What is an Oil sump?
A sump is a low space that collects often-undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. An example is the oil pan of an engine. The oil is used to lubricate the engine’s moving parts and it pools in a reservoir, known as a sump, at the bottom of the engine. Use of a sump requires the engine to be mounted slightly higher to make space for it. Oil in the sump can surge during hard cornering, starving the oil pump; for these reasons, race engines are “dry sumped” using scavenge pumps and a swirl tank to separate oil from air which is also sucked up by the pumps. The lubrication system is fed by the oil sump that forms the lower enclosure of the engine. Oil is taken from the sump by a pump, usually of the gear type, and is passed through a filter and delivered under pressure to a system of passages or channels drilled through the engine. Virtually all modern engines use full-flow type oil filters. Filtered oil is supplied under pressure to crankshaft.
