09 M45 oil pan crack

[mactaite]

Hey everyone, I recently hit a hard dip and cracked my oil pan in 2 places. Got 2 quotes to fix and both were in the $1600 range because of the labor of lifting the engine. I've seen on Youtube of the people using JB weld.

I was going to use foil tape (can take heat up to 250 degrees) and reinforce with JB weld except one of the cracks is in the crest of the oil plug. What would you suggest? BTW all the oil is completely drained now.

Thought about trying to find a washer that will sit in the crest perfectly and JB weld it there to protect the bolt hole.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzUniw ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzUniw ... sp=sharing

[EdBwoy]

Do you by chance have comprehensive coverage on your car? That would (help) take care of the $1,600.
When I read about road impact and I was expecting a gaping hole. I assume/hope it was a slow leak and you didn't run the car dry too long.

But hey, this is the situation we have. I personally would go the route of replacing the oil pan, and if the crack wasn't near the drain I'd try the jb weld route. However, I was under the impression that to do it right, then the oil pan still needs to come out so I can clean it and dry it well on both sides before applying any bonding material.
... at which point I'd just rather install a used oil pan. Again, personal preference. I can deal with a patched up timing cover, patched up oil pan on a VK45DE doesn't give me the warm fuzzies at all.

Someone here had the oil pan removed with the engine still in the car. Not sure what their labor looked like:
post6689011.html

[mactaite]

Thanks for the links. I did read about changing the pan while still on car but I couldnt find any detail pictures. I have done basic work on my car (brakes, alternator, starter)but do not want to risk screwing something up this big. I can locate the motor mounts and I have an extra jack and 2x4 to push the engine but I don't know where to lift it up at and also what else to remove.

I do have comprehensive coverage but rather spend the $300 on the new pan and try to put it on than pay a deductible and risk insurance increasing.

[mactaite]

Decided to try the JB weld and washer. If it still leaks I will just buy a new pan and install it. Either way I will update and post pictures so it may help someone in the future

[EdBwoy]

To answer the question on how I'd do the task:

• Secure car on jacks and stands.
• Unfasten both motor mounts and the transmission mount from the body/frame.
• Use an engine hoist to raise the engine from the top of the engine bay to get as much clearance as you need at the bottom.
• Then comes the fun part of working out all the oil pan bolts.
• Remove oil pan & scrape RTV from bottom of engine block.
• Do what you need to to the oil pan, then apply RTV & work backwards - installation is the reverse of removal.

It truly is a matter of opinion on whether to use insurance for what you pay it for.
If I were in your situation, I would cough up the deductible and take my car to an Infiniti dealership for them to install a new pan for me. That way they can also check to make sure I didn't cause any issues with running the car low on oil.

For your rates, I mean, it's not like you were driving drunk and hit another car. I believe this incident does show up on your history/ CLUE report, but it's on another level than getting into the kind of accident where liability insurance has to cover you.

So what if you go through the trouble to DIY this and then your engine starts knocking? It can be tough to back pedal and ask the insurance company to cover it at that point.
Of course, this depends on how long you ran your engine after impact and when exactly the oil drained out. Do you know the answer to this?

[mactaite]

Thanks for the response. I don't think the engine ran low at all. I notice the leak the next morning and it may have been a quart on the ground at the most. So I put 1 quart in it to take it to my dad's enclosed garage at his house so I could work on it in any weather. Drained the oil and was able to fill an empty 5 quart jug.

[EdBwoy]

You bet! I hope it isn't too bad of a situation. Good luck with the job, and please keep us updated.

[mactaite]

Sorry for the late reply, but I fixed the leak. I used JB weld and High Temp RTV. Its not pretty but after a week of keeping an eye on it there is no leak. If anyone ever has to do this in the future, use foil tape after draining the oil for a day. Even after a day of draining, oil was still coming out of the crack so i use the foil tape to slow it down while the JB weld on top of the tape dry and cured. The hardest crack to stop was of course near the bolt. That crack required me to find a rubber and metal washer that I RTV together and place around the bolt hole. The original JB weld and foil had a tiny air pocket that was being created by oil still escaping through. But the RTV and washer was able to stop that.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzUni ... DBoTGN5MEk

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzUni ... WxfTUZLcG8

[EdBwoy]

I'm not sure the pictures are visible to everybody, so here:

Before:







After:






And thanks for the update. I'm glad that you were able to get a functional fix for relatively less effort & cost.

[EdBwoy]

Well, as fate would have it, I had to deal with a similar issue. I consulted with the OP of this thread and felt confident in the longevity of his repair.

I had to get off my "better replace that oil pan" high horse real quick since I was now in that position myself, lol. Honestly, my leaks were minor; otherwise, if I had a huge crack or gaping hole, the pan would have been replaced.

The putty was under $10, versus the quote we got for over 2,800 bucks to replace the oil pan. Removing the oil pan is no trivial job, and even though we chose to work on it while still mated to the engine mated to the trans, we still spent a good amount of time on it.
I didn't take pictures unfortunately, but there's this:

[milto0n]

I don't know anything about welding but is welding not an option for this? Like even if it's an ugly cake weld, would that not work?

[macgiver]

mac, Is'nt it the fire danger the BIG one , and the fact that oil is RIGHT BEHIND where your welding The 'talk' is all having it done "on the car" - no R & R of the oil pan , for a "Quick and dirty" "An oil pan on crack"

[milto0n]

Just looked into it, crankcase fumes are explosive. Welding is a major no-no.

[macgiver]

mac , that's a Biiiiiiiig 10-4 CRANKCASE FUMES ! the correct specific term - you might say it's what can blow the pistons down ? Or up & AND OUT !

[mactaite]

Just wanted to post an update. The repair of the crack near the oil plug did not hold. I believe when I originally jb weld it, the pan was still slowly dripping oil out of the crack at a really slow pace and the jb weld did not cure before the oil made contact. The other crack held up fine. I ended up redoing the drain plug crack by taking a wax crayon and going into the crack near the bolt. The wax filled in the hole and slowed down the drip. I also used some HVAC foil tape over the crack and coated the tape with some SEAL ALL( max temp 150 degrees) which is oil and gas resistant. They sell this at local auto stores. After that dried, I put a layer of jb weld (max temp 550 degrees) over the seal all and part of the pan near the plug.

It's been 3 weeks since I have done the repair and still no leaks. I have posted new pictures of the drain plug and a new picture of the bigger crack that I did not touch since first repair last year. It looks a little dirty because I did not have an engine splash shield on. Just ordered a metal replacement from TBW performance. But if anyone else in the future cracked the oil pan, Jb weld is a great $8 alternative to the other option of paying the $1600 parts and labor charge at the shop.

[Larz]

I do have comprehensive coverage but rather spend the $300 on the new pan and try to put it on than pay a deductible and risk insurance increasing.

I am nearly 100% sure that a claim for road damage will not cause an increase in your insurance rates. It's mostly accidents that cost multiple thousands of dollars that can result in an increase. I ran up the back end of a huge old steel Toyota Land Cruiser last year and the cost of my car was over $4,000 alone. The Toyota needed an new bumper and some body work, and the owner had medical bills on top of that. I'm sure I caused a bloody HUGE bill for GEICO that day, LOL. My policy has since renewed and my rate went up about $60 per year. When I called, they told me it was an increase in the 'uninsured motorist' coverage for everyone in my postal code. It had nothing to do with me personally.