gtpvette

I’ve read a number of threads the last two days regarding the Accusump and it’s on the short list of parts to gather for my GTM. I do have a question regarding using it to pre-oil my motor prior to the first start. I’m assuming I’ll need to manually fill the wet side with oil then charge the gas side with air to pre-oil a new motor but I haven’t seen any specifics in any of the threads. Am I on track here,,,,, or am I missing something?

Thanks!

trackboss

You can only pre-oil when the accusump has oil in it. If you drain the accusump when doing oil changes it will need to be filled before you can use it simply by adding the additional oil in the motor and letting it fill as the motor idles.
I've installed a few accusumps on ford race motors with the manual valve and they work great. On my C5 I used the EPC valve, which should be better, but I noticed that when I pre-oil my factory guage only shows a few pounds of pressure. Never had a problem on track, but its just something I've noticed. One thing you should always do regardless of what valve you use is to turn it off after pre-lubing, or otherwise, to start your motor. Then, once pressure is up cycle the valve on/off until completely full. Otherwise all the oil will go towards filling the accusump and after that is done will the motor get its oiling.

MySR71

With the EPC valve, I don't believe it works like that. With the valve off (no power applied to the valve), I'm pretty sure it can still refill. This is from ACCUSUMP's web site:

I presume that the valve is in the off position when no power is applied to the valve. Otherwise, the ACCUSUMP would dump all its oil after the engine was shut down. But, with the valve in the off position, per above, it would still be allowed to fill.

My experience is also different than what you suggest. When I do an oil change, I completely discharge the ACCUSUMP to remove the stored oil. The gauge that is on the ACCUSUMP air side goes down to around 8 psi. After filling the car with oil, and with no power going to the EPC valve, I start the car. If I watch the gauge on the ACCUSUMP air side after start up, I will see it slowly build up to approx 45 psi. This is even with the power off. To me, this indicates that even with no power to the EPC, the ACCUSUMP can still fill.

For completeness, here's some more detail on how the EPC valves work (for the 35-40 psi version), again from their web site:

AU N EGL

I use a electic switch on my dash.

turn the key too accessory
let the gauges swing and settle back
then flip the sump switch
watch the oil pressure gauge on the dash go up
10-15 sec or so
crank it up.

GettReal

Heres an old thread I started that might help as well....

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...reference.html

trackboss

You are right about the EPC valve. It does refill even when off, but I have never had a clear answer as to whether it fills slower than if the valve is on. Canton has never been a whole lot of help with this. I do know for a fact that oil starvation has been caused to motors in the past because the old style electric valves had too much restriction and I think it was on the fill part, not discharge. Switching to the manual valves solved that for those cars. The only difference I see with the epc is that the valve remains closed even with power supplied to it until the pressure switch has been triggered. The benefit of that over a manual, or no valve, is that when the oil is released it is at full pressure where as otherwise the oil just flows in/out all the time as pressure fluctuates. Just acts like a bonus reserve of oil like that.
My car has pretty low oil pressure per the factory guage so what I think is happening is at very low rpm/idle the accusump is discharging until I shut the car down. I think that is the reason that when I activated the accusump to drain it I didn't get a full three quarts of oil out of it. With the ford motors and manual valve every time I drained the accusump the entire contents came out at full pressure. FWIW, I drain the accusump by removing the oil filter and placing the drain pan under there.

davidfarmer

I've used canton accusumps for a LONG time, always using the electric valve, and they are worth their weight in gold, even if used ONLY for prelube.

It isn't hard to fill with oil before assembly and use for an initial prelube, however, you will at some point need to discharge it to get the pressures correct.

MySR71

My impression is the same as yours, with the non-EPC electric valve, it fills and discharges at the same rate. While on, it is always is floating at the oil system pressure and just acts as an extra plenum of oil at pressure. That may be why Canton only recommends it for pre-lube and street applications.

Is yours tied to the ignition switch? If so, you might want to re-wire it to have its own switch. That way you can turn it off manually, like when at idle when the oil is warm. Otherwise, the system will discharge anytime the oil gets below the critical pressure.


I don't get a full 3-quarts out of mine either when I discharge it (mine is the 3-quart tank). I believe the entire cylinder is 3-quarts so the oil side volume would be less.

When mine is full discharged, the air gauge reads around 8 psi. When I use the system to pre-lube the engine before starting, it has no trouble getting the oil pressure sensor on the dash to read at least 30 psi before starting. Mine is plumbed in on the oil return side of the oil cooler. There is one-way check in the line somewhere too.

I apologize to the original poster if all this is too far off of your question. Hopefully it provides some insight into how they work. Or it least, how I think they work. I didn't install mine myself but I see the install instructions on the accusump web site.

For better or worse, my typical oil change proceedure is:

1) Remove the oil drain plug
2) Remove the oil filter
3) Activate the accusump to discharge its oil
4) Turn off the accusump
5) Reinstall the oil drain plug and new oil filter
6) Fill up engine with approx 7 quarts
7) Start the engine for approx 30 seconds
8) Recheck the oil level and top off as needed

I typically add around 8 quarts, not counting pre-oiling the oil filter and my oil system includes an oil cooler and 3-quart accusump.

MySR71

Since I went on-and-on about something off topic, here is the answer to the original poster's questions. This is from the accusump install instructions.

trackboss

I have mine on a separate switch. That's kinda why I'm left wondering. Other than an occasional pre-lube for a few seconds if the car has been sitting, I never have the switch on for street driving. When I do activate it for a pre-lube the guage doesn't seem to go past mid teens in pressure. I set it about 8psi empty.
I'm just used to the manual valve in my fords with much higher oil pressure. Those simply dump a **** load of oil when I drain them and they do it at full pressure so if not carefull they make a mess. My C5 install is nothing like that.

vette6aut0x

GTM? You need a new short list.

Two words. Dry sump.

Rob Willis

What would a good accusump setup run for a C6?

trackboss

C6 should be same as C5 as far as what parts are needed.

DALE C

[QUOTE=gtpvette;1569881514]I’ve read a number of threads the last two days regarding the Accusump and it’s on the short list of parts to gather for my GTM. I do have a question regarding using it to pre-oil my motor prior to the first start. I’m assuming I’ll need to manually fill the wet side with oil then charge the gas side with air to pre-oil a new motor but I haven’t seen any specifics in any of the threads. Am I on track here,,,,, or am I missing something?

Thanks![/QUOTE


I did not see an answer to your question but yes you can use it to prelube your new motor. Push the piston all the way down with a dowl rod, fill the sump with oil, attach the line going to your engine then apply an air charge. After you have prelubed the engine for initial start up you should bleed the sump down and follow the directions mentioned above.
I hope this helps we used to use this method but now we use a pressure pot design for piston aircraft engines that works great on anything and will hold up to 3 gallons of oil.
Thanks, Dale