Oil pick up tube

[EvanH]

Had a thought today about the oil pick up tube and how it is mounted in our cars.

Thinking about RC planes/heli's, they have a fuel tank with a flexible tube, that at any angle, "searches" for the lowest point in the tank. It does so by a weighted end.

Is there any, feasible, way to adapt this idea to our pick up tube? So as we corner or accelerate, or brake hard, it will find the majority of the oil and not starve? I know they make baffles and such for oil pans...

Factors I can think of:

1: The size and flexibility of some suction tubing.

2: The material degrading over time cause of heat.

3: Contaminating and or failing because of #2.

[stealthee]

The way the oil pan and tube are designed it should never starve as long as you have the proper amount of oil in the engine.

The only way it should ever starve is if you go 90* on your side.

[EvanH]

But that is the way I like to drive.

[mh3kgt]

Me too :p

[Chris@Rvengeperformance]

The way the oil pan and tube are designed it should never starve as long as you have the proper amount of oil in the engine.

The only way it should ever starve is if you go 90* on your side.

in hard left hand road course style driving you can starve the engine of oil.

This technique the OP is referring to has been done via a swinging pickup on other platforms. I don't see there being any room in our stock pans for this. Your best bet is getting one of the aftermarket pans with increased volume.

[AdamVR4]

I don't see any reason this couldn't be done. How hard is it to flange-mount a fitting and put together a flexible tube that can resist degradation?

...The real question is how would you test it without risking an engine? Personally, it's not something I would bother with.