LS oil pan "mystery" port

Simple question.....what's the open port , next to the filter, on this LS Corvette oil pan for? Can it simply be plugged without interfering with oil flow through the engine?

That's where the oil temp sensor goes on Vettes.  You can block that off or buy a different plate that doesn't have the sensor boss.

If you're changing that plate, other factory ones utilize that spot for oil cooler hookup.

If you remove that cover, you'll see two holes. All the oil for the engine comes out one of them, and goes back in the other. So, whatever goes there has to have a void to allow oil to flow through it if it's not an oil cooler adapter like iansane mentioned.

At one time, those vette temp sensor adapters were desirable for guys looking for a clean way to add a turbo oil feed, but with the preponderance of cheap billet aftermarket stuff out there now, I'm not sure whether that's the case anymore. Trucks without oil coolers got a plain cover that's basically free at any junkyard, but I'm not sure how much challenge budget you could recoup by selling the vette cover. Could save the cost of a plug for it, at least? The threads are M12x1.5.

Thank you Guys. Next junkyard trip I'll look for a truck blanking plate and see if I can get a few bucks for this one, although I've only got $43 in the oil pan purchase. No plans for an oil cooler on a Challenge/autocross car. No plans for an oil temp sensor either, but if that port has oil pressure would it be a good place to hook up my oil pressure gauge? There was one in the Corolla when I bought it, assuming it still functions I could hook it up.

It would be a good place to hook up an oil pressure gauge. If it's a Gen III block, there's also a M16x1.5 port back by the cam position sensor, where the factory oil pressure sender goes. There are plugs in a few other places on the block too, here's the diagram:

In reply to obsolete :

Thanks a bunch. It's a GenIII engine, so that will come in handy.