Lost oil pressure at RTTC with Mast pan

[PhillipM]

We were at the Return to the Coast event last weekend with our 65 f85 and lost oil pressure on the road course. At first I thought we maybe had an oil pump issue but the more I go back and watch the in car video I'm not so sure. It really looks as though we were starving the pump for oil. I'm wondering if the baffles weren't also holding oil from getting back to the pickup. Wanting to put some feelers out there to see if anyone else has experienced this? It was rattling pretty good but so far no metal parts in the pan. Pulled the motor last night so we'll have to see once its torn down.

[dontlifttoshift]

Lost pressure completely or momentarily? Anything that can hold oil in place can hold it out of place as well.

[PhillipM]

It was going up and down through the turns but lap after lap it was headed lower and lower until it fell to 0 and the motor started rattling. That's when I noticed the problem unfortunately. We waited 5 minutes and hit the key but the damage was already done. It still wouldn't build pressure after the wait though.

[hifi875]

I believe there have been issues w ls motors on road courses. Several of the guys who do a lot of the run to events should be able to chime in. If I'm not mistaken dse , mark turner and others have lost some engines. I could be mistaken though

[PhillipM]

Hmm ya I hope others do chime in. This is the first time this has happened to us and I would like to know our options. Granted the motor isn't torn down yet so we don't know the extent of the damage.

[68sixspeed]

I recall hearing of another LS user with road course problems with the wet sump mast setup. Also, GM recommends running 1 quart more oil than normal on the corvettes for track use, not sure if that would be enough to help what you had though. Might want to consider a dry sump conversion (like this-- http://www.xplosiveperformance.com/DRY-SUMP-OIL-SYSTEMS-FOR-FOR-GM-LS1-LS9-SERIES-ENGINES-Model-LS-B-_p_3091.html ) or at the very least adding an accusump (pressurized oil reservoir). http://accusump.com/

The other thing, what were your oil temps like? If the oil pressure kept getting lower the longer you ran, that is a sign the oil was getting real hot. I rarely recommend a cooler on the street, but for the track it is really needed if you are running longer sessions or in hot weather.

[PhillipM]

Unfortunately we don't have an oil temp gauge so I'm not sure what the temps were like. An accusump could be a possibility but I'd be interested in talking to poeople who use them if they are a streetable solution. Obviously this car spends 99 percent of its time on the street so what ever we find out and decide needs to work on the street and not be a royal pita to use. I'd be interested in hearing from others that have had a situation like this too.

[dontlifttoshift]

It's a common problem and I don't believe that it is isolated to the Mast pan. There are threads on the vette forums where guys have had problems with stock LS3 pans (which are similar in design to Mast) and in extreme cases even the LS7 "moist sump" setups.

Plus one on oil temperature, too hot is bad.

Pretty sure that Tom Farrington runs an accusump successfully. Check out his build thread.

[68sixspeed]

Before I switched to the LS motor I ran an accusump for a year with no problems. I did the same setup as Randy (ProBell) has on his 67 camaro with an ls1. It has a pressure switch and a fast acting electronic valve that opens if the oil pressure drops below the switch setting which I think was 37psi. It will only recharge once the pressure is higher, like over 42. It is wired in with a manual "arm" switch which enables the system so you aren't using it at every red light on the street if you only have 30psi at idle at the stop light. It also lets you pre-oil the motor before starting which is good. I happen to have one for sale in the classifieds :)

But seriously, if I can help with pictures, questions etc just yell. Mine was tapped into the oil passage on the block but you can also get an adapter for the oil filter area, or if you are adding an oil cooler it can be plumbed into the cooler loop.

[tommycomfort]

Donny is correct, we are running a Canton Accusump on our 66 Chevelle. I am sure that it has activated under hard cornering during some road course and select auto-x excitement. Unless we somehow forget to hit the switch we also use it to pre-oil our engine before start up. That in itself is worth its price.

We've also killed some bearings while using the Mast pan, but I can confidently say that was not due to the pan. We were experiencing wiring issues with our Accusump and also had a well worn L92 takeout. Since all that, we have gone with Matt Altamore suggestion of using Castrol GTX SPT European blend 0w-30. It tested well against heat and has the characteristics of a 40w oil. Working great for us!

So, with all that said, we are in the process of doing some changes since my wife hit a semi-truck driveshaft in the middle of the highway. Bottom line, I will feel safer with a baffled pan, so we purchased a stock F-body pan with the Improved Racing baffle insert. Not quite that easy since we'll have to notch our crossmember to make it fit, but that's definitely within our scope of ability.
Here's the ebay link for the pan and baffle setup:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/130699651745?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Hope that helps some....

[RobNoLimit]

An Accusump is cheap insurance. We lost a motor in the silver truck do to oil loss (427W) and went to an Accusump with a simple electric valve wired to the ignition, and with an over ride off switch. Works great.