chrism Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 New caterham owner - K series with Pace dry sump and Brise tank losing oil into catch tank at rate of approx 1 litre every 1,000 miles - which seems a little excessive. The setup is identical to that described here No other problems.... any thoughts or advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 often as a result of overfilling the system have you started from scratch with the oil level 1" above the ds tank baffel ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthonym Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I second that. Overfill and car will find its own level by ejecting excess. Remember to reconnect overflow tube or the oil lands on your left foot (happened to me yesterday) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Am filling to 1 inch below the baffle in the Brise tank. Engine ejects oil from that point downwards! Oil pressure warning light starts coming on at idle when the level is around 2 inches below baffle, at which I top up and the cycle is repeated... Am starting to think of this as a "rolling oil change"..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I cant see why the oil pressure light would be related to oil capacity in the tank at idle ?, the head of oil in the tank is still above the feed pipe and would make no difference to oil pressure. The likleyhood is that the oil pressure light if fixed to come on at say 2 bar and pressure below this at idle is quite normal with a hot engine / oil. If this is your prompt to top up the oil I think you are making a mistake. I also dont understand why you eject more oil the lower the level in the tank ? - assuming your not in Australia 😬 I would start by looking at your oil level and then the breather pipe setup . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul McKenzie Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Dave's correct I think. You need to reset your OP warning light to 1 bar, or learn to ignore it at idle Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Guys, thanks for your advice. OW lamp is coming on at around 2bar as you suggest, am reasssured to hear this is fine at idle, just can't explain why the OP stays that bit above 2 when the level in the tank is higher. Dave, I think I confused you with my "downwards" comment! I didn't mean that I get more ejected at lower levels, just that I have not yet found the point at which it stops ejecting... I will ignore the OP light at idle, hold off topping up, and see if the level stabilises a bit lower down in the tank.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 what is your breather setup with the ds tank ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 Single pipe cylinder head to Brise tank, separate pipe Brise tank to oil catch tank (apologies if this is not a particularly technical description!) Same as the bottom photo on this page except that the outlet pipe on mine runs almost horizontally as the catch tank is mounted just in front of the heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 is it worth considering putting the catch tank breather on the forward facing take off so as the act at 90degrees to the incoming oil and also to prevent overflow under cornering ? [clutching at straws mode OFF] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted August 20, 2011 Author Share Posted August 20, 2011 Dave, thanks, that might be worth a try. But I will first try letting the level drop and see if that solves it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTS Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 This sounds like a problem I had in the early days, how old is your tank? With the original tanks oil could get up above the top plate and then be blown out of the breathers. Using the other breather to connect to the catch tank can help to some extent, but the complete fix is to have Brise modify the tank with their latest breather arrangement which prevents any oil loss occuring. Mick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Hi Mick, have just exchanged emails with the original owner of the car who said that the tank came as part of a bulk buy organised by a Mick Smith... putting two and two together here, I am assuming this could be your good self. In which case, this is certainly one of the original tanks. Do you have any idea how much Brise charged for the mod? Or some reference for the tank model, or the date supplied so I can get a quote from them? Thanks in advance, Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTS Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Hi Chris, The detail is all lost in the mists of time I'm afraid, but give Brise a ring and ask to speak to Tim Honess. If you tell him you have one of the original tanks that dump oil in the catch tank,he will know the mod required and will give you a quote for doing it. Mick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted August 22, 2011 Author Share Posted August 22, 2011 Mick, just spoken to Tim, extremely helpful guy. Tank can be modded as you say to move the internal position of the breather pipes towards the neck to reduce the amount ejected. Could be an option for the winter, in the meantime will try running with the oil level lower. Thanks for the advice Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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