Northstar Doesn't Need a Crankshaft Scraper

[Cadillac Jim]

I asked CHRFab about crankshaft scrapers for the Northstar. Crankshaft scrapers are used in racing versions of Chevrolet and other V8s. A crankshaft scraper is a piece of sheet metal bolted to the oil pan gasket on the side that the crankshaft moves up on compression, and it is fitted to the crankshaft and rods, and forces excess oil back into the oil pan. The idea is to keep the oil from accumulating on the crankshaft and adding to rotating mass, as well as absorbing energy (horsepower) and making the oil hotter.

Alan Johnson replying for CHRFab:

The Northstar oiling system is very unique. The oil going to the upper end (the heads) drains back through three ports in the side of the heads and down the outside of the block and down around the front chain drive (to the cams). You can see the side drains as a full length bump from the head down through the block to the pan. The only oil that does hit the crank is the oil directed through the crankshaft to the bearings. This engine has a very nice stamped steel oil plate to keep the oil from sloshing up onto the crank from the pan. The pan has built-in baffles to keep the oil at the pickup from acceleration and G forces when turning. The engineers have done a very good job with the oiling system. We turn the engines at 8500 RPM with no oiling problems. The clearances and valve train are modified for these RPM ranges. With all of this said, we don't have crank scrapers.

It seems that the Northstar oiling system is designed so that a crankshaft scraper isn't required.

This is a follow-up on topic "How often Do You Change Oil", post 51.