Installed AWR oil pan
 

Got my AWR baffled oil pan installed today, before the rain set in. Wasn't too bad, except for the oil pump pickup has a mid-point support on it and I wasn't sure of what to do (for those who don't know, the pan comes with a spacer to lower the pickup tube to the bottom of the lower pan). I went ahead and put the old bolt back in. I bought some gasket material and made my own gaskets for either side of the spacer. Also, one of the perimeter bolts seems to be stripped. Nothing that I did, might have been that way from the factory as some of the bolts had silicone on the end of them and from my shipboard experience, it is possible for bolts to strip out if silicone gets into the holes (non-compressable fluid). For now I put some LocTite Blue on it to help keep it in place. No leaks so far. When I get the chance I will remove the pan and put in a Helicoil to fix it properly.

Congrats! I'm glad you got it installed relatively easy. So AWR didn't supply the correct gaskets, or..? I'd be stoke on a pic, just so I can get a better idea of what the oil-pump pickup issue is. I'm planning on buying one of those oilpans as soon as I know that any bugs are ironed out.


Don't forget to put in more oil now! :D

Thanks man. You could "probably" get away with using silicone gasket maker for the oil pickup spacer, but my anal-retentive engineer self made me make proper gaskets (no, they aren't included). You can install the pan without removing the exhaust, but you will need a 12 mm wrench to do so as two of the bolts are shrouded by the exhaust. Also, the AWR pan with its overhang only lets you use a socket on about half of the bolts, the wrench will do for the rest.

Sorry but no pics, the weather here has been crazy and I was trying to outrun the rain. Was just filling the engine with oil when it started in earnest! No garage=doing most things on the fly. No worries on the amount, using the stock dipstick you will have the extra amount allowed by the new pan (approx 4.5 qts). I would say you can rest assured in buying the pan, the quality is good and while the stock pan has some baffling, the extra baffling and capacity of the AWR pan lets me tackle the turns with peace of mind. Once I get some new tires and the rain stops!

how is the clearance versus stock?

Clearance in which direction? Ground clearance is not affected appreciably, the AWR pan tucks up well. As far as clearance around other components, the weather here has sucked major wads lately (no garage) so any actual measurements will have to wait. I will say that you would be lucky to get a piece of paper between the pan and the mount point of the lower control arm, but hey, that's all you need! I was a little worried because initially I thought it was going to be too tight, but it slipped right in. Didn't even have to swear at it!

On a related note, the stock pan did have a baffle plate in it. Not sure if earlier models had that (mine is an '03), however it is not baffled to the degree the AWR pan is. Add to that the fact it holds less oil (I have always been surprised at the small amount the stock pan holds) and I am very happy to have the AWR pan. One less thing to be concerned with while driving hard.

Interesting. If I ever get a space to work on my car, I'll pull the pan off and investigate whether or not my early 02 has the baffle plate. If it doesn't, you can ship me your old pan. :)

^^^^This will be interesting to see. I wonder if or when it was changed?

When i am speeding through the curves (high sustained G manuever) the car 'studders' as i accelerate - is this the oil starvation? Did the new pan (i would assume) take care of it?

Sounds like a fuel supply problem to me^^^^.

Here's a picture of the stock pan out of my '03. As you can see there is a horizontal baffle plate across the pan. Not sure if oil pans on older Pros had this as well.

It looks like it uses a formed-in-place gasket (rtv sealer), is that the case?

Yes, I double-checked with the dealer and silicone is what is listed. I used Permatex Red on my AWR pan. The shop manual shows how to run the bead around the bolt holes, it says to use a 2 mm wide bead.

That looks like plenty of baffling for anything but all out racing. Maybe the oil starvation problem in P5s has been a lack of oil capacity.

Yeah, I kind of thought so too. It is nice having the extra capacity of the AWR pan.

Here are some pics I took of my AWR pan installed. They show the clearances around the suspension and stock exhaust.

Damn. My OBX header might not clear. I hope the bigger V-6 filter gives me enough extra capacity for my occasional spirited driving.