Truck wrecked, question about oil pan damage

[Patriot_RAM]

Hey guys,



I was involved in a wreck on the interstate on 5/18. My truck is about a week from going in the shop. I have a question about some damage to the oil pan.



During the wreck, I was pushed into the retaining wall on the side of the interstate. The impack to the front driver side tire caused the axle to be shoved back. The control arms collapsed. The diff was pushed back all the way into the oil pan. The oil pan has a couple of dents in the front driver side of it. One of them is the very bottom corner of the pan and is about 1 to 1. 25" deep. It basically inverted that corner.



The adjuster will replace the pan, but it involves pulling the engine, or the transmission / transfer case. Either way, there are a lot of customizations that would be affected by either of those. The adjuster offered a cosmetic allowance as opposed to replacing the pan. My concern is whether the dent will affect the oil pickup, or possibly rust over time due to paint flaking where it is dented.



I read this thread about the pickup tube location:



Pickup tube thread from last year.....



And thought that it sounded like I would be okay.



What do you guys think?



Thanks!

 

[jelag]

I can't tell from what your saying... but I'd guess that if you were to take a photo or two and post it... . or see someone at Cummins... I'm guessing your not hurt and the pan is fine... .

The pickup tube only takes up a small portion of the bottom of the pan... . Hope this helps. .

 

[MickeyMiller]

I 'believe' the oil pickup is in the very back of the pan, so you should be OK. Oil chnage will only take 11 15/16 QTS!

 

[Patriot_RAM]

Sweet, I didn't think about the oil savings!

 

[Patriot_RAM]

Potential future oil leak?

I just looked a little closer at the damage and am more concerned than I initially was when I wrote the first post. The dent has some "creased" edges where the steel inverted. I can see this as potentially cracking the metal due to the sharp angle on the bend.



This is in a really hard place to see since the axle is almost against the oil pan. After about 30 photos, I think I finally got a couple that were good enough to post.



My second concern is that I don't want them to total the truck because I obviously have a ton of money in it. I'm not sure what the cost of the oil pan itself is, but I'm sure it's expensive. On top of that, there is 12+ hours of labor to change the pan. The repair estimates have already approached the $14k mark.



Here are the photos:



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Additionally, I noticed that there is oil leaking on the front of the engine, drivers side. I never noticed this before, but it has been a few months since I was under the truck. Does anybody know where this might be coming from?



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Thanks in advance for any advice that you guys may have.

 

[betterthanstock]

Don't worry about the pan cracking, if it's not leaking now. Definitely paint it. Hi temp epoxy can even fix a leak.

 

[RobertP]

there would have to be a ton of damage for them to total that truck! id say have them replace it!!

 

[MickeyMiller]

I would gunk down the front of the engine then see if you can spot the source of the leak. If it's just from the pan, tighten the pan bolts and it will be fine. My truck developed a little oil seapage from the pan seal about 50K ago... dealer wanted to 'schedule' a service day to investigate the leak... I just got under and tightened the pan bolts. It hasn't leaked since!

 

[DPKetchum]

Engine is raised not removed to replace oil pan. 12 hours sounds like body shop crash times which is cheaper labor rate but pays twice the time. I bet it dosen't pay 12. 0 to replace the cylinder head.

 

[Patriot_RAM]

The 12 hour estimate was from Mitchell's estimation software. Does anybody else have an opinion about the dent in the corner of the pan?



Thanks again!

 

[DValentine]

The PO of my '93 went into a ditch and smacked the pan on the passenger side with the front axle. Did not fix and no leaks.

 

[Patriot_RAM]

It heads to the body shop tomorrow. We'll see what happens.