So I am reassembling a 360 that I bought in the classified. It had some oil leaks and I wanted to see what is looked like, component wise, inside while it was out of a vehicle.

On reassembly with the new gasket set I made it to the intake. No valley pan . . . I was a few beers in on the tear apart a few nights ago and don't recall a valley pan.

With an aftermarket intake, like an edelbrock performer 390, do you use the valley pan under the intake? Because it is missing.

 

A valley pan is part of the oil drain back control system and should be used.

 

I thought it was to keep oil from caking on the underside of the intake manifold and wasn't necessary. hmmmm................

 

I agree. I don't understand why it would be tossed unless it did not fit with the aftermarket intake.

 

Yeah it does that, but it also stops oil from slashing up and around and not draining back in the the oil pan. Factory engineers are good, but accountants really run corporations now and if the engineers couldn't justify the valley pan as necessary, it wouldn't be there.

 

ain't that the sad truth....seen it too many times myself

wouldn't surprise me that those bean-counters have a lot to do with Toyota's problems these days.

 

Bear's right, it's there for a reason

Too bad I don't have any, anymore - Hotwrench got them all

Being a "computer geek" and knowing a little bit about control and embedded systems, Toyota's problems have more to do with computer programming and lack of foresight on possible unforeseen problems. The Prius recall is definitely a software problem, and the accelerator pedal issues, while not being directly software related it appears, does lend itself to some sensor/testing/calibration issues that could have been worked on, but it's also possible the cost of the pedal was key.

 

CURIOSITY i got a 351m on my 79 ford truck.... is the valley pan ITSELF a gasket or is there supposed to be a seperate gasket attatched between the heads? when i took my stock manifold off to put on the edelbrock performer 400 i noticed there were no gaskets aside from the valley pan itself... i put to gaskets ontop of the valley pan and now the truck runs liek utter junk.... help please

 

In your case, where the valley pan has the port cutouts for the head and intake then the pan is also the gasket. I would suspect that your extra gasket are causing a leak or two and at least a port misalignment. Remove them and start over with a new valley pan/gasket.

 

Russt66: This will be a good excuse to go to a salvage yard and have fun hunting one down. Some people may find having to do this to be a pain, but for me would make a fun day. If you find one make sure it has enough spring on the edges to fit tight in there correctly or else it could vibrate around and make a bunch of noise. I've had to flatten mine out a bit to get it to fit correctly. Good luck.

OJ

 

I did an r & r on the 360 in the truck and took the valley pan from the one with the blown head. So I am working on the other engine and will eventually need a valley pan. I was thinking eBay but may hit the scrap yard after the snow subsides as you suggest. I always come out with more than I need when I go.