Noob question about oil changes

[mwalsh]

Hi all,

New to the forum and getting back into racing after many years. I raced before in SCCA IT and know my way around cars, but open wheel cars are new to me. I just picked up a 97 Van Diemen. The car was winterized, I'm planning on taking it to a shop to get set up, but right now am just trying to get the car running so I can move it around easier.

I pulled the plugs and blew out the cylinders, then went to change the oil. I opened the drain plug (see pic) at the bottom of the bulkhead (not sure what it's called, but the piece that connects the engine & trans), not much oil came out. I then opened the fitting at the drain plug since it was lower, and jacked up the front of the car a bit, still not much came out. Since I just got the car, I assumed the oil was full but didn't know for sure. I then put in about 2 1/2 quarts and checked it. The guy I bought the car from said to check it you remove the plug at the top of the catch tank and insert a long screwdriver, being careful to hit the shaft about half way down - don't go past it (I assume this is the drive shaft from engine to trans). Pull out the screwdriver and there should be about 3 fingers of oil. I had a lot more than that, but wasn't surprised as only a quart or so came out.

So is there some trick to getting the oil to drain? Is "3 fingers" the correct level? I feel like an idiot asking for oil changing advice.

The car has an Aim Evo5 data logger and v3 wheel. Are the oil pressure & water temp shown on the steering wheel? I haven't found them. There are issues with the wiring in the car, I'm not even sure if there are sensors for oil pressure & water temp. Any advice here would be appreciated as I don't want to run the car until I can monitor these.

Thanks for any help.

[SteveG]

Try removing the lowest oil pan scavenge line. I've had many dry sump systems that siphoned the oil from the tank into the engine when sitting for long periods. My Swift does it in about a month.

Steve

[Rick Kirchner]

I always take the feed line from the bottom of the tank to the pump off and let it drain for quite a while. Then I take the plugs out and crank it, that will remove most of the rest from the system.

VD bellhousings have a catch tank that's integral. You may have drained that. A lot of folks drill through the separator between the catch and the main tank to increase main tank capacity.

[EYERACE]

Drain all you can at the lowest spot you can access........but.......you'll never get it all.........such is dry sump. So.....because it's all old.....get ready to not only change the oil immediately......but change the oil twice - each time after the first two weekends.......after that as you see fit and there are a number of opinions as to what that means. Of course you'll change the filter each time too....and check out Filtermag.com

[jrh3]

Not a bad idea to cut the filter open, unravel the paper and check for metal.
You might use a magnet to check ferrous/nonferrous metal.

[mwalsh]

Drain all you can at the lowest spot you can access........but.......you'll never get it all.........such is dry sump. So.....because it's all old.....get ready to not only change the oil immediately......but change the oil twice - each time after the first two weekends.......after that as you see fit and there are a number of opinions as to what that means. Of course you'll change the filter each time too....and check out Filtermag.com

I'd never heard of filtermag but looks like cheap insurance, I'll order it.