At what point should I need a baffled sump?

brenno · Postby **brenno** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:01 am

Hi all,

I'm wondering who out there uses a sump with more baffling than standard, and at what point you thought it was necessary?

It's my understanding that as the MX5 was produced, they introduced more baffles as time went on. Is that correct?

Would you advise on an oil cooler before sump baffles, or vice versa.

I'm just trying to avoid a repeat of my last trackday. Engine go boom :lol:

Matty · Postby **Matty** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:55 pm

Having torn down a 1.6, I'd say there's plenty of baffling unless you're pulling severe G's on slicks. There's a horizontal baffle plate, and drainage ribs cast into the sump also.

You could add in a crank scraper, but that would be about it.

A relatively standard MX shouldn't overheat or lose oil pressure (assuming proper oil level) on the track, so I'd go searching for the problem before adding extra bandaids.

lowmiata · Postby **lowmiata** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:16 pm

brenno wrote:I'm wondering at what point you thought it was necessary?

If you ever drive upsidedown?
or have you been racing against nascars?

where would you put extra baffles anyway? there aint alot of room!

or you could get the later model baffles (i didn't know there was a change but if there is maybe see when they changed and get the part no.s for the newer one)

add in an oil cooler so you are holding more oil?
would help to have extra oil flowing through the system.

are you definatly sure it was oil starvation that caused the malfunction?
it didn't get to thin under the heat?

CT · Postby CT » Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:28 pm

90% of the MX5 race cars use stock sumps.......oil pumps on the other hand, might be a different story.

brenno · Postby **brenno** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:05 am

Matty wrote:A relatively standard MX shouldn't overheat or lose oil pressure (assuming proper oil level) on the track, so I'd go searching for the problem before adding extra bandaids.

That's good to know, thanks.

brenno · Postby **brenno** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:11 am

lowmiata wrote:are you definatly sure it was oil starvation that caused the malfunction?
it didn't get to thin under the heat?

Good point, I'm just assuming it was oil starvation. There was plenty of oil before the 10-15 lap session I was doing on the track. Towards the end of the session I heard the noise so pulled off and checked the level - it was just below minimum. I knew my valve stem seals were bad, but I would have thought that amount of oil usage would really make itself known with heaps of smoke.

Anyway, lesson learnt. I'll investigate an oil cooler next time I head out for longer sessions.

Garry · Postby **Garry** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:27 am

I was reading on miatanet about a problem that's starting to appear with the 96/97 oil pumps. Is your car a late model NA?

brenno · Postby **brenno** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:30 am

Yep - 97 model.

What was the problem? Any more details?

Ta

Garry · Postby **Garry** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:44 am

Sorry, dont remember exactly but basically the oil pressure drops and kills the big end.

Have a look on the miatanet forum.

Garry · Postby **Garry** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:08 am

Opps, I read about it on the Miata Email list. Sorry for the confusion. Mazda must have changed some materials or manufacturing tolerances in the 96/97 oil pumps because this seems to be the only model effected.