I picked up an Ishihara-Johnson crank scraper last week and took a stab at installing it over the weekend. I got the regular steel version (no teflon). Since the car isn't running yet, I can only provide feedback on the installation and the product itself.
It was much larger/heavier than I anticipated (which isn't a bad thing). It's made of some decently thick mild steel and has fairly close tolerances. This is their latest version with the trap doors to keep oil in the pan. The quality appeared solid to me.
There's been some talk of fitting issues and the need to grind some areas of the scraper in order to get the proper tolerances. When I ordered the scraper, I was told on the phone that since this scraper has gone through 4-5 revisions already - there's a good chance that I may not need to grind much at all. Unfortunately, a feeler gauge indicated otherwise. The instructions called for 1mm minimum clearance between the scraper and engine parts (mainly just the crank) at all times. I spent quite a bit of time with a die grinder to get everything within spec, but it wasn't difficult at all (only tedious). Just lots of fitting, grinding, refitting, grinding, etc, etc, etc. It appeared that most of my clearance issues were due to manufacturing differences, so it's very possible that others may not have to grind as much.
Another issue for me was the oil pump. The area where the oil pump seals against the block wasn't large enough for my oil pump. I had to remove quite a bit of material to get the oil pump to sit properly with the scraper. For those of you who plan on using this scraper, MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE OIL PUMP DURING THE FITTING/GRINDING PHASE! I had to go back and clean off the RTV I laid down in order to do more grinding. Total pain in the ass, but could have been avoided if I thought to check the oil pump clearance.
One thing I didn't like is that I had to create my own gasket using sealant. I emailed to double-check that, and they confirmed that I need to build a gasket out of RTV or something similar. I would have liked to use the fresh oil-pan gasket I bought, but I imagine it has something to do with clearance issues since the scraper is decently thick. I picked "The Right Stuff" found commonly in auto parts stores. I've used this stuff for quite a while and love it. The biggest advantage to me is that you don't need to let it sit and harden overnight.
And that's all I've got so far. I bolted down the oil pan last night and hope to have the car running next month. So far, the only thing I might have done differently is look a little more seriously at the teflon version. If it would have made the fitting-phase easier, I think it'd be worth it.
It was much larger/heavier than I anticipated (which isn't a bad thing). It's made of some decently thick mild steel and has fairly close tolerances. This is their latest version with the trap doors to keep oil in the pan. The quality appeared solid to me.
There's been some talk of fitting issues and the need to grind some areas of the scraper in order to get the proper tolerances. When I ordered the scraper, I was told on the phone that since this scraper has gone through 4-5 revisions already - there's a good chance that I may not need to grind much at all. Unfortunately, a feeler gauge indicated otherwise. The instructions called for 1mm minimum clearance between the scraper and engine parts (mainly just the crank) at all times. I spent quite a bit of time with a die grinder to get everything within spec, but it wasn't difficult at all (only tedious). Just lots of fitting, grinding, refitting, grinding, etc, etc, etc. It appeared that most of my clearance issues were due to manufacturing differences, so it's very possible that others may not have to grind as much.
Another issue for me was the oil pump. The area where the oil pump seals against the block wasn't large enough for my oil pump. I had to remove quite a bit of material to get the oil pump to sit properly with the scraper. For those of you who plan on using this scraper, MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE OIL PUMP DURING THE FITTING/GRINDING PHASE! I had to go back and clean off the RTV I laid down in order to do more grinding. Total pain in the ass, but could have been avoided if I thought to check the oil pump clearance.
One thing I didn't like is that I had to create my own gasket using sealant. I emailed to double-check that, and they confirmed that I need to build a gasket out of RTV or something similar. I would have liked to use the fresh oil-pan gasket I bought, but I imagine it has something to do with clearance issues since the scraper is decently thick. I picked "The Right Stuff" found commonly in auto parts stores. I've used this stuff for quite a while and love it. The biggest advantage to me is that you don't need to let it sit and harden overnight.
And that's all I've got so far. I bolted down the oil pan last night and hope to have the car running next month. So far, the only thing I might have done differently is look a little more seriously at the teflon version. If it would have made the fitting-phase easier, I think it'd be worth it.
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