Coyote Moroso oil pan interference question

[JohnK]

I received my Gen2 Coyote last week, and my Moroso oil pan and pickup (and a bunch of other fun stuff from Mike Forte) arrived over the weekend so I can start some of the engine prep and flywheel/clutch assembly.

Regarding the Moroso oil pan installation, several people have mentioned in their build threads that the dipstick interferes with the baffle that's right under the oval cutout in the oil pan. Is this pretty much a universal issue? Should I just go ahead and cut away the offending bit of that baffle before installing the oil pan, or does it vary from engine to engine? If it's common, does anyone have any pictures of how much and where they cut away?

Thanks,
John

[wareaglescott]

Seemed pretty common when I did mine. EdwardB has some nice pictures of the offending area in his build thread I believe. It is a lot easier to just go ahead and do it while it is out then deciding you need to do it after you have installed it. Certainly dont think making the minor clearance adjustment is in anyway detrimental. I would do it before installing the first time personally.

[JohnK]

That's what I'm thinking also - thanks for validating. I've seen the "before" photo in EdwardB's thread, but I don't recall seeing the "after" that shows how much was trimmed away. I'll go back and look again.

Thanks,
John

[initiator]

There was a change midway through the Gen-2 Coyote run which changed where the dipstick clearance hole needs to be. Rather than rely on someone else's picture, I strongly recommend snugging the oil pan onto the block, then running the dipstick in and out ten or so times. It will scratch the baffle cover right where material needs to be replaced. After you've cut the opening, do it again to make sure the dipstick clears the edge of the opening. I put an oval because the dipstick has some variation on exactly where it touched the top of the baffle cover.

Then you have a long cleaning process to make sure you get every single piece of metal out of the pan. Then clean it a couple more times.

[JohnK]

Sounds good. Off to HF to pick up an engine stand...

[Hacksaw84]

There was a change midway through the Gen-2 Coyote run which changed where the dipstick clearance hole needs to be. Rather than rely on someone else's picture, I strongly recommend snugging the oil pan onto the block, then running the dipstick in and out ten or so times. It will scratch the baffle cover right where material needs to be replaced. After you've cut the opening, do it again to make sure the dipstick clears the edge of the opening. I put an oval because the dipstick has some variation on exactly where it touched the top of the baffle cover.

Then you have a long cleaning process to make sure you get every single piece of metal out of the pan. Then clean it a couple more times.


I did exactly what initiator is suggesting and that would be my recommendation as well. Here is my after picture. Not the most pretty hole but did exactly what was needed. Like mentioned the cleaning is a bit of time too. I actually unbolted the baffle.
104462

[JohnK]

Thanks for the photo. That's not where I expected the interference to be. Going back and looking at EdwardB's roadster build thread, there's a round hole next to the oval hole in his photo. I assumed that was a factory feature, and the interference was where the baffle crossed into the oval hole (where the white arrow is pointing). Now that I see where you cut your hole, that lines up with the hole in his photo. This at least gives me an idea where to look for possible problems. Thanks!


From EdwardB's build thread:


In another build thread, there was discussion about the Coyote dipstick and Moroso oil pan not playing nice together. After further review, I determined mine needed a little rework. So thought I would post about it in my build thread since many are following it and may have the same issue with their Coyote.

The original problem was found a couple of years ago, and discussed in this thread: http://www.ffcars.com/forums/45-ford-modular-engine-roadster-builds/411226-coyote-moroso-oil-pan-problem-too-much-oil.html

It seemed that Moroso fixed the problem, so I was a little surprised to read in a current build thread that there was still a potential problem. I had noticed that the dipstick on mine didn’t go in all that smoothly, especially near the end. But it follows a rather curvey path, so didn’t think anything of it. But based on the recent discussion, decided to investigate further.

Fortunately, my engine is still out of the car and doesn’t have oil in it. So easy to check. I loosened the bolts on my Moroso pan enough to peek inside and see what was happening with the dip stick. Sure enough it was hitting something and deflecting. So I completely removed the pan. I confirmed it does have the oval cut-out discussed in the link above, so it's obviously been updated. But still there was interference and may not read correctly. I put some plumbers putty in the area where it appeared to be hitting, and put the pan back in place. Pushed the dip stick down until it hit, removed, rotated 180 degrees, and back in again. Removed the pan and there were two marks, about 1/4-inch apart. They hit in the area of the oval (barely) but also exactly in the area where the metal baffle underneath crosses into the oval cutout. That was the problem.

I debated just trimming a little off the end of the dipstick since the acceptable range of measurement is actually slightly above this area. But decided to go ahead and clearance the area of the baffle that was hitting so that a stock length dip stick can be used now and in the future. Took about 5 minutes with a Dremel and die grinder, and a lot longer to clean everything up. No place for metal shavings. Put everything back together and the dipstick now drops through the oval cutout.

This is something other Coyote builds that use a Moroso pan should also check. This picture shows where the interference occurs.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Coyote%20Engine/IMG_1617_zps6ws9u2sf.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Coyote%20Engine/IMG_1617_zps6ws9u2sf.jpg.html)

[edwardb]

Couple things. Those pictures I posted are now almost three years old, and things change. It's really easy to temporarily mount the pan and see if your dipstick clears. Very possible it doesn't apply, but the same Moroso pan on my Gen 3 Coyote of a couple months ago cleared with no adjustments. The dipstick appears to be in the same place as the Gen 2, but can't be positive. Just an observation.

Also, an engine stand is nice. But unless you're planning to take the flywheel off, it's not particularly easy to mount the Coyote (or most engines for that matter) with the flywheel on. For most engines, it's certainly easier to mount the gasket and oil pan with it on a stand and upside down. But the Coyote has a somewhat unique combination pan gasket and windage tray. It stays in place reasonably well and it's not hard to change the oil pickup and mount the pan from the bottom, e.g. on an engine hoist. Just saying.