Oil Pan Gasket with Baffel

JamesW · Post by **JamesW** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:28 am

One of the many oil leaks on my rabbit is from the oil pan. I've read here that the rubber ones work better, and I found one that has a baffle on it "to prevent oil pump starvation under sever conditions".

I was wondering if any of you had tried one of these, and weather its a good idea?? and worth the cash??

Thanks
~J

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:55 am

Not sure what the "baffle" style it's referring to, but it's either a baffle style to limit oil sloshing around, or a windage tray style to stop oil from rotating with the crankshaft. The windage tray style is for high engine RPM use, and the baffle style is for limiting oil from getting forced to the dry end of the oil pan during cornering. If your not racing your engine (ie: running at high RPM's) or road racing your car, this level of extra protection is likely not needed. That's my .02.

Vincent Waldon · Post by **Vincent Waldon** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:22 pm

One way to look at it is:

The rubber gasket seals much much better, and it comes with a free baffle, which doesn't hurt either.

As far as I know the rubber gasket with the free baffle became a standard part on AAZ diesels and beyond.

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:26 pm

Vincent Waldon wrote:One way to look at it is:

The rubber gasket seals much much better, and it comes with a free baffle, which doesn't hurt either.

As far as I know the rubber gasket with the free baffle became a standard part on AAZ diesels and beyond.

I agree that the rubber gasket is better, but I don't know if it comes in a baffled form or without a baffle. From the initial post, I thought there were two rubber oil pan gaskets, one with a baffle and one without.

Vincent Waldon · Post by **Vincent Waldon** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:28 pm

I've only ever seen it attached to a baffle.. and that's how ETKA lists it as well.

You make a good point however... perhaps there's an aftermarket source of just the gasket.

JamesW · Post by **JamesW** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:46 pm

There are two styles of rubber gaskets, one with the baffle (more expensive) and one without (less expensive).

Is the baffle something that helps the diesel out, ie, does the pump not suck sometimes when it should, or is this an issue only if I decided to make it a racing na diesel

which seems like it would be depressing to loose all the time

Thank
~j

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:03 pm

JamesW wrote:There are two styles of rubber gaskets, one with the baffle (more expensive) and one without (less expensive).

Can you post pictures of the two?

nicknack2 · Post by **nicknack2** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:13 pm

what is the full www adress for ETKA???

Krank · Post by **Krank** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:21 pm

Mine is gasket only. It works. What more can I add?

libbybapa · Post by **libbybapa** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:39 pm

nicknack2 wrote:what is the full www adress for ETKA???

There isn't one. ETKA is a software application.

Andrew

JamesW · Post by **JamesW** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:28 pm

I cant post a picture, sorry but I will ppm you with a link.
~j

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:38 pm

Here's the two gaskets in question.

To me, that looks more like a windage tray to keep oil from rotating with the crank at high RPM's. As I said before, normal street driving, likely not necessary.

Also, on an additional thought, does the baffle part of the gasket need to be bolted to the main caps? Possibly and likely and it's installation may require special main bolts for this.

nicknack2 · Post by **nicknack2** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:27 pm

So what is ETKA? what is its purpose/benefit???

Vincent Waldon · Post by **Vincent Waldon** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:52 pm

Aha.... they *do* exist as separate parts... I happily stand corrected.

In answer to the "do they bolt to the mains" question the answer, at least for the AAZ I just put one in, is "nope". What looks like bolt holes are just drain holes.

Do ya need one ?? Nah... probably not. One Mustang site I saw said a windage tray is worth 15 hp (

) but unless you do a lot of red-light racing I doubt you'll miss it. It probably helps keep the oil from foaming and misting a bit as well.

I *do* think it's interesting that VW added them stock by 1993. DeLorean summed up the automotive industries stance on design very accurately "parts left out cost nothing and cause no service issues".... what do they know that we don't ??

bscutt · Post by **bscutt** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 6:38 pm

ETKA is the VW dealer's parts lookup software. There was a guy selling them on ebay a few years back and I bought one. Very useful for looking up old VW part numbers and it also has the exploded views of various assemblies. Haven't seen them for sale in a while.