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The good, the bad, and the ugly
From Jody Justice of Flat Rock, North Carolina on .
First let me express the good. Very nice oil pan by Moroso as expected the welds are top notch. This pan is in direct competition of any other DTM sump for the S14 engine with much better advantages for the price point. Dual vertical baffles and horizontal baffle installed with the extra 1.5-1.75 qt capacity. Plate weldable aluminum not cast.
Now with that being said I've several issues with the design of this pan. None that can't be solved with a little more attention to detail.
Issue number one. The horizontal baffle area where the oil pump goes through. This area on the subframe side of the pan should have a U shape or curve to clear the pump during install. It's close but cannot pass the ridge of the pump pickup nose. If welding in the baffle permanently into the oil pan attention to clearance detail needs to be taken. I had to cut and massage this area gently hammer it downward with a plastic mallet giving the correct angle.
Issue number two. The oil pump relief piston tube should not be just a hole. This area needs to be an oval cut. This not only makes mounting easier since the tube isn't straight down when installed it's an angle. Sure can just bow it and force fit, but I wouldn't want this part of the pump to fail or get hung up causing a pressure loss. I notched it to the next hole over to create a rectangle for clearance.
Issue number three. Those with a carbon fiber airbox need the dip stick hole to be an oval shape. With the Moroso pan I found it easier just to cut the small aluminum section off for that area. This is because when a carbon box is installed the dipstick tube must be rotated forward placing the stick into the pan at another angle vs stock.
Issue number four. The mounting access hole on the front driver side corner. This hole doesn't line up with the stud hole inside. With careful manipulation it is possible to install the stud with the nut pre installed attached to the stud. After looking at it before install I knew this would be the trickiest mount point. So after two external bolts to hold the pan in place this should be the very first place to attempt to get the stud in. If things go wrong it's not much to take off if need to retrieve the stud from inside the pan. Mounting this pan I preferred to not use the supplied nuts. Another area that should be reviewed is the nut hardware supplied. Even with loctite I've seen these types of nuts come loose and end up in the pan. I prefer to resort to all metal(no nylon) tension lock nuts. They stay put in the harshest conditions and also another favorite for the always troublesome exhaust header studs.
Issue number five. The other issues are easily fixable, but this is a biggie for me. This might not matter to some but It's the biggest item overlooked with all aftermarket oil pans. The depth of the pan from top of the mount flange to the bottom is larger than stock; ie this pan is deeper. Factory cast pans run 76mm from flange to bottom; which makes the oil pump sit within 5mm of the bottom. Most will delete the pan gaskets and (use loctite 518 gasket maker) bringing the pickup closer to the pan bottom usually within 4-5mm. Ideal oil pump pickup to pan distance on an S14 is 2-4mm. This is well known S14 info from knowledgeable DTM car owners. S14 DTM car oil pans and racing pans in Germany run 2mm distance from pan bottom to oil pump pickup. The Moroso pan your selling is 81mm deep from mount flange to bottom. This puts the oil pump pickup in non optimal location approx 9-10mm from bottom. I'll have the mounting flange machined to correct this.
Maybe this pan was test fitted only from an engine stand? What if you need to install/remove the pan once it's in the car. VAC has great engineers for these parts, so was a little disappointed on fitment. Mocked it up a few times and made corrections to make it work. Still a very nice pan, but needs massaging.
Don't Track Your S14 Without It!
From Tim Leithead of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on .
My car got the first of these oil pans. Before this pan was on my car my Stack oil pressure warning light would glow through turn 1 at Summit Point (and other high-g right handers), even though I had an Accusump. When Tony installed this pan, no more low oil pressure warnings in turn 1 (or any turns for that matter)--and of course no more low oil pressure.
A great and inexpensive insurance policy for anyone that tracks an S14!
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