Dry Sump Oil System
 

Does anyone know of a company who makes/sells a dry sump oil system for the Protege 5/ES 2.0?

nobody? someone has got to make these for the 2.0L

are you sure you want to go dry sump? those systems add a lot of complexity and weight to your car. and considering that the protege has a lot of baffels (sp?) in the oil pan and lower block area, a dry sump probably won't do you much.

At the expense of sounding like a newbie, what's the difference?

most cars have what is called a 'wet sump' oiling system, which means the oil is stored in a pan under the engine block. this is the case that most people are familiar with, and is the most conventional.

in a 'dry sump' system, the engine oil is stored in a seperate container from the engine, usually in the trunk or oposite end of the car from the engine. the oil is sucked away from the eninge by means of a vacuum pump mounted under the engine and is recirculated back to the holding tank. another pump (or the same pump mentioned previously) then pressureizes theoil feed lines to provide lubrication for the engine. when the oil drains back to the bottom of the engine, it is sucked back out and fed back to the holding tank.

at least that's how i understand it.

The explanation makes sense, but why the hell would a dry sump make more sense than a wet one?

Dry Sump System
 

This system consists of a feed pump, a scavenge pump and a separate oil tank. The feed pump forces oil under pressure into the engine from the oil tank. After the oil lubricates the engine it falls into the sump where the scavenge pump,which has ~ twice the capacity of the feed pump, returns the oil to the tank.

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a dry sump system makes more sense when you are dealing with a racing car that see high g-force loding at the track, and the oil in your 'wet sump' sloshes around away from the oil pump pick-up tube, causing your oil pump to momentarily run dry. Very Bad! with a dry sump, even under hard cornering, the oil system will never run dry.

Thanks, I didn't know one from those cars would work.

I was unaware of the additional baffling in the Pro's oil pan. I just figured that it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to motor life. I'd hate to have two cars in a row lose a motor shortly after the warrantee expires.

Thanks for the replies.

FWIW another reason to get a dry sump is that they often make more horsepower than a wet sump. The suction from the pump sucks oil foam and blowby gas out of the air inside the crankcase, allowing the crankshaft to rotate more easily. However, the increase in power is usually pretty small, and the cost of a dry sump oil system is pretty high, so it's usually not worth the effort.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with a dry sump. I have not heard of Proteges having much trouble with oil starvation while cornering.

Actually, the most common place to find dry sumps is on airplanes because wet sumps don't work too well when they're tilted on their side or inverted. But I digress. :D

That's why a PCV is used :).

Yeah, but a PCV valve's capacity is limited by the amount of vacuum the engine has, since this is what generates the suction. It also only vents the crankcase in one place, in the middle of the valve cover, far away from the pistons and crank. A dry sump system usually has several inlets throughout the engine, and the pump provides more vacuum than the intake ever will.

Also, to get back to the original topic, it's possible to add an auxiliary external oil reservoir to a wet sump engine. This will guard against oil starvation without costing as much as a full-blown dry sump. A popular brand is Accusump.

That's not totally true. It all depends on the engine. Take my Escort's engine, the vent is on right side of the block, about 4 inches from the top. A GM Quad-4 has it on the front of the block.

However, that's a good point about the inefficiency due to vacuum control. I didn't think about that.

Cool, thanks. I'll check 'em out.