I am replacing a cam lifters etc. I also am installing an edelbrock aluminum intake. Should the windage tray be installed under the aluminum intake or left out? What purpose does it reaaly accomplish? Thanks

 

I think the original idea is to keep the hot oil off the bottom of the intake to keep it cooler and more power. In my experience they are a pita to line up correctly and making sure your intake gaskets seal up correctly. I ran one in the past but its a lot easier to get the gaskets lined up with out one and then you are taking a chance of doing it again if there is a vacuum leak. Your call.

 

Are you sure thats what the tray is for.

What about when its not in place & the oil getting onto the bottom of the intake & then when the EGR works it bakes the oil turning it into a crusty mess & then some of it break loose & fall down into the engine.
Could that be a reason the tray is there.

That crusty mess, that would be nice, big piece of that fall down & just happen to go through one of the holes above the cam & get between a lifter & the cam & ride untill its chewed up.
Neil

 

If its a windage tray, That mounts to the studs that hold the crank in to keep oil off the crankshaft. If your talking about the one piece intake gasket its purpose was to keep hot oil off the bottom of the intake so as to keep
the intake charge cooler. Just use regular intake gaskets.
chuck

 

Yeah. The one I mean is the metal pan that is part of the intake gasket set. Just wondering about it with the aftermarket aluminum intake as I have seen some comments about not using it. Just not sure why.

 

To hard to line up and keep from leaking use a standard intake gasket and rtv for the ends. Shouldnt have any problems from there. chuck

 

Run the valley tray, it's not a windage tray, windage trays go right below the crank in the oil pan and keep the crank weights from stirring up the oil in the pan. The valley tray purpose is there to control oil drain back and keep oil off the intake. But you are better off with, than without the valley tray and anyone not capable of installing one properly should close their tool box, lock it up tight and throw the key into a deep lake or the ocean. They have no business in working on engines.

 

That is what I love about this site. I get an education while I get to have fun. I did not know it was called a valley tray. Thanks for that. I also like that you do get varying ideas on this kind of thing but generally their is a consensus on what is best.
Cooling the intake I knew about. Control of oil drain back is a new one to me and it does make some sense for sure. So I will be putting the valley tray in hopefully this afternoon. Thanks everyone.

 

AKA turkey pan

it has zero to do with oil drain back (it sits above the lifter valley and couldn't control oil drain back if it had to. In order for it to control drain back it would have to have oil ABOVE it and gee isn't the point to keep oil AWAY from the intake? a properly installed pan better not have oil above it thus better not have any affect on oil drain back EVER.

As to running them, I never have run them with aftermarket intakes that are not running an EGR cross over which is the only time the intake is hot enough coke the oil to the bottom of the intake and thus a useless measure on most aftermarktet intakes. There is NO way that an intake without the exhaust crossover/EGR setup can get hot enough to cook the oil (think a little sometimes) and if it could then the pan would actually be as if not MORE hot. most times they don't fit right with them, they don't serve any purpose on aftermarket intakes (makes less then 1 degree of difference according to every test I have ever seen with them) they are very prone to leaking.

IF you are running an edelbrock intake with the an EGR then MAYBE but if the intake is setup to block the exhaust crossover as most without the egr are then all it's benefits are gone.

 

So in your world no oil gets into the heads and then drains back into the valley. Must be nice in your world, The valley pan keeps the oil from being splashed upwards off the lifters and there by promoting quicker drain back into pan. If that's not controlling drain back then there is no oil in the engine either.

 

Bear until this post I actually thought you knew something about engines, now with that comment I doubt it seriously. now think about how that sits in between the heads for a second and realize that A. the oil drains back through a hole in the block deck surface for the most part (at the back side of the heads and B. what doesn't goes down through the pushrod holes which are LOWER then the intake face. And it doesn't stop the oil from splashing off the lifters either. A turkey pan has one purpose and one purpose ONLY, to stop oil from hitting the hot exhaust crossover and coking on the underside of the intake that is why you won't find them on engines that don't have exhaust crossovers.

Gotta say though this is a first I have EVER heard anyone try to claim it was an oil drain back control pan. you are unique anyway LOL

 

If the pan prevents oil from slashing up into the upper part of the valley and onto the bottom of the intake (where some of it would never get back to the pan), all of which would slow oil drain back into the pan, then it has to be controlling drain back or you really don't understand oil contol and the need to get the oil back into the pan as quickly as possible.

 

So, well, I guess then, for most of us not having normal stock engines with the EGRs working, the pan is of no use to us, but for somebody building a stock replacement engine where the EGR functions are operating, then it should be in place, that correct ??.

I'm like Ford Truck now, it gets better every time I come back, least I learn more anyways.
Sometimes I just come back to see what Bear has said, but you know what, theres something to be said about how he words things.
You remember The Wizard of Oz movie & as they were traveling to Oz, when they all got hungry ol scarcrow made faces at the apple trees & they threw apples at them, well scarcrow was ugly but he got some results & ended up with something to eat.
All in all bear has his ways, but we all better from it by everybody jumping in to correct.
I think I've found him out, Bear you keep on doing what your doing because it helps us learn more in the long run.
Neil

 

Monster's theory has more holes in it than an oil pump intake screen. First off when valley pans were first put in engines, there was no such thing as an EGR. The idea didn't even exist. Hell the PCV didn't either. The heat riser crossover thru the heads and the intake was in use then and the valley pan was to keep oil off the crossover passage on the bottom of the intake. I have to say is that him saying I don't know anything about engines is like saying obama is gonna be good for the USA and save this America, NOT!

 

Well I thought Bear was right as I was thinking back to the FE of my sons. I was working on it a while ago and that valley pan could control oil and stuff. It was different in its design from the one on my 460 though. No oil can get above it from anywhere on the 460. I set the old one in place and looked at it and decided it was only the heat thing that was of any concern. So I decided that of the two sets of gaskets I had, that I would go without the valley pan. For one thing I get more money back when I return it. Then I come back in here and read what Monsterbaby had to say. This was consistant with what I had heard earlier and is what caused me to even ask the question. I have no exhaust crossover on this intake and so less reason to worry about coking. I did go to Edelbrock's site and they say nothing about it except to use their gasket set. That set does not have a valley pan.So as I say I learn something more every time I get to asking things here. I dont doubt anyones ability to work on trucks or engines at all. With all the members and all the posts on this site there are many possibilities and opinions on any procedure. Some just word things clearly and others, well, Not so much. I do appreciate everyones input as it does aid in thinking through what I am doing.