Long story short, I tried to put the cart before the horse and bought an oil pan before pulling my motor and forgot that I had a larger than stock pan on it already...I believe its around a 10 qt at best with no windage tray other than the stock one that mounts to the main studs....I have a new 11 qt pan that has a windage try which is removable that judging by the louvers in it is meant for a circle track car. They are all facing one way which makes me think its for left hand turns lol. It is 11 qt and also has baffles and trap doors in the bottom..little flip up doors 2 on each baffle that I'm guessing are meant for braking so the oil doesn't run to the front of the pan. I'll put up pics of both, looking for suggestions on which one to use and why. The whole intent was more capacity to get oil temps under control. The new one is shallower overall but doesn't have the deep sump like the old one it's just one level all the way through. I did measure my front mount and the pan will clear with no problems so just looking for a little advice as to which one would be best for my boat application. Motor is a blown/injected 540.

Thanks

Old




New

The pan you took off your wngine at 10quarts?



As long as the 10 quarts fit in the sunp part and not in the shallow area, that would be a good option. Run less oil than the 10 quarts.(measure out some water in there for a level with dipstick depth in block etc)

The shallow and long new pan has a better windage system as well as pulling oil from the crank.

If oil gets crank entrained...it will keep it in the vortex...suck up from the pan if oil level contacts from sloshing. Perf Marine rpms not as bad as 9500rpm race engines, but it's still an issue.

Just make all left turns with the new pan!!!

The oil pan fluid dynamics in a fast rough water boat will be all over the place. Having a cover on it really helps the crank from coming in contact.

The Mercruiser 10 quart pans are just long troughs that let the oil move around more, vs a larger sump.

Factory oil windage trays make the oil splach back into the crank a bit. It's a very dynamic environment.

I would probanly run the new pan. Gill it with 8/910 quarts of water to see where the levels are. Mark the dipstic depth required for what you choose.

I was guessing on oil capacity of the old pan...the boat has been sitting for awhile and I can't remember how much it held....I drained into a 5 gallon bucket and it was a little less than half full so was guessing 8-10 quarts.

Would the louvers in the new pan all be facing one way for the sling of oil coming off the crank to catch it? The description says it has crank scrapers but I don't have enough knowledge on oil pans to know if that's what they mean or if those are something else?

Thanks

The term crank scraper is for a custom fit very close tolerance piece of flat metal that shears the oil off the crank.

Depending on rpm, scrapers will reduce HP, but that's higher rpm than we typically run. Windage is a large issue of resistance for the air as well as oil.

The louvers in the oil pand windage tray are cut open to capture the oil as it cone off the crank, isolating it from the crank and preventing it from splashing against the metal.

BBCs don't have skirted blocks, that helps out a lot.

Interesting info: WW2...the Germans had active sabotage on their mil truck production line, where the engine oil dipsticks were purposefully marked very low in the oil pan. Oil level appeared gtg...but was very low. Not enough to be obvious...but enough that it had an effective amount of failures.

Another methid to add volume to the oil system...is an external oil accumulator. It also maintains constant oil pressure. Can also be used to pre-lube on start-up.

Louvered windage trays have the slots/cutouts always facing one way, the way the crank spins. It's designed to remove and not let the oil back onto the crank. The oil that is going all over inside the engine does cause resistance but also aerates the oil, not good.

Tartilla...that is a very interesting piece of history! Did not know that

Sounds like the new pan has a lot of benefits so will be the way I go....

One more question regarding oil level...regardless of the "capacity" stated in the specs, should I run the oil level just under the windage tray? An inch below? Would like to set level and get the dipstick right before installing the pan.

Thanks for the help!

The benefit of running larger capacity oil pans...you can typically run less than pan spec'd volume to drop the level. So you end up with 7-8 quarts in a 10 quart pan, vs a 5-6 stock pan size.

Definetly put the oil level below the louvers and plate, ensure you fill it with water to test, and put your dipstick in the block to measure depth and etch where you want the level.

Oil drainback is a big issue. We need lots of oil in the top end to cool the springs, and not every head is good for oil draining. I'm pro accumulator, as it adds oil volume and pressure safety. It's like a hybrid dry sump.

what is part number of the new champ pan? I have a customer who has one of their gen 6 versions on his twin engine sunsation with 4.25 stroke engines and hes fighting oil foaming /oil control at 3500, 4000 and up. The motors are coming out to change pans or put better windage trays in this winter because he considers it undrivable at sustained rpms, Ill find out which ones he has

CP218LT is the new pan....I'm hoping it's not the same as that would completely ruin my day hahahaha

I took a couple more pics I'll post shortly with of course another question haha

So I just researched oil accumulators and I feel like an idiot because I never knew they existed...one of these will be a must in the system. That being said, any plumbing tips on our marine setups which are obviously different than a car? I'm running a hardin block adapter, thermostatic filter head, and plate cooler...I believe I should plumb it after the cooler tee'd in before it goes back to the block? Or should it be plumbed directly into an oil galley? I plan to wire it to the ignition for prelube purposes for sure.

Also I'll attach a couple pics....these are the little flip up "doors" in the bottom of the pan. There are 3 oil baffles with 2 of these doors in each...should I leave them or remove one in each or remove them all together? I assume these are for racing applications where braking will cause oil to run forward and creep up the front of the pan?

Thanks for the help and suggestions....I'm sure I'm diving way too deep into an oil pan but I'm kinda a nerd like that and like getting my head wrapped around things.