Can a damaged/leaky oil pan be welded?

[Dj Buttchug]

Are you sure it's only $60, Dj? It looks like the upper pan is sizably larger than the lower pan. I checked on line and it was about $300.

By the way, today I took my car back to the mechanic who welded the pan. He checked again to find the leak and he said it was the timing belt cover gasket. The car was on the rack and another mechanic revved the engine and I could see the leak coming out from the timing belt cover. And so I think the BM manager was wrong because what he showed me was perhaps oil dripping down from above to the welded area, but I think I remember seeing oil coming out from the cracked welded area. Could there be 2 leaks?
However, when I opened the hood I could see oil splattered to some parts of the engine. Could the timing belt cover leak ring truer?

Is it a big job to replace a timing belt cover gasket? The mechanic said it was going to take about 4 hours to do the job. Is this right?
Should I have him also replace other gaskets/seals when doing this job because he's going to lift off many of the engine parts anyhow?

If you need it I will sell you mine for 60. And yes I know new they are 300. Also lets remember this is a timing chain engine. not a timing belt. In order to better help you I am demanding detailed pics.

[TobyB]

The manager of Brake Masters told me that aluminum couldn't be welded because when the car gets hot the aluminum oil pan would expand (it needs to breathe) and so there would be leaks again as the weld couldn't hold well when the aluminum expands.

I think that Brake Masters must be a subsidiary of Ass Masters...

But yeah, the rubber o- rings do harden up with age, and it's not unreasonable
to have to replace them every 20 years or so...

t

[Learning]

Today, I went back again to the same mechanic. He had his other mechanic check for oil leak very carefully and this time it was found that either or both the oil filter housing gasket and the rubber o-ring that are leaking oil. I asked if they had a color dye to be used for checking leaks but they didn't. I'm yet will have to go back to Brake Masters to make sure it is really those parts stated above that are leaking.

By the way, what is the life of the oil filter housing gasket and the rubber o-ring? It seems like mine are still original and have never been changed before.

[AndrewBird]

Looking at this diagram:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...08&hg=11&fg=10

Is it leaking from the top or bottom of this section?

Smearing permatex on it is a band-aid fix at best. It will start to leak again eventually, assuming it works in the first place. The gasket needs to be replaced.

If it is leaking from the bottom, it's the upper oil pan gasket that is leaking. All you need to do is pull the pan and replace the gasket.

If it is leaking from the top, that is the profile gasket. You have to pull the cylinder head off to replace this one. While it can be replaced without pulling the head, you would have to pull the oil pan to do so, and even then, it's difficult to get the new gasket in place without mangling it.

[Learning]

When my car was put up on a rack, the mechanic and I went under the car. We looked up and he pointed to me what he said was the timing belt cover where the leak was coming from. What I saw was leaky oil coming out from a crevice that was supposed to be a timing belt cover. I think I was wrong (I'm not mechanically inclined) thinking that there were 2 metal plates, but in fact perhaps there's only 1 cover which covers the timing belt. The leak was from this timing belt cover. I could see a tiny part of the rubber gasket running along the crevice.

Once a Permatex RTV is applied, how many hours at least will I have to let it sit to dry or cure?
Of course, at first I need to drain all the oil and clean the timing belt cover well before applying the Permatex, right? I assume it would be difficult to apply the Permatex without lifting the car up on a rack though.

[bmwman91]

Well, the RIGHT way to deal with th leak is to replace the leaky stuff with new OEM parts. It isn't the ONLY way to do it though.

What do you mean by "where 2 metal plates meet"? Sorry, that could describe darn near anything!

[Learning]

When my car was on the rack, what I saw above was oil leak flowing from where 2 metal plates meet side to side. Hence, the oil was flowing out from the crevice where the 2 plates meet. However, is it possible to apply the Permatex Ultra Gray RTV from above when trying to do this my job myself? It might be difficult as I won't be able to see from above where the 2 plates meet. I don't have a rack at home. How did you do it yourself, BMWman91?

Again, what a sneaky mechanic I've dealt with. Today, before checking the leak again, I had suggested the mechanic to apply J-B Weld to the cracked welding and the mechanic said he had something stronger than J-B Weld. Then, after finding out that the leak was from the timing cover gasket he could have told me to use Permatex and applied it right then, nevertheless, he wanted to have the gasket replaced which would cost me a lot of money. I'm very sure he knew all these things about using Permatex, J-B Weld, etc, etc because he's been a mechanic for over 40 years!

[bmwman91]

Is it leaking from the area where the two black rubber gaskets meet up end-to-end? That's easy to deal with. Let the car cool down and clean the area with alcohol. Get some Permatex Ultra Gray RTV adhesive and work it on with your finger, pushing some into the little gap between the rubber gaskets. Once the area is covered, let it sit for a day and you'll be good. I did that a few thousand miles ago and have had no issues since.

[Learning]

Are you sure it's only $60, Dj? It looks like the upper pan is sizably larger than the lower pan. I checked on line and it was about $300.

By the way, today I took my car back to the mechanic who welded the pan. He checked again to find the leak and he said it was the timing belt cover gasket. The car was on the rack and another mechanic revved the engine and I could see the leak coming out from the timing belt cover. And so I think the BM manager was wrong because what he showed me was perhaps oil dripping down from above to the welded area, but I think I remember seeing oil coming out from the cracked welded area. Could there be 2 leaks?
However, when I opened the hood I could see oil splattered to some parts of the engine. Could the timing belt cover leak ring truer?

Is it a big job to replace a timing belt cover gasket? The mechanic said it was going to take about 4 hours to do the job. Is this right?
Should I have him also replace other gaskets/seals when doing this job because he's going to lift off many of the engine parts anyhow?

[Dj Buttchug]

i have a upper pan for 60 bucks shipped... Seems like you are going through a lot of hassle. Might be easier and less ghetto to just swap pans?? As stated above there is nothing wrong with welding a pan, as long as its done correctly

[AndrewBird]

The inside of the pan needs to be clean as well. If welded properly, the weld will reach through the pan into the inside and contaminates can get in there. Not to mention, any residual oil in the pan will burn from the welding heating the pan up, resulting in a bunch of burnt oil inside your engine.

Proper way of doing this is pull the pan, clean thoroughly, grind a V groove over the crack, then fill the void with weld.

Either that, or just get a used pan. Unless you can get the welding done for free and know it will be done correctly, getting a used pan will be cheaper.

[Learning]

The mechanic will re-weld my oil pan for free (hopefully), however, the hassle seems would be to take the oil pan off (but in my case here the crack is in the upper side of the oil pan) and so maybe the mechanic won't have to take it off the car and instead he just needs to drain all the oil and clean thoroughly the crack in the upper side of the oil pan before welding it.

What do you think guys?

[bmwman91]

OK, you most certainly can weld aluminum. Ever seen an aluminum frame bicycle?

Dirty metal does not weld well, especially aluminum. Not only do you have to clean it off, but you need to scrape the oxidation off and weld it within a couple minutes of doing so before more aluminum oxidizes (aluminum oxide melts at a MUCH higher temperature than aluminum and it can basically form a blister of molten Al while trying to weld which is a hge pain in the ass).

The oil pan is relatively thick metal, and it would most likely need to be welded from both sides to prevent it from fracturing again after all the thermal cycling that it goes through on the engine. The guy at the brake shop was probably describing something along those lines.

If you are too cheap or too lazy to pay for a proper weld with the pan removed, JB weld works just fine. I busted a hole in my oil pan many years ago and put almost 80k miles on the thing with no problems. You really should not use it to fill large gaps, but assuming that it is just a crack and the original metal is all still there, it is fine to slather it over the outside to keep oil from going through the crack. Be SURE to clean the working surfaces well though, with MEK or at least Isoptopyl alcohol. JB Weld is like any other adhesive in that it doesn't work well with dirty surfaces. Give it 24 hours to cure (48 if it is cold where you are) and you are good to go without the hassle of removing the oil pan.

[ak-]

el o el

[ak-]

Yes, sneaky mechanic. I went to him because he got great reviews. Eventually, something stinks would smell.

From reading on line, I learned that a crack in an oil pan (upper part oil pan in my case) could be fixed easily using J-B Weld epoxy. Has anyone tried this product? How successful are you?

ak-, did the welder have to take your oil pan off before starting fixing the cracks/holes in your oil pan? I also learned that high temperature from welding could warp an oil pan.

Yes you need to take off the pan and clean it from the inside/outside.
Can't weld dirty metal. Well, you could, but lol.