First off, make sure your lines into and out of the engine are connected
correctly. I had them backwards once and, yes, had no indicated oil
pressure. Oil pumping out of the engine went straight to the check valve
instead of to the oil filter, so I still had Accusump pressure but no
indicated pressure on the dash (and nothing flowing through filter or
cooler).
If that's correct, then is your Accusump charged with air pressure at the
back end (where the gauge is)? Without the air pressure on the other side of
the piston (opposite side from the oil), there is nothing to push that oil
back out and into the engine. What pressure you see on the gauge may merely
be the ambient air that happened to be in the air-side of the cylinder being
compressed, but it's not enough to push that cylinder forward significantly
when you open the oil valve to the engine.
As far as check valve, the Accusump junction should be between the check
valve and the engine. Or to say it another way, the check valve should be
between the Accusump and the out-line of the oil cooler. When the Accusump
valve is opened, you want all pressure flowing into the engine and none
flowing (backwards) into the oil cooler.
My system connects from a plate on the engine block where the oil filter
originally was. The flow is: engine > oil filter > oil cooler > check valve>
tee (with Accusump off this tee) > engine. The plates are fairly easy to
find in catalogues, right along with and often as part of a remote oil
filter setup.
--Rocky Entriken
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Babcock" <BillB@bnj.com>
To: "'Rocky Entriken'" <rocky@tri.net>; "Jack W. Drews"
<vinttr4@geneseo.net>; <fot@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 1:19 PM
Subject: Accusump Blues
> I'm going gently nuts here. I replumbed my accusump after ripping it out
> at the Monterey Historics when my oil lines went bad. I got a much nicer
> oil cooler adapter plate from Gregg Solow and an oil cooler with AN
> fittings and a bunch of hose and fittings and did a nice clean refit in
> the pits (if I do say so myself) but the accusump was set aside for later.
>
>
> So this week after deciding that I didn't have any oil gallery plugs or
> other alternatives that were suitable for direct connection, I replumbed
> the accusump into the oil cooler line. I included the check valve as
> usual.
>
> I can charge the accusump when I open the valve, the gauge rises to about
> 50#, but when I shut off the engine and open the accusump valve I don't
> get any pressure on the car's oil pressure gauge and my oil light doesn't
> go out. The accusump slowly (very slowly) drains down to 20#.
>
> As far as I can see this is fairly hard to screw up. I've got flow through
> the oil cooler and back to the adapter plate, so I don't have the check
> valve in wrong. I get oil to the accusump. I've plumbed the accusump on
> the return line from the cooler, but I don't see how this could matter.
> The accusump is on the return side of the check valve (after the cooler),
> as it was before.
>
> The only thing I can think of is moving the accusump to the other side of
> the check valve, but that would let it drain back through the oil pump and
> the check valve wouldn't do anything--the accusump pressure would open it.
>
>
> I'm flummoxed. Greg, is there something different about that adapter
> plate?
>
> I'm still using the stock banjo connector for the oil pressure. I should
> probably connect it directly to the oil gallery instead, but until I'm
> sure that my plumbing is O.K. that would make me nervous--changing too
> many things at once.
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