The oil pan , or sump , is a metal dish which covers the bottom of the engine block, and holds the engine oil when it is not circulating around the engine.
The oil pump has a pickup tube that dangles into the sump and sucks up oil, once used, the engine oil drops back into the sump.
As well as storing the oil, the oil pan has an important role in cooling it. As the car moves forwards, air will flow under the sump, carrying away heat from the hot oil-this airflow may be boosted by using bodywork to direct airflow around the sump. Cooling fins may also be found on the sump to increase its surface area.
This is known as a wet sump system , and is almost universal in standard production vehicles. It is a wet sump because the sump always contains oil-its natural state is to be wet! Another system is a dry-sump system in which the oil is pumped out of the sump into a remote container. We discuss dry sump systems in another article.
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