Okay, folks, there have been numerous opinions posted about whether an oil pan spacer is acceptable for the oil return on a Vortech installation and/or whether this has contributed to blown seals/gears/belt slippage/premature wear/increased operating temperatures/oil breakdown, etc. So let's see the numbers and decide with facts and not antecdotes

There are four choices but vote just once. The top two choices if your Vortech is still running sweet, the bottom two choices if your Vortech has seized up on you (or any of the other problems mentioned above). Thanks, gang!

Added/Edited on 15 February:

We have yet to hear from any of the shops out there regarding this matter. What do you say, Jeremy, Sam, George, Julian, Sharif, etc.?

Combined, you guys should have more experience than we can gather in a simple poll. Your input would be appreciated.
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just FYI, they do not tell you tap the block in the instructions. it is the upper oil pan

 

Mine blew 3 times so far and i've been using the spacer!!! have any shops said the spacer is bad cause FT installed mine with the kit!!

 

OK IM GOING TO MAKE THIS SIMPLE TO YOU

its like a straw in a glass of water.

is it easier to blow in the straw with the straw above or below the water line?

above the water line is same as tapped block
below water line is the spacer

you need 100% drain guarantee from your supercharger and sometimes it wont drain properly if you use a spacer.

 

I couldn't use the spacer, I have GT-Spec lower strut brace, and I didn't have enough clearance.

 

while I agree with your anology, I doubt this is the issue with a SC setup. I am currently installing one and using a spacer. essentially the oil level should level out across the board, including backing up into the oil return line if it is that high. That said, the return is a gravity feed and will just fall back into the pan. As long as the oil level is not backed up all the way to the SC, there should be no issue with oil pressure or anythign similar backing up in the charger itself. I highly doubt the difference from tapping higher on the pan or lower in a spacer have any impact on the issue people are seeing.

 

I tapped the block, just like Vortech said to do. I'm thinking that there engineers and R&D departments have very good reasons for doing it this way. Other wise they would have supplied an oil pan spacer or suggested it as a viable option. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

Muzzy, I know English is your second language (no insult implied) but you need not be patronizing or deprecating (you never know exactly who you are responding to on the Internet but no insult is taken). I do not need to have it made simple for me. I am an engineer, a physician and have been a certified mechanic since I was 16 (over 35 years ago). I understand quite a bit of physics, engineering and fluid dynamics. Your explanation, while wonderfully graphic, is overly simplified and does not begin to describe the complexity of this situation. Now, if we had someone that was willing to spend the time to measure the flow rates, pressures, and temperatures of both types of oil returns both before and after the supercharger we might be able to make informed decisions regarding the efficacy of each method. Short of that, a brief statistical survey, however crude, will give us far better information than an opinion based on 'I hooked it up that way so it must be right'.

As I have stated in another post, I think the decision to tap the block (or rather, the upper oil pan [thanks Charles, I never can remember all the nomenclature]) was a financial one on Vortech's part and not necessarily the best engineering decision. Attaching an oil return line three inches lower and under two inches of oil will present only a small impediment to oil flow when it is pressurized at 30-60 psi when it leaves the engine and should still be pressurized through most of it's path back to the engine.

From what I can see so far (at 10:00 a.m.), more people appear to have had trouble who tapped the upper oil pan than those that installed a spacer. That would appear to contradict your assessment. Let's see how this plays out when more people have 'chimed in' then we can help people make informed decisions based the experience of the whole community (which was my intent when I wrote this poll).

 

Not sure how we can say a blown vortech was/is caused by location of return feed. For example my return is as stated in the install manual (tap drivers side upper oil pan) and after about 10k miles the main blower shaft seals went..Oil all over the place..Was it caused by or have anything to do with the location of the return???

 

Oh i didnt meen to be mean or patronizing... I just tought that if u searched for vortech and oil pan you should come up with a few threads about this subject. sorry.. ><

 

+1 bought a used kit and still running issue for close to a year now...knock on wood.

 

like was said, unless the oil was backing out of the return line and pooling at the blower, who cares.

thats easy enough to check. juts pull your oil return line off the blower. if oil backs out the hose, then you have a problem.

My oil didnt do that, so I am not concerned.

Plus, people that blew their vortech had issues with bearing slop. dont think anyone blew due to seized/overheated bearings.

 

+1 with spacer and haven't had any problems. i've put about 5000 miles on it. aam spacer

 

10k miles with APS oil pan tap

 

This is the answer I would go with. Sentry65 is probably the most educated Vortech guy on this site.

 

hehe thanks, there's a lot of guys here though who know just as much or more.

My big pet peeve is not getting on the throttle hard until I reach 140 degrees oil temp which is about the same when the oil pressure gauge is a little over 60 psi (halfway)
That might be the secret to a lower pan tap working - dunno though

 

Oil Pan Spacer: wow, 12K Miles already. No issues.

 

the block

18k miles

 

Nicely Put! I agree that Vortech chose to tap the upper pan for financial purposes. They have recommended tapping oil pans ever since they cam eout with their first kits for mustangs back in the early 90s. It is simple and cost effective for them. They are in business to sell kits and adding a billet aluminum oil pan spacer would up the cost of the kit by $100 (probably less though) and that price difference may make a consumer buy a different product over the vortech.

 

Good idea to post the stats (wish I had thought of that to begin with);

AAM Spacer........bearing failure at 600 miles (in the group from this last summer and replaced under warranty)

Continued with the spacer and now at about 700 miles.......no problems, so far