I'm about to install a 3 quart Accusump in my '89 S4 5-speed and am looking for placement suggestions. I use the car for 6-10 track days a year, and enjoy it on the street the remainder of the time (weather permitting). I will be installing the Accusump for protection for those track days, plus the added benefit of pre-oiling, but would like to minimize the impact on the "street" version of the car.

It has been suggested that I might be able to install it "under the hood", but short of taking David Lloyd's suggestion of adding a hood hump, it seems pretty tight in there. Has anyone had any luck with this, or other placement suggestions that have made for a tidy install?

Thanks in advance!

Scott

 

I have no afiliation with this person, but this car is for sale on ebay. Here is where he mounted one. I know its not an S4, but it might help. The text on the photos are from the seller, not me.








No hood hump

 

Dear Hacker-Pschorr,
Great find!
Looking at my S4, however, the cross bar connecting the headlight raising mechanism reduces that space (the track car doesn't have headlights!), and will make mounting tricky, but I'll have to see if I can cram it in there.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Looking from above, I'm also wondering if I can fit it below and behind the fans. I'll have to get the car up, belly pan off, and see what works.
Thanks again!
Scott

 

Scott, I had mine mounted to the back of the front bumper re-inforcement. The cooling flap junk had been removed from my car so there was a pretty good amount of room to work with. The flat of the bumper is just the right legnth for the accusump. I ran the line along the frame rail to the filter adapter, it only takes about 4 ft of line then. Some guys have run the lines from the back of the car and mounted the sump to the rear bumper. I like the front install better. Also, it doesn't interfere with airflow at all as it is well forward of the radiator. You need to do it from the bottom, and it is a little snug getting the sump up there but it was the best solution I found.

One thing to watch is the pressure in the sump. It has a 175psi safety valve on it. Mine popped off a couple of times, so I put a pipe plug in the hole. Not a good idea I had the car parked in the back of my home and was sitting at the patio table, three hours after I had driven the car, when BOOM I had a huge (3qt) puddle of oil under the car. I blew the end cap clean off of the tube. These cars make tremendous pressure cold, and that is when the sump captures the oil. Then ambient temps cause expansion and the potential for my problem to occur. Possible solution is to have the switch in the car so that you can dump a little oil after shutdown. It is very easy to leave the sump mostly charged so you have oil for the start-up pre-oil. I had the switch and pressure gauge under the hood. I was just too lazy to run them into the car. I highly reccomend that you have both the gauge and switch in the car.

The ball valve accusumps are tricky in that the oil level fluctuates with temp and rpm making the oil level hard to monitor. They offer an electric switch that accepts full pressure but holds it until a preset low level is reached, then it dumps the oil. I bought the 45psi valve. During normal street driving your oil pressure will not go that low. That means, once the oil is captured at start-up you can shut the valve off electrically and you are no able to check the oil level knowing you have a 3qt reserve. Mine worked great until I forgot to bleed off some pressure that night.

 

Brent,
Great advice! I did purchase the electric pressure control valve with the 35-40 PSI discharge (the midrange setting), on Canton Racing's recommendation. I hope this is the best arrangement.
Thanks again!
Scott

 

Scott, That is the set-up I ran, and will likely re-install this winter. I consider it to be pretty cheap insurance, if not the perfect solution.

My research indicates that the problem likely occurs at higher rpm's during sustained left handers. The only compromise that I see with the 40psi dump pressure is that it just might be too little too late. If you are running 5000rpm, you should really have more like 60psi. The lag time between the pressure drop and the accusump discharge worries me some. So, in addition I run Amsoil 20-50 racing oil. I think it offers the best protection IF there is a starvation problem. It is also formulated to to reduce foaming which seems to be an issue in the 928 as well.

The problem with running a higher psi valve is that it will be releasing oil during everyday driving which makes the oil level hard to monitor. So, I think the set-up you have chosen is the best short of a full race set-up. This is after months of agonizing last winter. I made a point to pick everyones brain on this and it seems to be a decent solution. I have only six track days on the 928 now, half of them on street tires. I pray that I have as good of luck as the Holbert 928 has had.

 

Brent,
Thanks! Your experience is reassuring. I, too, will be switching to the Amsoil, and adding the GTS oil pan baffle to try to reduce the foaming problem. I was running Mobil 1 at Watkins Glen last month and saw my oil pressure drop during cool down, presumably due to this problem (that's what John Veninger and others more knowledgable than I thought anyway). Pressure came right back up as the car cooled. I'll be replacing the rod bearings as well, so I can start next track season in good shape.
Thanks again!
Scott

 

I am happy to see that accusumps are becomming used more and more and dual purpose (street/track) 928!

Keeps the pesky rods in their places

Marc
DEVEK

 

I know that Constantine has one installed forward of the windshield, passenger side, under the hood. Don't know what he had to do to make it fit, but it sits there nicely

Mine is installed by the PO in the rear right cargo area, against the quarters

 

Tarek,
Thanks. I have seem several placed inside the cars, but would prefer to mount it under the hood in order to keep the interior looking stock, to shorten the distance to the engine, and also to reduce the mess if the pressure release goes off, as described by Brent above!
Scott

 

Hey Scott,

Was wondering how you made it home from the Glenn. Good to hear it wasn't anything catastrophic.

See you guys at the track.

Bela

 

Tarek, Scott, Here is a picture of Constantines installation. FYI

 

Nicely done! Thanks!
Scott

 

Sure is easier to mount in a track car vs a street car

 

Actually, the behind the bumper install on an S4 is pretty easy. Just drop the belly pan and drill a few holes into the rectangular bumper bar. Plenty of room to work really.

I used the oil filter adapter and the only potential issue I found was the close proximity of the exhaust header. For good measure I used a heat resistant fabric sleeve over the section of line near the exhaust. Just make sure the connections are tight, making adjustments once it is all in there is a bugger.

If you do have a situation where the relief valve opens though, and you have it in the car, a hose out interior would be nice.