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What is the story behind oil starvation with the M96/M97 engine? Although there are many theories as to why there is oil starvation, the two that hold most credence are that the scavenge pumps and associated oil return passages (and defoamers) cannot return and process the oil fast enough AND the second theory that the oil collects in the heads under high G-forces. Another theory is the that oil is getting too hot (we've documented oil temperatures of 270F+ in a 30 min DE session on a 80F day!), leading to the oil becoming too thin and aerated. For summer use, a 5w40 full-synthetic Porsche approved oil should be used. For winter use, we recommend a 0w40 full-synthetic Porsche approved oil. Use of thicker oils not recommended. We recommend for track use Motul 8100 5w40, Motul 300V 5w40, or Joe Gibbs Racing 5w40 European Formula to help minimize this problem. I have an "X51" Oil Baffle and/or a .5 QT Deep Sump. Why is this not enough? Depending on your driving ability, a .5 QT Deep Sump Kit may suffice. We have been told that our deep sump is worth about ˝ bar of additional pressure in the carousel at Road America, but that’s on PS2s. Stickier tires will make the problem worse, as do other modifications to the car, which allow for greater G’s.
If you are tracking your Porsche and running r-compound or racing slicks, then a .5 QT deep sump and/or "X51" oil pan/baffle is not enough to prevent the dreaded oil starvation problem inherent to the M96 and M97 and all Boxster, Cayman, and 911 models from 1997-2008. Why use an Accusump? The Accusump is one answer to ensure adequate oiling in most driving situations and the most commonly used. The Accusump is the original automotive oil accumulator. Accusumps have been used for decades in other wet sump applications to prevent oil starvation – more specifically, Porsche 356s and 944s (and other variants) use them successfully to stave off starvation. It is a cylinder shaped aluminum storage container that acts as a reservoir of pressurized oil, to be released when there is a drop in the oil pressure. The Accusump is connected to the pressure side of an engine's oiling system and is charged by the engines own oil pump. Its simple, efficient design revolves around a hydraulic piston separating an air pre-charge side and an oil reservoir side. On the oil side of the Accusump it has an outlet that goes into the engine's oiling system, controlled by a valve. The 2 Quart Accusump is ideally sized for surge control as well as engine pre-oiling and is a compact 12" long by 4 1/14" in diameter. We've chosen this size because of the balance between it's footprint and volume and should be good for most installations, either fitting in the trunk, rear cargo area, and in some models, underneath the car in the tunnel (on RWD models only). The Accusump is designed collect pressurized oil from your engine and store it so it may be discharged later during low oil pressure surges to protect against engine damage during demanding racing conditions. After the oil pressure stabilizes, the piston inside the Accusump moves back and forth, pressurizing the Accusump until it equalizes with engine's oil pressure. The Electric Pressure Control Valve we use is for a discharge/refill of 35-40 PSI. These valves have the convenience of an electric valve for remote mounted units on daily drivers but with the rapid refill rate of a manual valve as required in racing. The E.P.C. valving will only allow the Accusump to discharge oil when the engine’s oil pressure drops below a predetermined level and only refill when the pressure rises above that level. With the electronic valve, you don’t know it’s working as it’s supposed to be seamless – but I’d recommend addition of a shift light or some other indicator to tell you that the Accusump is actually actuating. We suggest adding a toggle to have a “valet” mode so that you can turn the Accusump off, as we normally recommend wiring the E.P.C. valve to actuate at key-on, or use the switch as the trigger and only use it on the track when it's really needed.
HPDE installation is easy (shown above), using one single line coupled with a single input adapter (shown above). A "shorty" filter is used to maintain ground clearance for street use. LN Engineering includes a billet high performance oil filter with a washable (& reusable) stainless steel mesh insert for use with the Accusump kit to preserve OE ground clearance (filter interchanges with a Napa Gold 1081). Our universal Accusump kit includes everything you need to do a custom Accusump installation in your Boxster, Cayman, or 911, sans wiring or electrical pieces. Our Accusump kit features a two quart Marine Accusump system including LN Engineering's spin-on full-flow oil filter adapter, single input sandwich adapter (for easy one-line installation - fits between filter and LN spin on filter adapter), billet high performance oil filter, 45 psi electronic valve, stainless braided hose, and fittings. We also recommend running one of our deep sump kits, either the .5 quart or 2 quart, depending on if it is for a street or dedicated track car (sold separately). Support is not included. For troubleshooting technical issues with your Accusump, please contact Canton directly. NO WARRANTY, RETURNS, OR EXCHANGES ON ACCUSUMP KITS! Why not use an Accusump? Is the 2QT Deep Sump Kit the right option for me? For many, the Accusump is a satisfactory solution that is both economical and easy to install, but many do not like it because it is not streamline. For those people wanting protection that is streamline and transparent, adding a 2 QT Deep Sump that is fully baffled to prevent sloshing of oil, in addition to the two extra quarts of oil, is a step in the right direction.
When coupled with the addition of the extra scavenging for both heads using our Dual Tandem Scavenge Oil Pumps, the 2 QT Deep Sump Kit provides a seamless solution to the oil starvation issue that is completely transparent to the driver and is very similar to the improved "Integrated Dry Sump" used the MY09 and later DFI 9A1 engines. INSTALLATION NOTES: When using the 2QT deep sump, 997 Cayman oil return tubes are recommended, Porsche part number 99710701600. EBS's X51 baffle might require modification to clear these. If the 996 "swirl-pots" are retained, the steel baffle plate must be modified to clear the swirl pots as they interfere with the plate. Lastly, the order of operations for installation of the 2 QT deep sump (after installing the pickup tube and extension) requires the steel baffle plate to be installed first (using the provided loctite 5900), then the provided gasket (using no sealant), then the 1" pan spacer, then the oil pan itself (using the Loctite 5900). I want a seamlessly integrated solution to oil starvation. What can I do? For those people wanting protection that is streamline and transparent, adding a 2 QT Deep Sump that is fully baffled to prevent sloshing of oil, in addition to the two extra quarts of oil, is a step in the right direction, as mentioned previously. Adding Dual Tandem Scavenge Pumps to the cylinder heads adds one additional scavenge stage to each head, allowing the engine to suck oil that would otherwise be trapped in the cylinder head under high G-forces, improving oil pressure in turns under high G-forces by at least 15-20 psi, based on data reported by others using the factory pumps.
Our kit is based loosely on the original "X51" scavenge pump (shown above), which when available last in 2007 (last one we purchased was over $2500 from Suncoast Porsche), only offered one pump, not two (each pump is unique to whichever head it is going on), where our kit fully solves the problem by offering pumps for both heads.
Shown above, each pump is composed of our billet housing and fully heat treated drive shaft along with genuine Porsche gears (each kit is made from four factory Porsche pumps).
Professional installation is recommended as special tools and techniques will be required to perform installation correctly. We include the required fittings and hoses for the installation, which requires removal of your valve covers to machine for the added oil pickup point. In all, installation takes about 15 hours for installation of the two pumps if you leave the engine in the car while doing the procedure on a lift. On later model vehicles with a tandem vacuum brake booster pump, some customization will be required as our pump will delete your car's brake booster vacuum pump. Several solutions are available aftermarket for brake boosters as shown below: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HLA-009428087/http://www.metricmind.com/category/ev-vacuum-pumps/ Further reading on the topic can be found at the Cayman Register: http://caymanregister.org/showthread.php?t=29973&page=18Now that I've addressed the oil starvation issue with an Accusump, deep sump, or additional scavenge pumps, how can I control my oil temperatures? As mentioned previously, another theory as to why there is oil starvation is the that oil is getting too hot (we've documented oil temperatures of 270F+ in a 30 min DE session on a 80F day!), leading to the oil becoming too thin and aerated. Using the right oil is a good start. For summer use, a 5w40 full-synthetic Porsche approved oil should be used. For winter use, we recommend a 0w40 full-synthetic Porsche approved oil. Use of thicker oils not recommended. We recommend for track use Motul 8100 5w40, Motul 300V 5w40, or Joe Gibbs Racing 5w40 European Formula to help minimize this problem. Another band-aid is the addition of a 3rd radiator to the vehicle along with our low temperature thermostat, since the oil temperature is directly proportional to coolant temperature and the M96 and M97 engine both use a water to oil heat exchanger. Even with this, the high oil temperatures we recorded above are still possible. The factory "oil cooler" is a water to oil heat exchanger that performs better as an oil warmer (to speed up warm-up of your engine in the winter or in colder climates) rather than a cooler for track duty. To solve this problem, deleting the oil to water heat exchanger with our oil cooler delete along with an external oil cooler (like a mocal or setrab) and a fan pack will ensure lower oil temperatures. Early testing showed a 20-30F drop in oil temperature and a jump of oil pressure of 15 psi.
When installing the external oil cooler, it will be best to minimize the oil line length, so a small, compact oil cooler with integrated fan pack to mount in the rear, say next to the transmission, is a good choice. We have had users recommend Setrab's coolers to us: One of our vendors, Aircooled.net, carries them. They are quite reasonable and come in two sizes.
http://www.aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproductdetail.php?keyword2=eco0039
LN Engineering Billet Spin On High Performance Oil Filter
For those familiar with using an Accusump on your M96 or M97-equipped Boxster, Cayman, or 911, you are probably familiar with the lack of ground clearance, requiring use of a very small (shorty) oil filter. For years, we ran the Napa Gold 1081, but it's size is also a limitation, requiring frequent changing and care to prevent damaging the oil filter with too thick of oil at startup, among other shortcomings, requiring monitoring filters for internal collapse. This is not an issue or concern with our new billet filter. Due to high demand, we chose to engineer a billet oil filter using a slightly increased porosity stainless mesh (60 versus the 30 micron of the stock paper filter). Along with increased surface area and greater pore size, our "shorty" Billet High Performance Washable Oil Filter will outperform the 1081 or it's larger sibling, the 1042, hands down. This increase in flow along with a smaller pressure loss across the element ensures the best possible protection for your engine from oil starvation. When coupled with our magnetic drain plug, a superior lubricant like Motul or Joe Gibbs, and reduced drain intervals, our billet filter provides the best balance for cars that see both street and track use. With the introduction of our billet filter, for applications where ground clearance needs to be observed, we no longer recommend the Napa Gold 1081. In other applications, the Napa Gold 1042 should be used if not using our billet oil filter. In fact, any car that sees track use can benefit from our billet oil filter with increased oil pressure! Do you offer an upgraded oil pump drive? If you track your car, it's a pretty cheap item to not have to loose sleep over. Yes, we offer a heat treated, shot-peened chromoly oil pump hex drive to replace the inferior, non-heat treated mild-steel factory pump drive on the M96 and M97 engine, which has known to fail, shearing in two, resulting in a catastrophic loss of oil pressure. Don't let this happen to you! The oil pump drive is located off the intermediate shaft on the opposite side that hold the ball bearing and mates to the oil pump console, located on the front of the engine. This part should not be changed with the engine in the car, as the oil pump console must be removed to R&R the oil pump drive, which is a task best suited when the engine is removed from the car.
I have a full-blown race car that doesn't get driven on the street, so ground clearance really isn't an issue. Are there any additional options for installing an Accusump? Although the HPDE Accusump kit as provided with our spin-on filter adapter and billet high performance oil filter is the simplest solution for installation of an Accusump, we have had many customers get creative with their installations. Shown below are photos of such installations, first on a 996 and second, on a Spec Boxster.
I have had to replace my power steering pump several times. How can I prevent this from happening? Although not an oil system problem, it is an overheating problem that causes repeated power steering pump failures. LN Engineering offers a simple and foolproof solution adding extra capacity to the system along with passive cooling above. Our kit includes a billet inline power steering cooler as well as all fittings, lines, and fluid to install our simple cooler, as shown below on a Cayman S. We offer an installation guide online for this simple do-it-yourself kit.
2012 Pricing Schedule
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Contact webmaster at info@LNengineering.com If you are having problems contacting LN Engineering, please email us at lnengineering@gmail.com, Copyright LN Engineering LLC ©2002-2012. *LN Engineering features a nickel silicon carbide composite coating similar in appearance and performance to Nikasil™, a trademark of Mahle Corporation, backed by a limited lifetime warranty. Porsche, Boxster, 356, 911, 914, 986, and 996 are registered trademarks of Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG. All other trademarks and copyrights are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. This content may not be used for any commercial use without express written permission of LN Engineering LLC, and possibly other copyright or trademark owners. |
Likewise,
The X51 oil pan, or baffle as it's called, in our opinion (and likewise the
opinion of many others) is useless without the rest of the X51 package, which
added an extra scavenge pump in the head and external oil return line right back
to the sump. The addition of the extra scavenging improves oil pressure 15-20
psi, but the factory pump setup only added protection only for turns in one
direction, leaving the other head without additional oil scavenging and likewise
with a pressure drop in those turns. That's why
we now offer our Dual Tandem Oil Scavenge Pumps, new for 2012.
LN Engineering Nickies™
are Proudly 100% Made in the USA!