Splash Systems

The splash system is no longer used in automotive engines. It is widely used in small fourcycle engines for lawn mowers, outboard marine operation, and so on. In the splash lubricating system, oil is splashed up from the oil pan or oil trays in the lower part of the crankcase.
The oil is thrown upward as droplets or fine mist and provides adequate lubrication to valve mechanisms, piston pins, cylinder walls, and piston rings. In the engine, dippers on the
connecting-rod bearing caps enter the oil pan with each crankshaft revolution to produce the oil splash.
A passage is drilled in each connecting rod from the dipper to the bearing to ensure lubrication. This system is too uncertain for automotive applications. One reason is that the level of oil in the crankcase will vary greatly the amount of lubrication received by the engine. A high level results in excess lubrication and oil consumption and a slightly low level results in inadequate lubrication and failure of the engine.

Combination Splash and Force Feed

In a combination splash and force feed, oil is delivered to some parts by means of splashing and other parts through oil passages under pressure from the oil pump. The oil from the pump enters
the oil galleries. From the oil galleries, it flows to the main bearings and camshaft bearings.
The main bearings have oil-feed holes or grooves that feed oil into drilled passages in the crankshaft. The oil flows through these passages to the connecting rod bearings. From there, on some engines, it flows through holes drilled in the connecting rods to the piston-pin bearings. Cylinder walls are lubricated by splashing oil thrown off from the connecting-rod bearings.
Some engines use small troughs under each connecting rod that are kept full by small nozzles which deliver oil under pressure from the oil pump. These oil nozzles deliver an increasingly heavy stream as speed increases. At very high speeds these oil streams are powerful enough to strike the dippers directly. This causes a much heavier splash so that adequate lubrication of the pistons and the connecting-rod bearings is provided at higher speeds. If a combination system is used on an overhead valve engine, the upper valve train is lubricated by pressure from the pump.