Oil Pan Corrosion / Leaking

[DNDracing]

Pictures continued...

Here you can see the holes in the pan (circled in red). They were more noticeable than I expected.

New pan installed... shinny.

Final shot of the carnage. Lesson learned, when you need quality stuff, you can't rely on the junk that Harbor Freight sells. I know I knew this, but had to re-learn the hard way.

 

[NIsaacs]

Good job and nice shop too! Just for future reference, let the transmission/t-case combo support itself on the rear mount and just lift the very front of the engine, it will be much lighter. In the picture, it looks like you are lifting from the motor mount area. With the transmission attached, it will be very heavy lifting from the center.

Nick

 

[DNDracing]

Thanks. We left the transmission attached, but you are correct, we did wrap around the driver side motor mount, because we were struggling with a lift point on that side.

Hopefully there is not a next time

 

[Wayne M.]

Very nice post. Thanks for providing... Now I'm jealous of your shop. Lounge and all.

 

[JR]

Thanks. We left the transmission attached, buy you are correct, we did wrap around the driver side motor mount, because we were struggling with a lift point on that side.



Hopefully there is not a next time

Thats good to know, I would have thought there was not enough flex in the trans mount to allow the entire engine to come up over 3 "! Thanks for putting up the pictures.

 

[DZink24]

very nice write up/pictures. congrats on finishing it safely. a few questions- i see you performed this with the hood in place, how much "breathing room" did you have, considering the eyelet to lift is at the extreme rear of the engine? and i am curious- just how long is the oil pan, and how much does it weigh? from the looks when i am under mine, it is close to 4 or 5 feet long. did you have any issues upon startup with CEL, or oil pressure?

 

[jhenderson]

Only reason for CEL would be no oil pressure. Changing the pan is no different than changing the oil. The pickup is out of the oil either way.

 

[goodguys75]

so are you doing anything to prevent this from happening again???

 

[DNDracing]

DZ ink24, we didn't use the shipping hook on the driver side of the engine. We lifted the motor using the front shipping hook left on the engine at the passenger side, and actually wrapped a chain around the engine mount itself on the driver side. The lifting point was almost at the center of the engine. We did measure before we lifted and had about 4. 75" of cherry picker travel before it hit the hood. Considering we had to lift it 3. 5", we had just over an inch. It wasn't close enough that it bothered me, and we were mindful of it.

Pan was not heavy, and no where near 4' long. I removed the old and put in the new by myself, on my back, working around the cherry picker, two jack stands, and hoist arms on both sides. It is very manageable. My estimate on a length would be 30" As jhenderson mentioned, start up was like any other normal oil change, no CEL, oil pressure jumped above 40lbs instantly at start up, and after two days of driving, no leaks around the pan (knock on wood).

As far as prevention of this happening again, I'm not sure, but need to figure something out. I tried to find an aftermarket pan (thinking something like the MagTech diff covers and trans pans), with no luck, and from I can tell and have read, there is nothing different with the replacement pan I bought from Geno's than the one I took off... even have the same part number stamped into it. I am concerned with this, as I plan to have this truck another 7 year minimum, maybe 10, and REALLY don't want to do this again. I did read on one thread a guy would take a rag with some oil on it, and wipe the pan down with it, I did that after the change (used the rag I had to wipe up the spills and drips after the change). Most of the damage (although not all) was in the sump area. The narrow portion towards the front of the engine was in pretty decent shape. I thought about trying to attach a rubber piece, or even thin aluminum sheet metal in front of the pan at or near the cross member, just to try to keep all the winter salt from the lovely roads we have here in Southeast Michigan off the pan. That decision is still TBD.

 

[DNDracing]

One other note to jhenderson's post about the bolt head getting hung up on the lip of the frame mount. I didn't remove the bolts completely, but did back them up an inch or so to clear the lip he mentioned. Driver side one was a pain to get to, because the starter is in the way.

 

[jhenderson]

I have started treating the underside of my truck with a product called Fluid Film, twice a year. We'll see how that works.

 

[JR]

Fluid Film is good stuff, I use it annually on my truck as well. The state plow trucks have been using it for several years now and have had great results with it.

 

[Mark31]

"Final shot of the carnage. Lesson learned, when you need quality stuff, you can't rely on the junk that Harbor Freight sells. I know I knew this, but had to re-learn the hard way. "
Yeah, that's one I've had to relearn, too. When shopping for tools, stay out of Chinese Factory Outlets! Mark

 

[goodguys75]

but it did its job..... hard to spend good money on something you may never use again... ... . thats why i say they are throw away tools... use them once or twice and you have to junk them...

 

[rscurtis]

"Final shot of the carnage. Lesson learned, when you need quality stuff, you can't rely on the junk that Harbor Freight sells. I know I knew this, but had to re-learn the hard way. "

Yeah, that's one I've had to relearn, too. When shopping for tools, stay out of Chinese Factory Outlets! Mark

I have a Blue Bird engine hoist that I kept when I got rid of my rental business. It stores in a small wheeled caddy when not in use. It assembles with no tools. It is also properly finished, there are no burrs, sloppy welds, or sharp corners. Dealer cost in 1991 was $900. They also used to make a towable version that would handle a Mack truck engine.

 

[DNDracing]

Goodguys, I use my cherry picker probably on a monthly basis. I really can't complain about that unit, because until this oil pan job, it had performed flawlessly, with no leaks, just didn't like lifting the Cummins, and who knows, had I lifted it a little differently, it might have held.

I do think, since I do use them more often than maybe some others, I may shop around some more, and spend some more money and have the next one, be the last one I ever buy.

 

[Blakers]

Preventive / intervention measure

My oil pan got rusty several years ago, but not rusted through. I carefully scraped it off and considered painting it, but figured the paint would just entrap moisture and it would continue to rust. What I did do was spray it with aerosol grease. The stuff goes on really thin and then thickens up as the light ends evaporate out. And when the engine is warm, any moisture caught under the grease will evaporate. I did this probably 4 or 5 years ago and it has not rusted any further. My truck is run almost every day, so it doesn't get a chance for moisture to sit on the pan metal for long. If it sat a lot, it might rust a lot more.

Blake

 

[Blakers]

Preventive / intervention measure



My oil pan got rusty several years ago, but not rusted through. I carefully scraped it off and considered painting it, but figured the paint would just entrap moisture and it would continue to rust. What I did do was spray it with aerosol grease. The stuff goes on really thin and then thickens up as the light ends evaporate out. And when the engine is warm, any moisture caught under the grease will evaporate. I did this probably 4 or 5 years ago and it has not rusted any further. My truck is run almost every day, so it doesn't get a chance for moisture to sit on the pan metal for long. If it sat a lot, it might rust a lot more.



Blake

 

[Wayne M.]

Very nice post. Thanks for providing... Now I'm jealous of your shop. Lounge and all.

WHEEW! Had trouble finding this post again... Well I just got in from my spring PM and guess what #@$%!... . Looks like I'm next. Im really considering having the new one line-X'd. I wonder how much they would charge?

 

[Prairie Dog]

I wonder if powder-coating would hold up.