O.K. - more update. I spoke with BAT to see if they could offer the Accusump with manual valve. I spoke with a very helpful and knowledgeable sales tech named Eric. He had concern about my plan to leave the valve open all the time - his concern is that the extra oil in the pan may take it to a level where the seals aren't meant to see a standing pool of oil and so may leak - similarly the oil may immerse something at startup that would object to the added resistance, especially in the cold. He didn't say that bad things would happen, just that it would be a risk that he would be willing to eliminate for the sake of $100. I guess the only way to decide if it's an issue or not would be to determine the oil level in the pan when the engine is off and then see where the level goes to with an added quart.
Q. Does anyone know where the bottom of the dipstick comes relative to the bottom of the pan?
As for running Accusump with an SVT, the problem is that the oil cooler bites into the room between the block and the frame. The cooler + sandwich plate + filter will fit, but there is not enough room to pull the filter back enough to remove it. He suggested that you could use the access hole for the pressure sender, but it's smaller than ideal. Ideally you would bore out that hole or drill a new one into the main gallery - yuch! I suppose a third alternative would be to mount the cooler and filter remotely. I too had wondered about plumbing in via the cooler since there are already input/output ports, but he didn't mention it as an option and I forgot to ask.
By the way, there are only about 6 Accusump units from BAT out there on Contours.
He did mention that they have had a look at the pan to see if they could figure out a) if starvation is likely to be a problem; and b) if they do anything about it. They came to the conclusion that I think we have come to on the list - the answer to a) is maybe, and the answer to b) is that without making up an oil pan from lexan there is no hope of deducing what the root cause of the problem is. You can make changes, but you're just guessing. So for now the Accusump is the safest solution.
Alex - I'm going to Mosport just outside Toronto in September. Back for the third time - as Chris Root warned me, it's addictive. I have run twice before there with no problems - may be a case of ignorance is bliss. Now that I know other's have had suspicious failures I think it's worth the peace of mind so that I can concentrate on the corner and not be worrying about my engine. Tough call. I go to these schools with a friend who has a 944 Turbo, also known for oil starvation - same conundrum - push your luck or pony up $. I can't give a definite yes/no. As for the pressure sender, my preference would be to hook it up instead of the analog gauge on the Accsump - closer to the pump than the allen key hole up top. I'm leaning towards BAT - I haven't found a cheaper system part by part elsewhere. As for thread size, no idea, but my understanding from other vendors is that there is a Ford standard - you seem to buy a plate based on manufacturer and is good for all (most?) models.
Eric
