Hole in oil pan

[goody90q45]

Well I pulled in a little too far into my parking spot at work yesterday morning and a piece of rebar holding down the concrete stop was sticking up about 1/2" and punctured my oil pan just forward of the drain plug. I had her towed home, cleaned up the 1/4"L x 1/32"W gash and temporarily sealed it with JB Weld. A couple of questions:

1) Can the gash be welded closed with the pan still on the engine? If I remember correctly it's a PITA to remove the pan. If welding is possible, could a nitrogen or inert gas purge into the oil sump during welding eliminate the chance of oil ignition?

2) I've done a search using a few keywords and can't find the DIY to remove the pan. I know I've seen it but need some help locating the thread.

3) The JB Weld is only a temporary fix but how long can I expect it to seal the leak?

BTW- I have a request in to PopPop for a replacement pan.

Thanks in advance for all your comments.

[maxnix]

The post you are looking for is by Tangalora. She never completed the job.

Where has she gone? We miss her very much.

As to welding, I would say not unless you are wearing an asbestos suit. It will be intersting to see how much sludge is in the pan. Plan on replacing your front engine mounts also. Maybe the steering rack mounting rubber too.

So sorry, but please take pictures.

This must be the only advantage of lowering the car 4" and installing one of those snow plow front air dams. It would serve as an early warning system
Modified by maxnix at 7:21 AM 2/14/2007

[Nick240sx]

Hole in oil pan...now that cant be good.

[elwesso]

The only thing you have to be concerned about is that if it dented the pan to block flow to the pickup... The pickup is very close to the bottom of the pan and even denting it less than an inch will completely mess things up.....

Some pics of the damage would be helpful.

[goody90q45]

I'll post a pic tonight. Thanks for your replies.

[maxnix]

The only thing you have to be concerned about is that if it dented the pan to block flow to the pickup... The pickup is very close to the bottom of the pan and even denting it less than an inch will completely mess things up.....

I think it is more like a ¼". Pickup is very close to the pan bottom. In fact, it too can be damaged by a gouge or impact.
Modified by maxnix at 3:55 PM 2/14/2007

[96Qowner]

Here's tangalora's oil pan thread:

zerothread?id=77266

[goody90q45]

That's the post I was looking for. Forgot to look in the archived threads. Thanks.

[goody90q45]

Here's tangalora's oil pan thread:

I've only made it through 3 pages of the 8 page post but I've got to say that Tangalora was quite the organized mechanic and a very interesting woman. One of our current members was so impressed with her that he wrote a marriage proposal. I think he was half serious (you know who you are!). If I recall correctly someone posted from a Yahoo board where she was saying her goodbyes. I think she had a terminal illness. Too bad. Her time with NICO was too short.

On to better news. I visited my mechanic today and he agreed to braze weld the hole in the oil pan. He's been driving stock cars on the local tracks for years and said he has sucsessfully replaced entire drain plug ports on a few cars. That option sounds a lot better than the 7 to 10 hours labor to replace the pan.

In the pic below the front of the car and the leading edge of the pan are to the left. The ding in the pan is about the size of a quarter (compare it ot the drain plug) and the hole, although patched, is on the lowest point of the pan closed to the plug. The hole is about the size of a snipped fingernail from your baby finger (very small).

The JB weld will last forever or until I hit my next road hazard in the same spot, at which point it will chip off exposing the gash and drain the oil pan. To be honest with you the indent has been in the pan since I first hit the curb 18 months ago and I think I may have done it 2 or 3 times since. I've not had any oil pump or pickup issues and this last bump didn't make the dent any larger than it already was.

Randy (Kenely, of Kenely Auto Care in Orangevale, CA if anyone lives close) also plans on welding a skid plate to the front of the pan to reduce the likelyhood of this happening again.

Got to get back to finishing reading Tangalora's post.

[3Q Jay]

Mike- i normally wouldn't like the brazing idea, but if there is such a thing as a 'good' candidate--yours looks it.indent location is not right by pump pickup---let us know how she does!

[maxnix]

Is that your toll hook bent backwards.

Unfortunately, oil pickup problems (clogged screens, etc.) are not known until terminal damged has occured due to starvation.

Re: Brazing: Gotta say, all that heat in combination with the sludge in the bottom of the pan would make me think twice. Last thing you want is caked coke in there. I;d stick with the low temp JB Weld solution as long as it works.
Modified by maxnix at 1:52 PM 2/18/2007

[StarPD]

The only thing you have to be concerned about is that if it dented the pan to block flow to the pickup... The pickup is very close to the bottom of the pan and even denting it less than an inch will completely mess things up.....

Some pics of the damage would be helpful.

I had a similar (but a lot more fun) incident with my '94 Q45t about a year after I bought it in 1996. I was attending an "urban carbine" tactical course held a considerable distance off the highway in the desert, approachable only on a pretty rough dirt road. Another student wanted to humiliate me with his 4X4 Suburban, and I wasn't having any of THAT! My trusty Q beat his sorry butt, but almost cost me my ride. Next trip for service at the dealer,my tech asked me what the heck I ran over. It seems that I bottomed the front end on a severe bump, and bent the front crossmember so far it was almost touching the oil pan. Tech advised me another 1/2" and I'd have crushed the cm into the oil pan and shoved the oil pan up against the oil pickup, blocking it.

I didn't repair the damage, but never tried that again.

Advice to wannabe dirt racers with a Q: don't. If you're a good enough driver, you can do quite well in the dirt, but the car will suffer for it.

P.S. I can't blame my foolishness on youth. I'm an old guy. I just love to drive fast, and can't resist a challenge.