What does a Windage tray do?
Windage is the flow of air within the crankcase. Each time a piston comes down in the piston bore the air under it is pushed into the crank area and each time the piston goes up the air is pulled in behind it. In a eight cylinder engine all eight pistons go up and down each revolution. At the same time the rotating assembly is spinning and churning the air. Oil coming off of the crank is also put into the mix. So as the RPM increases so does windage. At 6000 RPM�s the assembly is rotating 100 times a second.

A windage tray keeps the windage around the crank from the oil in the sump area. It allows oil coming off the crank to easily enter the sump without the windage affecting the oil already in the sump. Windage trays keep the oil in the sump from getting into the rotating assembly when the action of the vehicle is in motion increasing 15 to 18 Hp at 6000 RPM.

Ford found so much power in Cantons windage tray that they changed their assembly process to install them on all their 2000 Mustang Cobra R′s.

When using the 4.6L windage tray, you should install it using one gasket between the tray and oil pan. Then the tray should be sealed to the engine block using silicone sealant.