the world store their oil immediately below the crankcase, it will come as no surprise that some race regulations insist that this arrangement must be retained. And apart from having to mount the engine a little higher in the chassis and the ever-present issue of oil surge on corners and under braking/acceleration, other problems, sometimes totally unseen, could arise. Let me explain. Read more…

Many fundamental decisions have to be made when it comes to cooling an engine in the chassis. Do we have one radiator or perhaps two? Do we place them at the front of the car or at the side - or possibly, if more weight is required over the rear wheels, can we get adequate cooling by placing it at the rear?

To those assigned with cooling the engine and students of vehicle design, these decisions are no doubt all too familiar. But when it comes to the oil system, however, Read more…

In any dry-sump engine application the task of getting the oil out of the sump is often much harder than putting it in. This is because oil tends to flow better at the 3-4 bar pressure at the outlet of a pump than it does at the 0-0.7 bar depression of the oil-air mixture at the inlet. For this reason you will often see at least two scavenge stages emanating from the sump of a dry-sump engine and possibly another from each of any cylinder heads.

For a vee engine, therefore, we are likely to see at least Read more…

What is the difference between a gear tooth in a gearbox and that in an oil pump? In case you were expecting some form of witty answer I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. For although at first glance the two might appear to be the same, in reality the tasks they are being asked to undertake are very different.

In the case of the transmission, the object is to transfer the tangential force from one rotating shaft to that of another, while for the pump it is not so much the Read more…