Again, thanks for the input. Educate me please: Why won't it pull oil if it's a little off the floor of the pan?? Frankly, there's conflicting information about where it needs to be. The little cutout on the pickup kinda looks like it does belong on the floor of the pan. You have any idea why it needs to be there?? And aftermarket ones need to be raised a bit?? Not questioning...just looking for enlightenment. Thanks!
There is no conflicting information out there if you use a Factory Service Manual. It explains it clearly.
Again, I've seen so many broken Chrysler engines because guys did this **** wrong. We had a LONG, DRAWN out discussion about this very thing in the small block section.
The shape of the pickup, the style, where it pulls the oil from, even where the pickup tube enters the strainer affects how the pickup pulls oil off the pan.
So think about this a just a minute, and it will make sense. Or it should.
The factory pan holds 4 quarts of oil. That's all. That isn't much. Then you have one in the filter. Now think about what's going on when you drive down the road. You have almost a quart in the system, and another quart or a bit more falling back to the pan, trying to get past the thrashing crank and rods so it doesn't have an easy trip. And between both heads you hold another quart.
My name isn't Tom Hoover but I can do simple math. That leaves about a quart or so of oil in the pan. We don't need an engineering degree to understand this do we? (Pardon my sarcasm but this **** is really elementary and I don't care who has what paper on their wall to prove how March schooling they have).
To visualize this better now that you have some idea what's going on in the engine while bebopping down the road, we can do a quick test to see why the pickup needs to be touching the floor of the pan, other than me saying that's how it's engineered.
Take a stock pan and fill it with a quart of water. Get in your car, and have your wife hold the pan with the quart of oil in it.
Now. Pull to a stop sign. The gun it away from that stop sign. Then prepare to listen to your wife ***** because she is now wearing the water. Now, get running about 50 or so, and do a hard stop. Now you get to listen to the bitching because the little bit of water in the pan is now on her feet and I'll say she's pretty pissed (don't ask how I know this...just know I took this bullet for you way back in 1981).
The point is, with a stock pan, the available oil and most any given time is about a quart. If the pickup isn't touching the floor of the pan, it will suck air. Think about it. Even a 1/4 inch off the floor makes it hard for the pickup to pull oil.
Now, get a 1/2 quart low on oil and you will be in the suck.
That's why the engineers who developed this **** designed it the way they did.
The pickup MUST touch the bottom of the pan, and IDGAF who says otherwise. If that bothers you, get an aftermarket pan and matching pickup and then set the pickup clearance accordingly.
Can't tell you how many guys with 13 second cars, who did their own assembly would call me and say the oil light comes on if I stop hard. Or better yet, they say oil pressure drops to zero at the end of the track and comes back when I get to the return road. Then it starts a discussion that goes like this:
ME: did you set the pickup to pan clearance?
CUSTOMER: sure did.
ME: what's it at?
CUSTOMER: between a 1/4 and 3/8, right where it should be.
ME: that's wrong.
CUSTOMER: it's where I always set them.
ME: how's that working for you?
CUSTOMER: no need to be a dick.
ME: no need to be a pussy. This is your fault. The pickup needs to touch the pan.
CUSTOMER: now what?
ME: pull it apart and fix it.
CUSTOMER: **** THAT! I'm not pulling the engine to fix that.
ME: then live with it and be ready to kick a bone out shortly. Hopefully you haven't scrapped anything yet.
CUSTOMER: there isn't anything else I can do?
ME: yes, but you aren't fixing it. You are taking the sissy way out.
CUSTOMER: I don't care.
ME: add a quart of oil until it stops dropping pressure.
Which at that point, I no longer will work on this dudes ****. He is a problem child. I send him down the road for some other poor sucker to baby sit.
And we haven't even broached the subject of what happens when you open up bearing clearances, when oil is leaking past the lifters like a gusher and pulling more oil from the pan. And how the oil gets the **** beat out of it, trying to get past the spinning crank and rods.
You have a problem. But smashing the pan isn't your issue.
Again, I don't care WHO says you need the pickup away from the pan. That style pan and pickup should be touching.
Unless you want to run extra oil in a pan not designed for it.
Now you know more than the incompetent dickhead at 440source who produced that stupid thing you posted.
And I didn't even charge you for it. In fact, call 440source tomorrow and tell them yellow rose said to kiss my *** for their ignorance.
