40 replies to this topic

[ukcooper]

Fitted mine for another reson, so that when the oil drips from the engine it hits the sump gaurd that is angled towards one corner and drips of into the drip tray,

there saving the block paving from getting oil'y:)

[the_r_sole]

sorry to arrive late to the party here, where i stay the roads are a bit iffy, was thinking of a sump guard with extension might be a good idea, not driven hard really but would it be best to fit an oil cooler on the off chance??

[IainR]

Looking at the Mini Magazine calender for Febraury showing 569 FMO at Goodwood and noticed it has the open basket style sump guard, must have been okay for Monte Carlo in '64.

[yousmeg]

People saying about their minis sumps hitting the floor, are your mini's auto's?

I heard the auto sump hangs lower, not sure if im correct?

[the_r_sole]

i'm not even sure if it would happen, however, i'd prefer if it did to be hitting a piece of plate than the engine/gear box...
i just know there's certain bits of road near me that you can scrape the arse out of most cars without even trying!

[SolarB]

I have a shiny new gearbox courtesy of Guessworks, the sump guard is to protect my investment.

[the_r_sole]

I have a shiny new gearbox courtesy of Guessworks, the sump guard is to protect my investment.

oil cooler?

[SolarB]

I have a shiny new gearbox courtesy of Guessworks, the sump guard is to protect my investment.

oil cooler?

Nope, it just protects the sump.

[Cooperman]

For normal road driving you are probably OK with a sump guard and no oil cooler so long as the front of the guard has some holes to allow air to flow. The oil will obviously get a bit hotter, but with a mineral 20w50 that should not be an issue.
It's when you have a sump guard 2 or more large spotlights and low gearing, as you would on a rally car, and then use mega-revs at a relatively low speed through the gears and keep that up for a long distance that the problems start to happen.
Personally I think even a basic sump guard is a good idea even on a road car what with all the speed bumps these days. It's very expensive if you crack the sump!
If you do fit a guard without a cooler you could just fit an oil pressure gauge and/or oil temp gauge to monitor things.
Remember that a sump guard will reduce the ground clearance by at least 3/4" so it might be good to raise the car up a bit if you drive on bumpy roads.

[the_r_sole]

For normal road driving you are probably OK with a sump guard and no oil cooler so long as the front of the guard has some holes to allow air to flow. The oil will obviously get a bit hotter, but with a mineral 20w50 that should not be an issue.
It's when you have a sump guard 2 or more large spotlights and low gearing, as you would on a rally car, and then use mega-revs at a relatively low speed through the gears and keep that up for a long distance that the problems start to happen.
Personally I think even a basic sump guard is a good idea even on a road car what with all the speed bumps these days. It's very expensive if you crack the sump!
If you do fit a guard without a cooler you could just fit an oil pressure gauge and/or oil temp gauge to monitor things.
Remember that a sump guard will reduce the ground clearance by at least 3/4" so it might be good to raise the car up a bit if you drive on bumpy roads.

cheers for that, suppose getting a gauge first would be the best way, just to monitor it

[Cooperman]

For normal road driving you are probably OK with a sump guard and no oil cooler so long as the front of the guard has some holes to allow air to flow. The oil will obviously get a bit hotter, but with a mineral 20w50 that should not be an issue.
It's when you have a sump guard 2 or more large spotlights and low gearing, as you would on a rally car, and then use mega-revs at a relatively low speed through the gears and keep that up for a long distance that the problems start to happen.
Personally I think even a basic sump guard is a good idea even on a road car what with all the speed bumps these days. It's very expensive if you crack the sump!
If you do fit a guard without a cooler you could just fit an oil pressure gauge and/or oil temp gauge to monitor things.
Remember that a sump guard will reduce the ground clearance by at least 3/4" so it might be good to raise the car up a bit if you drive on bumpy roads.

cheers for that, suppose getting a gauge first would be the best way, just to monitor it

Yes, I reckon that would be best. If you monitor it then it's safe and if there is a 'hot oil' problem you can easily add a cooler later.
To be fair, the example I gave was a long time ago with a newish 998 Cooper. I fitted a long curved guard, had 4 additional lights, a low diff, 3.76:1, and drove up the M1 at about 5300 rpm for around 15 miles. The pressure dropped alarmingly to around 30 psi at 5000 rpm. It also had the useless 16-blade 'air-blocking' standard (at the time) fan. After I fitted a cooler and a 4-blade fan it was fine. Now I always fit a cooler if I fit a guard, but it's probably not absolutely needed in a road car.