panman142

OK so I decided to tackle my pesky oil leak on the intake these past few days and everything went great expect when I put it back on I torqued all the bolts to spec and realized i forgot that pan that bolts to the bottom of the intake. It looks like an oil guard of some sort and I was wondering if I can do without or pull everything back off and start over. Quick answers would be great as I sit in my garage kicking myself that i forgot it.

guppymech

iTrader: (7)

I believe its only a heatshield to keep hot oil off the bottom of the intake manifold. I'm sure you're OK but you may loose some hp to the hotter intake.

RJBAILEY84

iTrader: (4)

If gm put it on the car I would say that its there for a reason... If its was me I would restart and ensure it was together as it was the first time. Its not that difficult to pull it, install it and reseal it if you have done it once already..

panman142

Ok I figured it was a heatsheild. And usually I am a religious follower of if it was there in the first place its there for a reason but i think ill take my chances since it isn't too hard of a job. Everything is already back together too that's why I hesitate to pull it back off. Thanks

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

Just like the AIR Pumps, EGR, catalytic converters, spare tires/scissor jacks, skip shift, restrictive mufflers, paper air filters, intake silencers, and exhaust manifolds that everyone uses, right?

jk

I believe it's called a windage tray. Some people run without them, but it's probably best to have it in there, especially if you are capable of doing the work.

panman142

Ok thanks. Yeah ill hopefully be doing an intake cam heads deal here soon so it should be fine til then ? I guess..

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

It's not a heat shield. It is an oil baffle for the PCV system. Leaving it off means your PCV system will be ingesting every bit of the oil vapors being produced in the oil valley while the engine is on. Do yourself a favor, take the manifold back off and do it right.

panman142

Dang. Ok. Think those gaskets will still be okay with the rtv that's on em? Or just spend the 15 bucks for a new set?

FAD2BLK93

New set...pull the intake and try again.

93 LT1 Vette

Yep get a new set, the last thing you want is to reuse the gaskets and have a new oil leak or vaccum leak.

defaultexistence

iTrader: (11)

Ahhh.. :homer:

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

If they have already been heat cycled then yes, new pair.

Rob94hawk

iTrader: (1)

^^This.

And don't sweat it. We all have made mistakes.

RJBAILEY84

iTrader: (4)

Lol... I was referring to internal type parts.. AIR, EGR is a little different..

Great info and good to know.. Thanks for posting it...

panman142

Just out of curiosity could someone shed some light on how it acts as a baffle for the pcv? I see that slit at the bottom of the intake and since there's sludge in that pan I assume oil comes through the slit into the manifold via the holes drilled at the end of the pan. I just don't see the need for the pan other than to keep hot oil off the intake and have all the oil from that slit drain through it back into the lifted valley

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

I won't get into the specifics of how a PCV system works since you can easily look that up, but the one simple way to look at this is the inside of your engine needs to breath from the normal actuation of internal engine components as well as normal blow-by. That pan is not a filter. Simply a baffle. The oil vapors will be less prone to enter the PCV system with the baffle in place. It's the same for the breather tube on the passenger valve cover. There is a baffle in place so oil does not make its way into the breather tube. The stock baffle does not always work well, but does help nonetheless.
If you think you can get away without the PCV baffle then leave it off, but don't be surprised when you start fouling out plugs and have oil consumption issues. BTW, the sludge build up is either the oil not being changed when it should and/or a recurrence of the engine not being brought up to normal operating temperature.

quik95lt1

iTrader: (7)

^ this

purpleflamzz

Interesting read as I too have this issue?
when I purchased the motor lt4 396 stroker, the intake is also lt4 and it does not have the tray on there and i am having the problem with oil consumption and blow by! now I know why didnt even realize it wasnt there till this post so thanks guys good inof now to find a tray and get in put back in.any other tricks to solve this issue such as using a catch can help if the tray isnt there?

panman142

X2 on the catch can. That "should" take most of the oil that would enter the pcv through it, out right? I'll put it back on I just don't have the chunk of time needed to do it for a couple weeks...

guppymech

iTrader: (7)

While I can see the metal intake manifold shield performing a baffle function on the LT1 with the pcv valve in the intake, historically GM has used a metal pan on the bottom of the intake manifold as a heat shield. Every SBC and BBC carb intake manifold I have seen has had one and they don't have any pcv valve provisions in the intake. If it was only a baffle they almost certainly would've made it more compact.