Page 1 of 1
How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2026 5:53 am
by Nords
AI is suggesting John Eales, but being a serpentine belted engine might be more of a drama than the v-belt version?
https://johnealesroverv8.co.uk/product/dry-sump-system/
Re: How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2026 9:19 am
by stevieturbo
If someone makes a kit, easy.
If someone does not make a kit and you're custom doing it, perhaps not so easy.
If you have lots of room available, easy.
If you do not have lots of room, not so easy.
But it will be a mix of finding room for the pump, at whatever spacing it needs to be to suit wherever you can position a drive pulley for it.
From a maintenance point of view, the outermost part of the front pulley makes the most sense, but it could easily run on the engine side if there is room and you can get a belt in there ( ie long enough to fit over the main pulley without pulley removal which would be a ballix )
Re: How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2026 10:41 am
by Nords
I haven’t found a serpentine kit which adds to your ‘not so easy’ with extra helpings of ‘NSE’.
I do have plently of space however, so perhaps that negates the extra helpings, to a nice overall ‘Not so easy’?

Re: How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2026 3:38 pm
by scudderfish
Think of 'not so easy' as 'not too hard' instead

Re: How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2026 7:05 pm
by Nords
Re: How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2026 9:12 am
by stevieturbo
There seem to be a few sumps listed for a dry sump from vendors.
Pulley drive, not so much
Interestingly here someone has a setup using a v-drive belt, which I've never really seen anyone do before. Although I don't really see why it couldn't work ?
viewtopic.php?t=9039&start=15
What is the usage ? Is a dry sump necessary ?
viewtopic.php?t=6297
https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Detai ... ace-engine
Re: How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2026 6:37 pm
by Nords
This should give you an idea Stevie.
Re: How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2026 9:10 am
by stevieturbo
It's a lot of rough ground for sure, but how long static in any extreme angles ?
I do wonder how these OEM vehicles survive the likes of this.
That rock climb they do, in both directions is a pretty extreme angle and for quite some time. I'd think both of those are regular wet sumps ?
Re: How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2026 2:35 pm
by SuperV8
When I was 'musing' about "is it worth it to look at doing a DIY dry sump", I found it very visually useful - to get my sump, and fill with 'fluid' with the pick up roughly the right place, and literally tip the sump back and forwards to see how the liquid responds.
When doing this you soon realise how important it is to have as deep sump as possible (The 4x4 sumps are deeper than the car sumps), and to have as much oil in there as possible, running more oil and using a windage tray could be a cheap option?
Re: How easy is it to dry sump a serpentine belt 3.9 EFi?
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2026 5:25 pm
by Nords
Yep, my drivetrain is close on the ‘left’ as you sit in the car. Plenty of room on the right.