Windage trays are a device that runs from side to side within the oil pan itself. Some S550 Mustangs already come with a windage tray depending on your engine package. They can be purchased on their own, however. A windage tray seems very simple in design, but serves a massively important purpose in engines like what you would find in today’s Mustangs.
Unlike the old days, modern Ford engines aren’t designed to perform with low-end torque dominating the quarter-mile. Instead, a lot of time is going to be spent at high RPMs, and the red line is much further than the engines of the glory days. So what does this mean for the engine’s oil supply? If you were to look at an engine without an oil pan you would see the crankshaft has counterweights that come in direct contact with the oil supply.
As the engine runs these counterweights will rapidly splash through the oil, and the faster the engine is turning the more air will be introduced to the oil. To counter this, many engine builders have done things such as shaping the counterweights with an edge to reduce turbulence as it passes through the oil.
This is a bit on the technical side, and unless it’s done right, the engine’s performance can suffer. It’s also not the perfect solution. A windage tray acts to separate as much of the oil supply as possible from the contacted area and therefore unaffected oil can be drawn through the engine. The more stable the oil is, the more consistently the engine can perform. This is especially important at high RPM.
Benefits of a Windage Tray
- - Increased performance at high RPM
- - Decreased disturbance of engine oil
