Ballade Oil Baffle
02-23-2019, 12:03 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Ballade Oil Baffle
Anyone else run the Ballade baffle for a while? Anyone run it for a while and pull the pan again? I'm wondering if I have the only one that has been very lightly rubbing on the oil pan on 3 sides and dumped aluminum glitter into the oil.
02-23-2019, 04:04 PM
#4
interested. i have the blacktrax welded in oil baffle, was thinking of putting my oem pan back on and using the ballade sport or evasive bolt in pan. Hesitating after hearing about this.
02-23-2019, 06:27 PM
#5
Thread Starter
There is associated wear on the baffle panel, but this is what the pan looks like. It has been dumping the aluminum into the oil the entire time, yet has not caused a failure. My oil changes all started looking like the last image since I put the baffle in, but I was not 100% sure it was the baffle until I pulled the pan for something unrelated today.
Last edited by Chibo; 02-23-2019 at 06:43 PM.
02-23-2019, 06:44 PM
#7
Thread Starter
Nope, as tight as when I installed it.
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02-23-2019, 07:12 PM
#8
I've had the Blacktrax pan for something around 6-7 years, no issues whatsoever. Never seen a drop in oil pressure while on track. The only time I could think of maybe needing more protection is stepping up to hoosier tires.
02-23-2019, 10:18 PM
#9
I'm also using the Blacktrax pan.
If it's good enough for Hartano with Prima Racing, it's good enough for me. Essentially "race proven" as far as I'm concerned - anecdotal? Probably, yes.
If it's good enough for Hartano with Prima Racing, it's good enough for me. Essentially "race proven" as far as I'm concerned - anecdotal? Probably, yes.
02-23-2019, 10:38 PM
#10
Finding metal particles in the oil shouldn't be normal. I don't know if it is the baffle or something else. I don't see anyone reporting a similar problem. The Ballade has some popularity because it doesn't require welding.
However, there are lots of wet sump baffles that are welded in, the Moroso baffle with 2 trap doors, and the Canton pan with 4 trap doors and ports for an oil temp sensor and turbo drain back. Blacktrax sells its baffle welded into a new pan avoiding any issues with welding on an old aluminum casting that has been sitting in contaminated oil for 15 years and gone through thousands of heat cycles. The Canton is a complete, new sheet metal oil pan. The baffles are less than the cost of a tire; the complete pan the cost of a set of tires.
Metal flakes in the oil are not something you want to be worrying about and a damaged engine is not something you want to be spending your time and money on while missing track days.
This is from another thread:
I did the next best thing and datalog my oil pressures at 10hz. My car sees 20+ track days a year so plenty of sample material across a range of tracks and environments.
I have run the Canton pan and currently run the moroso baffle.
I liked the canton because of the trap system and extra capacity. it never showed any indication of starvation regardless of corner drection or G-load.
I switched to the weld-in moroso because if also showed the exact same starvation prevention (consistent oil pressure) but indicated 15 degree lower oil temps due to being in an aluminum OEM pan and not a steel pan.
I have not measured any of the non trap doored options but given the costs i wouldnt bother removing the pan, and welding one in that didnt have pickup trap doors.
I have also wired this same data system to another S2K challenge drivers car which is how we did the A/B testing on the Canton/Moroso setup.
HTH
-Ryan
However, there are lots of wet sump baffles that are welded in, the Moroso baffle with 2 trap doors, and the Canton pan with 4 trap doors and ports for an oil temp sensor and turbo drain back. Blacktrax sells its baffle welded into a new pan avoiding any issues with welding on an old aluminum casting that has been sitting in contaminated oil for 15 years and gone through thousands of heat cycles. The Canton is a complete, new sheet metal oil pan. The baffles are less than the cost of a tire; the complete pan the cost of a set of tires.
Metal flakes in the oil are not something you want to be worrying about and a damaged engine is not something you want to be spending your time and money on while missing track days.
This is from another thread:
I did the next best thing and datalog my oil pressures at 10hz. My car sees 20+ track days a year so plenty of sample material across a range of tracks and environments.
I have run the Canton pan and currently run the moroso baffle.
I liked the canton because of the trap system and extra capacity. it never showed any indication of starvation regardless of corner drection or G-load.
I switched to the weld-in moroso because if also showed the exact same starvation prevention (consistent oil pressure) but indicated 15 degree lower oil temps due to being in an aluminum OEM pan and not a steel pan.
I have not measured any of the non trap doored options but given the costs i wouldnt bother removing the pan, and welding one in that didnt have pickup trap doors.
I have also wired this same data system to another S2K challenge drivers car which is how we did the A/B testing on the Canton/Moroso setup.
HTH
-Ryan