Kitcat Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 My problem plagued Birkin (aka, Old Reliable: Because I can always trust it to break down), developed a low oil pressure issue and simultaneous engine clatter today at my first track day of the year. It ran strongly, for 15' then I heard some engine clatter and saw oil pressure was at 20 rather than the usual 60-70lbs. So I pitted and discover the oil catch can was nearly full, and the dip stick was registering no oil. So I let it sit. After 40', 2/3's of the oil returned to the sump and the dip stick showed it was low abt 2/3's of a quart. I added another 2/3's to top it up and started it up. Pressure was 40-50lbs but the clatter was still there and was synchronized with the revs (more rev's, more clatter). It sounded a lot like my Miata's hydraulic lifters before they warmed up. I took it for a spin and the pressure stayed up but clatter was there and it was definitely down on power and wasn't reving as freely. So onto the trailer it went and back to my mechanic's it goes on Monday (I am single handily keeping him in business!). Any and all theories are welcome. I am assuming the worst, but who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1turbofocus Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Im guessing this is your duratec ? what oil pan do you run , what type of oiling system Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Take some solace in that you weren't the one who put the thing together and can pay someone else to deal with the headaches of fixing it. If you built it, then you likely know what the problem might be and suffer the prospect of having to do all that work yourself. And of course, there's no one else to blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 Tom: Yes, Duratec, stock oil pan, as I recall unbaffled, and whatever oiling system Birkin puts on their cars. JohnK, yes it will be someone else's task to solve this, I dont have the skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Before you spring for a rebuild of the engine keep in mind there are lots of Duratec engines out there in the junkyards. A low mileage engine will be much cheaper than an overhaul and you can install it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1turbofocus Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Tom: Yes, Duratec, stock oil pan, as I recall unbaffled, and whatever oiling system Birkin puts on their cars. JohnK, yes it will be someone else's task to solve this, I dont have the skills. When you say stock oil pan your saying a Focus oil pan or an oil pan berkin uses , there are some good wet sump oil pans out there you may want to look at , this is the Raceline Duratec Wet Sump Kit 2.3L I would want to know 100% what the failure was caused by before installing a new engine Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Tom, thx, yes the car is on the way to my mechanic's and once the source of the problem is known, we will go from there. I did multiple fast laps over 2 days in it at NJMP last year w/o incident so no idea why oiling wld be an issue now. In any event, I will upgrade oil system regardless of problem, just to be safe. What do you (or others) recommend as a dry sump system on a Duratec? I see Raceline has options but for lots of $$$, anything cheaper but also effective? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1turbofocus Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 I wouldnt do dry sump unless this is a seroius track car , what do you do with this car most , street or track If track there is a nice internal dry sump set up that cuts down on having to have brackets , belts , etc Dry Sump Kits http://www.raceline.co.uk/uploads/product_images/webdurdrysump12.jpg Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Tom: What is cost of the above Raceline dry sump system? It looks pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboeric Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 2 thoughts (an I know nothing specific about Duratecs). The first is your PCV valve. Any chance it's ineffective or missing, allowing too much oil into the catch can? This would be worse at the track, as the hot running would tend to generate more crankcase pressure. The second is the position of the valve cover vent. I was at an autocross school where they had us running skidpad laps. One poor young guy had an AE86 Toyota that was running clockwise, when his car starting laying down an oil smokescreen worthy of 007. He was sure he'd blown his engine. I had a look and realized that with strong clockwise lateral acceleration, the oil was pooling on the left side of the head, and being sucked into the intake (no catch can setup). I got him to clean out as much of the intake tract as we could easily reach, and the smoke soon cleared up. You've never seen a more relieved young man. Any chance a similar thing is happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Mike, Check out Raceline's UK site. http://www.raceline.co.uk/products/part_section.asp?SectionID=23&CategoryID=1 http://www.raceline.co.uk/images/transp.gif845 pounds sterling, plus vat and shipping. Tom http://www.raceline.co.uk/images/transp.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusaNostra Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 (edited) ....i think you have to find & concentrate what happened and the cause of the noise before this stuff. Priority first. Edited May 7, 2012 by BusaNostra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off Road SHO Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Is the stock crankcase vent used? It it on the side of the engine as opposed to on top of the valve cover? If it's on the side of the block, is there any chance that oil could have been forcefully thrown up against that side on a continuous basis and then blown into your catch can by excessive blow-by? Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 As I recall, I have 3 crankcase vents for that very reason. Stay tuned, shd know tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1turbofocus Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Boy a lot of Tom`s in here LOL The Duratec and Zetec have very good crank case vent catch cans that bolt to the sides of the block and allow the oil to drain back into the engine before being blown out to a catch can or ground I think ALL the Zetec / Duratecs should be cutting the bottoms out of the PCV and removing the spring and plunger , connecting a hose and running the hoses up hill from the PCV location to catch cans or ground depending on if a track car or tree hugger , the valve cover vent also should not be run to anything but the ground or catch can and should be done with a hose no smaller ID then the ID of the hole in the valve cover , This helps the engine breath much better and isnt sending all that hot oily air back through the engine Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bball7754 Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Mike - Did a track day a few years ago at Putnam with a friend who had a Zetec SV. Came in after a session with similar sounds. We hoped (for probably no good reason) that it was a top end problem. It wasn't. Scored bearings and bent con rods. Cause was never really determined. It was an expensive fix. Hope your diagnosis is better and cheaper. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 Thx Steve: I am exploring the possibility of using this as an excuse for a bit of engine "upgrade-itis". Lemonade out of lemons, etc. Mike M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Try the "Ithaca Lemonade" approach/philosophy - if you have the patience and the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bball7754 Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Mike - Any updates? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now