FA20 Engine Oiling, Bearings, and Starvation

[blsfrs]

The wire screen looks very fine. Killer Bee and other pickups use something more coarse. I hope yours won't be a problem.

[Eaton PSI]

Change of plan. Billet pickup with 22mm ID tube and a removable/replaceable mesh screen. Tube is longer and aimed at the middle of the sump.
Next to make is a 10mm thick spacer between sump and block which will increase oil capacity by about 0.4L.

[Eaton PSI]

10mm thick sump spacer and new mesh screen in pickup. Mesh is the same pitch as OEM, but much larger area. The spacer has tabs on it that I will probably use to add a brace to the pickup. Vibrating pickups tend to snap off after a while.

[Grady]

Are you putting a spacer on the oil pickup? Oil below the pickup is wasted oil.

[Eaton PSI]

New pickup is longer

[Eaton PSI]

Pickup, brace, baffles and spacer installed.

[Eaton PSI]

Engine running! Oil change is about 5.5L with the sump spacer.
Pressure is good with the big pump. When cold its very high, bottoms out the 100psi gauge at about 1500rpm. I have fitted a heat exchanger (WRX, Forester? Not sure...) to help heat the 0w-30 oil quicker.
When hot its about 12-14psi at idle and tops out at about 85psi when spinning fast.

Even with the heat exchanger it takes more than 10mins of gentle driving to get the oil hot. Perhaps this is where bearing damage is occurring. Cold oil, very high pressure, very little flow. The tiny amount of oil in the bearings will get super heated if you push it hard before its properly up to temperature. Also the internal bypass in the filter may open and let sediment and unfiltered oil through your engine.

The water temp is not a good indicator as it heats up much faster than the oil does. The only way to be sure is to get a gauge and monitor the oil temp and/or pressure. Be nice to your engine when its cold and it will probably last much longer.