230 oil pick up tube?

[Dartgame]

I'm in the process of cleaning parts and so on for a new 230 build I'll be assembling in the near future.

 

What I am doing is using the internals from a rebuilt unused 230 that was intended for fork lifts. The machine work etc is excellent but the block should never have been used. The water jackets are something akin to the titanic. The water distribution tube was a complete disaster, they left part of an old one in the block, shortened a new one and pounded it in. I got that stuff out and discovered that the block is cracked between one of the cylinder head bolt holes and a water passage. Fortunately, I have a donor standard bore 218 block, which is getting all the internals etc from the 230.

 

On to my question - the 230 oil pick up is interesting, because whoever built it, put a rubber O ring at the joint where the pick up pivots from the "up" pipe. I've never seen this before in the three other flatties I've had apart. What's the communities opinion about something like this? The o ring appears to be a standard rubber composition. I'm concerned it might degrade in hot oil.

[Sniper]

That joint has been known to leak, putting an o-ring there is a known fix.

 

https://www.facebook.com/thefreewheelingtonysmith/photos/a.3450240151663883/3449904411697457/

 

https://www.facebook.com/thefreewheelingtonysmith/photos/a.3450240151663883/3449906631697235/

[Dartgame]

Thanks. I figured that was a weak point in the pickup, that could lead to low oil pressure. I found it interesting that someone had done this. Thanks for the link. I'm going to look into getting a neoprene o ring of the correct size, vs one of an unknown composition.

[Dodgeb4ya]

The float to up pipe pivot connection doesn't need or use a O-ring.

That pivot connection is completely submerged in oil at all times.

An incorrectly up/down float pick up adjustment is something to be sure is checked and adjusted if necessary.

[Dartgame]

Dodgeb4ya - that's an interesting piece of information. I'll do some measuring and check the oil level vs pivot on the pickup. However, I wont be doing that until I get the block back and ready for assembly (probably several months). I'll report back once I know something more.

[Dartgame]

Finally getting the 230 assembled, its going well.

 

Decided to investigate the position of the oil level vs the pivot on the oil pickup/pivot. With the oil pan leveled front to back & side to side; I poured 4 qts of water into the pan sump. I accounted for the up pipe thread-into the block and checked the position of the pickup pivot. The pivot point is completely submerged by 1 to 1.5 inches. So the main advantage I see to using an O ring on the pivot is to control the oil being picked up through the strainer. I'll do the O ring mod, with this in mind.

[Sniper]

Two things, the static level will drop as the pump cycles oil thru the system and as you drive the car the oil will slosh around changing the eleel.

 

Then there is windage, as the crank spins it will trap a portion of the oil in it's orbit.

 

So, your actual level will be less.  The oring is insurance. 

[Dartgame]

I used 4 qts in my test, engine uses 5. My oil pan sump has baffles in it too. As I stated I will be using an O ring.

[Sniper]

Yes 5 qts but how much of that is in the filter? 

 

I was watching Engine Masters the other day and they did a dyno test on oil amount in the engine.  They found that, invariably, as long as oil pressure was sufficient, lower oil level in the pan made HP.  In some cases they found that pressure went up as the level was dropped.

 

The thinking was that less oil was whipped up and aerated causing better pressure and less HP consumed.

 

Now this was on an engine dyno so no vehicle dynamics were involved.  However, they found that even deep sump aftermarket pans benefited from being filled to less than capacity, such as a "7qt " pan filled with 5 quarts. 

 

Not sure I'd want to experiment too much with this though.  Especially if you have and oil leaker, lol.