DIY oil sump baffle

[Siert]

I've been thinking of fitting a baffled sump to my 1.6 (XU5JA) Peugeot engine. I'm not entirely sure how much I need it, but I'd like to keep this engine in one piece for a change (even if its an old high mileage engine I bought for 50€).

Fitting a baffled sump from a Citroën XM seems to be the easiest option for my car (it apparently works for the Mi16 engine van-der-wal.com/mods_sump.htm ). I put a wanted ad on the Finnish Citroën forum and was offered such a sump. But then I started to think about it and I'm a bit worried that it will increase the oil capacity by so much that my engine will run too cool. Compared to the ribbed Mi16 sump the capacity increase is apparently 2-3 litres, not sure what it does for my engine.

Given that my engine has a steel sump, would it be a good idea to just weld a baffle in my existing sump? How do I decide how much to restrict the flow? Isn't welding something that's been covered in oil for 25 years going to be a pain in the ass?

[chairchild]

any sump from a XUD will fit an XU, and vice-versa

You'll have to check the pickup tube length however - as this may be the deciding factor as to suitability at the end of the day.


PS: link doesn't work for me?

[v8ian]

I would be surprised if the oil capacity will affect drastically the cooling of the engine, the rad thermostat will stay shut till the engine warms up, then take control of the cooling,, the only thing you will probably notice is the engine will take a couple of extra mins to get to operating temp

[Siert]

May 5, 2013 20:33:19 GMT chairchild said:

PS: link doesn't work for me?

I fixed it now. Thanks for the advice 'chairchild' and 'v8ian'. Looking at the pictures on that link it may actually be that the Mi16 has a smaller sump than my engine, so it is possible that on my engine there will be no capacity increase at all (I probably should just check how much oil Haynes states must go in the XUD engine).

[chairchild]

just peeked in my HBOL.... and dear god they didn't make it easy!

1.6 petrol = 4.75L
1.8 petrol (with aircon) = 4.25
1.8 petrol (without aircon) = 4.75L
2L petrol = 4.25L

1.9TD (with aircon) = 4.2L
1.9TD (without aircon) = 4.5L
2.1TD (with aircon) = 4.3L
2.1TD (without aircon) = 4.8L

Then, specifically from the Citroen XM:

2.1D (non-turbo) = 6L
2.1TD early model = 6L
2.1TD latermodel, without aircon = 6.25L
2.1TD with aircon = 6L

the 2.5 is a different type of engine, so isn't compatible - but just peeked, it takes an incredible 8L of chuffing oil!




I don't have a HBOL that has info for the 1.4, so no idea how much oil that needs - but hope this helps

[phillipm]

~3.5L

[Siert]

Ohw yeah, I could have figured that out myself but thanks for saving me the trouble! The XM 2.1 aircon was the option I was looking at as its baffled, however it does seem to increase the capacity quite much (apart from the unwanted extra cooling it will also probably reduce my car's ground clearance)

I'm still considering just welding a plate in my current sump. Any opinions on that?

[RobinJI]

Can't see any issue with welding into your current one. It should only need tacking in place anyway, as you're not trying to fully seal it or anything. I've welded old (as in 150k+) steel sumps no problem. In fact adding baffling's something I plan to do on my current one sometime.

Increased oil capacity's generally seen as a good thing for motorsport use, and if you're planning on using the car in a way that justifies a baffled sump it might not be too bad a thing, I guess it depends how much you plan to use the car for short trips.

[Siert]

May 6, 2013 16:16:27 GMT RobinJI said:

Can't see any issue with welding into your current one. It should only need tacking in place anyway, as you're not trying to fully seal it or anything. I've welded old (as in 150k+) steel sumps no problem. In fact adding baffling's something I plan to do on my current one sometime. Increased oil capacity's generally seen as a good thing for motorsport use, and if you're planning on using the car in a way that justifies a baffled sump it might not be too bad a thing, I guess it depends how much you plan to use the car for short trips.

Thanks, yeah I was thinking that tacking it in should not be too hard. Regarding the cooling and "motorsport": The car is used for driving hard mostly for autoslalom, where it never runs more than 2 minutes at the time. It gets occasional track use but usually the driver overheats before the car I also use it regularly on my 13km (8 mile) commute, and at least in the current weather the oil temperature gauge doesn't move on such a short distance.

[RobinJI]

Ah, fair play. Yeah, probably worth sticking with the current capacity in that case. Plus like you say, ground clearance will probably be better which is always nice! If the track use gets longer then a thermostat controlled oil-cooler would give a nice best of both worlds.

With welding it, as long as the surface is cleaned up properly then it should be fine, I just flap-disked mine back and didn't have any issues, even seam welding in a joint that needed to be oil-tight. You here horror stories about people having trouble welding alloy sumps, but pressed steel's much less porous than cast alloy, and wont tend to hold contaminants any deeper than the surface, once it's cleaned up it tends to be fine.