Oil Pan "Fins"

[Gawernator]

I'm sure someone else has noticed how there are those fins running down parallel on the bottom of the oil pan. Are they for cooling, or what? Just curious, I noticed a little bit of cosmetic damage to a couple fins on my pan that had a ding or chip or two, probably from some big rocks over the years (need undertray xD)

[zedsn]

Yes they are for cooling. Maybe someone at one point ran over something or jacked the car up by the oil pan to cause the dinged fins?

[Techno Duck]

Its basically a heat sink.

[Gawernator]

Yes they are for cooling. Maybe someone at one point ran over something or jacked the car up by the oil pan to cause the dinged fins?

Possible. It's really quite minor, I only just now noticed.

[FrenchToast]

They were designed to give extra directional stability.

Lol. But if you actually think about it, there is probably a reason they're longitudinal. Same with the transmission. Likely because if they were lateral, they would produce a lot more turbulence, making the surrounding air hotter, thus defeating the whole purpose of them.

Pretty common for them to be chipped, the belly pan doesn't cover it.

BTW - saw a bright red car today with white wheels. Not a 944 though :/ . You've started a trend!

[Gawernator]

I must be famous. I was expecting you to say it provided cooling for the aft mounted flux capacitor, or something.