Bit fo a ramble so apologies in advance!
So, I finally have my Eddy in a spot where its absolutely amazing to drive. It's stage 2+ and has all the suspension mods done - coilovers, ARBs, brakes, antilift etc. I decide it is time to do some trackdays with it and get myself setup for a day at Donington. Two days before I go as I'm heading home on a 90 mile drive I get the dreaded oil pressure warning light as I am decelerating for a roundabout on a dual carriageway. I get off the road and parked up in maybe 20 seconds but the engine sounds rough. AA recover me and take it to my indy who does all the work I cant manage on my own.
After a sleepless night worrying I go down to see it and he tells me it made oil pressure fine and it starts and runs just fine. We drop the sump and the pickup is clogged, the sump is caked. Seems like we have our culprit so a new pickup, a sump clean and new sealant, 5 litres of 5w40 and it runs beautifully. The car is on 130k miles and I unwittingly may have caused this trouble myself by having an engine flush when I got oil upgraded during a service to 5w40. apparently it dislodges all the carbonised muck in the engine and they promptly block the pickup and kill the engine. Great.
Non the less, I drive 50 miles to Donington without incident and have a great time at my first trackday for most of the day. Late afternoon at the end of a 20 minute session just as I am thinking its time to come in as everything is getting a bit warm/fading I get the oil pressure light again. I get off circuit and car shutdown immediately and let it cooldown. The engine has run smoothly the whole time, no horrible noises or rough running. I check my oil levels, the car is making oil pressure AGAIN so I restart it and it runs smoothly. I come home gently with no problems whatsoever. I speak to my indy again, we cant find any timing problems again and conclude it must have been partial obstruction with the hot oil and more carbon from the flush.
I'm now slightly stuck. Ive changed the oil twice more since that day in march and the car is fine. Starts well, runs cleanly, no problems. I dont use it day to day but its done several trips of 50 to 100 miles without incident. I'm keen to keep tracking the car as I absolutely loved it. I've got a couple more oil changes planned before I go to Anglesey in May. My question is, is there more I can do? Should I change the pickup again do you think? If the engine dies, the engine dies. I'm not looking to sell the car and if need be I'd be buying a new engine, I thoroughly enjoy this car in the 4 years I've had it. That being said I'm not gonna drive it just in case it goes bang, there would be no point having it. My indy thinks regular oil changes is the simplest solution and has said if needed we could take the whole engine to pieces and try and clean each part but there's no guarantee it would stop future pressure problems. I'm not a complete idiot and would stop with any pressure issues and wouldn't drive the car if it had any problems but is this a relatively sensible approach to take with a 12 year old car? Am I likely to see more oil pressure problems due to track days or is it all down to my pickup/engine deposits issue?
Apologies for long ramble, TLDR : blocked oil pickup, luckily dodged any damage. Cleaned out sump and pickup but due to having an engine flush likely will recur. Got an oil pressure problem at a track day. Car is running fine since, any ways to fix this?
