Drawbacks to oil pan baffles??

Guys I have an oil pan baffle I am about to weld into my 05, are there any drawbacks to doing this? I realize it is designed to keep oil close to the pickup for high speed turns but does it limit flow in any other way? would there be any "drawbacks" to an oil pan baffle long term is what I am asking I guess. If anyone has any concerns please post or PM me, I don't want to install an item that is good for one thing and bad for another.

I did a search on this and did not really find any threads stating anything negative? Something about messing with an engine's oiling system always makes me anxious.

The ONLY drawback I experienced is I can't use my oil extractor anymore as you can't get the tube all the way down to the bottom of the pan. But no biggie as I have a Fumoto valve and now I just hook the tube up to the lip on the valve, open it and it sucks it right into my oil extractor... no mess. :smile:

Are you using these for oil changes? What oil weight are you using at the track Jim?

stick with 10/30 Dave..

TURBO2GO said:

Are you using these for oil changes? What oil weight are you using at the track Jim?

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I have that valve in the oil pan, replaces the OEM plug. Has been on the car for 4 years and works like a charm. Get the one with the lip, so you can attach a tube to it to drain right into a jug or something.

I am running Mobil 1 0w40 (5w30 during early spring and late fall).

TURBO2GO said:

Guys I have an oil pan baffle I am about to weld into my 05, are there any drawbacks to doing this? I realize it is designed to keep oil close to the pickup for high speed turns but does it limit flow in any other way? would there be any "drawbacks" to an oil pan baffle long term is what I am asking I guess. If anyone has any concerns please post or PM me, I don't want to install an item that is good for one thing and bad for another.

I did a search on this and did not really find any threads stating anything negative? Something about messing with an engine's oiling system always makes me anxious.

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Speed has nothing to do with it, its the High G/sustained high G corners that matter, which can also be in lowspeed corners.

I would say the answer is "No". What baffle are you getting? You need good penetration into the pan itself but not too much where you have a hole or leak. Fill the pan with water and make sure there are no leaks afterwards (after it cools down). Also, be sure to weld the ENTIRE edge with a full bead (no spot or stitch welds) on the edge that touches the "Shelf" (which is on the drivers side of the pan).

I use M1 0W40 but am really liking the Shell Rotella T6 (Blue bottle) HD 5W40 oil.

Don't be lazy and use an oil extractor, it wont pick up any debris, contaminates, or solids that would drain out of the pan out of the normal drain hole.

speaking of oil pan baffle. I have a question too..Does it require more oil after you do an oil change??

i know our X use 5Qt of oil..wal-mart sells it by the 5qt jug...but i did an oil change today using brand new oil catching container, i after all the old oil drain out..must've waited 10mins for complete drain...
install new oil filter, refill new oil with 5qt jug...dump the OLD oil into the emptied 5qt jug and i get 5.5qt...what the heck?? how can that be?
2k miles ago i had a good shop that works on NSX, even the owner have one, install CTSC, replace coolant hoses, oil pan gasket and weld in OIL PAN BAFFLE (STMPO), along with other stuffs...they put in new oil, but didn't replace the oil filter (must've forgotten)..anywho..never paid attention to it all that much until the oil change today..

so the question really is, do u need that .5qt of extra oil??
or would the old oil filter(puralator) hold that much extra .5qt inside the filter if u don't replace it?? hence the 5.5qt?? instead of 5qt??

i have heard that an oil filter will hold .5qt by itself...with the baffle being in there, i don't know if it's necessary to add more oil or just stick to oem spec?

unless u upgrade to a bigger oil pan but that's totally different..

NSX uses 5.3 quarts per the manual that's 5.0 liters.

CL65 Captain said:

But no biggie as I have a Fumoto valve

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These seem like a great idea on paper, or right up to the point when you have a little "off", run over some type of debris, or even something as innocuous as a cone on an autocross course, and your car starts wazzing your preferred brand all over the tarmac. (I've seen the cone thing happen twice with those valves...

With regard to the baffle installation, I'll defer to any engineers present, but I don't think it's necessary to run a full bead all the way around the baffle. The viscosity of the oil will already lead to seriously impeded sloshing even if you just, for instance, weld the tabs on the SOS baffle. You also need to ensure that oil returning to the pan can effectively drain into the bottom of the pan, and leaving no gaps along the sides of the pan would hurt in this regard unless the baffle was sloped inward with that drainage purpose in mind. Also, the baffle is not under any real stress.

R13 said:

With regard to the baffle installation, I'll defer to any engineers present, but I don't think it's necessary to run a full bead all the way around the baffle. The viscosity of the oil will already lead to seriously impeded sloshing even if you just, for instance, weld the tabs on the SOS baffle. You also need to ensure that oil returning to the pan can effectively drain into the bottom of the pan, and leaving no gaps along the sides of the pan would hurt in this regard unless the baffle was sloped inward with that drainage purpose in mind. Also, the baffle is not under any real stress.

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While I don't think it's necessary to run a full bead around the entire baffle, I do feel that you should run a constant bead along the entire LEFT/Drivers side of the baffle.

Mount the baffle so the left/drivers side is flush with the 'ledge' of the oil pan. Weld a constant bead along the left side of the baffle. This will greatly prevent oil from sloshing up on the 'ledge' and away from the pick up. Since oil is very thin (like water) when hot, a gap here (or a non continuous bead) will greatly hurt the effectiveness of the baffle. There's a reason race baffles are almost water-tight and have trap doors (as well as continuous beads) to prevent oil from escaping where the pick up is. Due to the slots and holes in the SOS and STMPO baffle, oil returns extremely quickly to the pan, and welding a continuous bead substantially reduces any oil from leaving the pick up. I would agree and say to just spot weld the front and back as well as Right/Passenger side of the baffle because as stated before, it is not a stressed member.


Cliff notes:

-Make sure there is no gap so the baffle touches the 'ledge' on the Left/Drivers side of the pan
-Weld a continuous bead on the left/drivers side of the pan & spot weld the front, back, and right sides of the pan



0.02

My B. on that one. Concentration fails me and I stopped reading at "continuous bead". That makes sense.

R13 said:

These seem like a great idea on paper, or right up to the point when you have a little "off", run over some type of debris, or even something as innocuous as a cone on an autocross course, and your car starts wazzing your preferred brand all over the tarmac. (I've seen the cone thing happen twice with those valves...

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The way my valve is positioned (upside down), you have to pull down AND turn the lever. I deliberate installed it that way because I didn't want something to push it up, ie running over something. Anything you hit in the unlikely hood it did contact the valve would try to push it up... It would be close to impossible for anything to pull the lever down and turn. As an extra precaution I guess I could put tape over it. But with 100+ track days and several "offs" I have never had a problem.

CL65 Captain said:

The way my valve is positioned (upside down), you have to pull down AND turn the lever. I deliberate installed it that way because I didn't want something to push it up, ie running over something. Anything you hit in the unlikely hood it did contact the valve would try to push it up... It would be close to impossible for anything to pull the lever down and turn. As an extra precaution I guess I could put tape over it. But with 100+ track days and several "offs" I have never had a problem.

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Fair enough with proper precaution I suppose, and to add something I didn't think of earlier, both cars I've seen this happen to were front-engined, so there's less stuff in between any random debris and the bottom of the oil pan.

Speaking of tape... walking around Mid Ohio garages this weekend I saw a car with speed tape over the wheel weights. Never thought of that before, and I think I'm going to do the same.

The race shop I use locally to mount/balance my track tires cleans around the area and uses some of the aluminum tape over the weights. Prior to that, I'd never seen it done either.

The first time I saw taped over wheel weights was in 2007 when the Bridgestone truck mounted up some tires for me. My local shop doesn't tape over them but this thread reminded me that maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to add tape afterwards. Thanks!

stuntman said:

... it wont pick up any debris, contaminates, or solids that would drain out of the pan out of the normal drain hole.

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Goodness! If your engine has debris and solids in it that aren't small enough to be suspended in the oil and sucked out when warm, then you have more to worry about than using an oil extractor :wink:

Extractors work perfectly fine when used correctly. When I replaced my oil pan with Dave's baffled unit, there wasn't any sludge or crap stuck on the bottom of the old pan after 18 years and 120,000 miles.

That is a good point though CL65 Captain, when pointing out the drawbacks to baffled pans.

Dave