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Foam Baffle - K Series


Mick Day

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I must have missed the discussion...

 

...but my car runs both.

 

Just 'cos the Apollo has taken a lot of the air out of the thrashed oil, doesn't mean it's a good idea to leave it sloshing around the sump though (if my understanding of the purpose of the baffle is correct...)

 

What are the supposed advantages (other than, presumably, a slightly higher oil volume...)?

 

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Edited by - Myles on 24 Jan 2004 17:14:33

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Myles

 

I really meant much discussion about changing the baffle but little concensus on its purpose. What does it do: stop the oil sloshing around, provide some measure of de-airation?..........or a combination of both.

 

So has anyone removed it totally & what is the result?

 

Mick

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It' supposed to be a baffle..

 

Every Caterham bottom end I have had apart has shown a degree of clogging of the oil pick up strainer with small pieces of foam baffle where it has slowly disintegrated. One in particular was almost completely clogged with it. I believe that it is a liability.

 

Oily

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Andy,

Dave Brook's engines at Crewe fabricated mine, and I know he has also done the same for K-series engines. But IIRC, it's an engine out job, and maybe more...it can't be done simply by removing the sump and windage plate. He also fabricates a new oil pick-up. So it's really something to have done at the same time as having other work done on your engine.

Give him a ring and he'll explain.

 

Paul

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DS engines dont need baffling since there is no sump bound oil to slop around, the foam baffle just hinders the return of oil to the sump. A conventional DS'd engine will usually run a windage/draining plate under the crank, but in the case if the K, the ladder construction makes that difficult to do.

 

Several owners that I know of have decided to run without the baffle because of the fragmentation problem and have had no ill effects. Life of the baffle seems to vary, one particular owner had his foam baffle completely dissolve in less than 1500 miles.

 

Oily

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From what I understand it's a different windage plate & no foam baffle. In effect the sump is not a reservoir for oil so there's little need for a baffle.

 

Just to repeat has anyone done away with the foam baffle & just relied on the anti-cavitation (apollo) tank?

 

Mick

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Oily makes a good point about the purpose of the foam - to hinder the return of oil to the sump. Given that the pick up pipe emerges BELOW the foam baffle in the sump, shouldn't removing the foam allow oil to return to the sump more quicky , reducing the risk of the pick up pipe picking up air on hard cornering??? *confused*
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I bought my 1400 SuperSport last April. It came with a brand spanking new engine. The guy a bought it from said he didn't put a foam baffle in as in his words they were a waste of time. He certainly tracked the car and owned it for 5 years and many miles before it's rebuild. I don't know if the lack of foam was with the new engine or perhaps he ran without it on the old. He did mention this problem of the foam breaking down though. I haven't tracked the car, but certainly on 'normal' road use I have not experienced any problems. The test drive he put me through (scared the hell out of me) didn't reveal any issues either and that was pretty dam extreme. I think I'll carry on without myself.

 

 

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Smutly.

How many miles before a rebuild? My 1400 SS (road use only admittedly) was removed at 43,000 miles only to fit an 1800. Engine still sweet as a nut and that had had its foam baffle changed on a regular basis.

The brand spanking new engine MAY have been because of the no foam routine had led to the originals premature demise.................... but maybe not.

 

Interesting 🤔 as to if certain oils break down the foam quicker than others.

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When was the last true 1.4 SS sold by Caterham? Quite some time ago. So it seems to have lasted some time without the foam. If it didn't have a foam baffle for most of its life & then had to have a replacement engine............... who knows what reason? Jackal's experience at 2.5k with foam blocking the galleries is not a nice story.

 

So who knows until we suck it & see. What we need is evidence based info from those who run no foam baffle but have an Apollo........ I'll bravely go I think. However researching Pace DS at present so may move sideways.

 

Mick

 

Edited by - Mick Day on 26 Jan 2004 19:56:00

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Paul,

The problem is, is that the foam is held up beneath the bearing ladder by a plate. The pick up pipe emerges to pick up oil from the sump below the foam and plate. There seems to be nothing to prevent sideways sloshing around of the oil away from the pick up pipe within the space of the sump.

Also, as the sump is sloped and the capacity is less on the left side of the sump, why do we only tend to notice oil pressure drops on hard right cornering? Surely it should be the other way round as there is more space to accommodate oil on the right hand side of the sump??? *confused*

I suspect that the baffle, by hindering the return of oil to the sump, keeps the bottom end bathed in oil longer, so short spells of picking up air on hard cornering don't matter so much?? Any ideas.

(I recently changed mine and it looked fine after 16,000miles on Castrol RS. It would be nice to ditch it if possible...)

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From memory the oil pickup pipe is on the RHS of the engine - hence right hand bends will tend to push the oil away from the pickup. I think the sump being sloped may be a red herring as the base of the sump is horizontal - it is the mating surface to the engine which is sloped.

 

I replaced my foam baffle last year (5yrs old, but only 7.5k miles) and it looked in no different shape to the new one I replaced it with.

 

Dave

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