[Es2] The Saga Continues...

[Ben Klumper]

As of this weekend I am still perplexed by the foamy oil problem. Here's what I tried:

Pulled the oil pan again and removed the S4 windage tray altogether. Reinstalled stock 3B baffle. Removed the oil pick-up tube and packed the oil pump with white assembly grease - as per George Baxter's suggestion - thinking that the oil system hasn't been properly primed yet. Reinstalled pick-up with new gasket and lock plate, and reinstalled the pan. Filled oil again and removed spark plugs. Cranked starter for a couple of 15 second durations to prime the oil pump. I was amazed at how easily the engine tuns without compression, and nearly silent too! I had to get someone to confirm that the engine was actually turning! Interestingly, as I was cranking I kept an eye on the analog oil pressure gauge. During the 15 second crank the gauge would rise to just over 2 bar. Once it reached about 1.8 bar, the oil pressure warning in the Autocheck came on, leading me to suspect that the 1.8 bar pressure sender is faulty.  I don't think I have an oil pressure problem. The other interesting and puzzling thing is that after the priming session I checked the oil to see if it was frothy, but it wasn't. It looked totally normal. I had my hopes up! However after installing the plugs again, I started it and let it run for about a minute. Oil pressure gauge showed 5 bar, but the warning still came on almost immediately. Shut it down and checked the oil and it again was frothy! At this point I'm more concerned with the foaming oil than with the pressure warning. The gauge reads OK and I don't hear any lifter ticking. The engine sounds and runs great. I'm going to replace the 1.8 bar sensor next time I'm there. It could be that it is stuck in the open (default) position after having sat for a couple of years. For the life of me though, I cannot figure out this foaming oil problem! This has held me up for about a month now. I realize I've probably gleaned all the info I'm going to get out of this group and others, but if anyone has some sort of wild brainstorm, I'd love to hear it!

Regards,

Ben