Kill No Cone

iTrader: (6)

You should use two gaskets...

NoPistns

C'mon guys! Which is it, one or two gaskets? RETed says only one because the bolts aren't long enough, and Kill No as well as Racing Beat say two.

Here's the blurb from RB's page on the baffle...

"Oil Baffle (Air-Oil Separator) (13B) 1986-92 RX-7 All

The Oil Baffle plate slows the return of engine oil as it drains down the pan. By slowing the oil, air that is trapped in the oil (as foam) has a greater opportunity to dissipate.

Removing the air both improves the ability of the oil to transfer heat and reduces pressure drops at high RPM. The plate is sandwiched between the engine and the oil pan. It is recommended that two oil pan gaskets be used, one below and one above the plate, to provide proper sealing. Gaskets not included."

RX744CSP

iTrader: (4)

Sounds to me like the quick fix is to use longer pan bolts. BTW, my first gen does the same 'low oil light' thing on hard right handers, but the oil pressure does not drop (It worried me to the point that I videotaped the gauge to make sure.) The sender is on the left side of the pan.

NoPistns

Space is pretty tight. You have to raise the engine about 2" to get to the front bolts as well as getting it free from the right side motor mount. Longer bolts might be problematic.

Mine is worst after a hard left followed by a right hand sweeper.

NoPistns

Got the pan baffle installed last night. RTed was right about the pan bolts. The pan bolts are 6mmx12mm. Seems that to make it easier to hit the holes, the last 1mm or so at the tip isn't threaded and is a little smaller. I replaced them with full thread 6x12 bolts and regular washers. If I could have gotten 6x14's it would have been even better.

One thing not in the instructions is the baffle in the left rear corner of the pan. It is a horizontal plate about 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" that has an "L" spot welded to it vertically. It is right where the line comes back from the oil cooler, so I think it is to keep the flow from the oil cooler line from shooting toward the front of the engine before dropping into the sump. A few minutes with a drill and die grinder removed the wall and allowed the baffle to fit.

I also discovered that my right motor mount was completely broken and the left one wasn't far behind. All in all, the job(s) took about 3 hours or so.

I'm currently running 6 quarts of oil in the engine, most charts show 5 w/filter change (that filter certainly doesn't hold a quart).

chairchild

Here's an alternative method for someone to try out....

cut of the main sump-section from the front and weld a flat plate over it, then have two tubes running parallel with the engine, which are connected to the OE sump via tubes.

Also means you can mount the engine lower, since the sump is now FLAT




Just took that pressure-piston idea, and modified it :p

NoPistns

This would be a relatively easy engine to dry-sump. Since there is literally nothing hanging below the bottom of the chambers except for the oil pickup tube, compared to a recip engine that has crankshaft counter weights, the engine lends itself very well to that design.

Mounting the engine lower in a -7 is a major engineering feat for a relatively small gain. If you were building something along the line of a specialized race car where you build your own frame, (think LMP 675), you could realize some major gain by dry-sump. It's not practical for a -7.

Mazda could have done a dry sump in their design, but I suspect there might have been cost issues. Since the engine is so compact and light, it might not have been worth the added expense of the dry-sump design.