need help ASAP

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Rent her a car then either tackle it or have it towed to a shop. I hate dealing with broken bolts myself
+1 rent a car until you get the new pan.

You can probably find one for only $20-$30 a day.

 

[Bandito440]

Rent your mother a car, or drive her to work.

New pan, new gasket, new pickup, new bolts, new fluid. Don't crank it until then.

 

[Merkava_4]

The problem is that itty bitty saddle on the floor jack. Get rid of that thing! That's dangerous!

 

[kschachn]

I completely agree. That was one of the first things I noticed in that picture.

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
The problem is that itty bitty saddle on the floor jack. Get rid of that thing! That's dangerous!

 

[lucas01230]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
The problem is that itty bitty saddle on the floor jack. Get rid of that thing! That's dangerous!


and i thought that one was decent compared to my other jack

 

[lucas01230]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Where was the jack that it was even near the oil pan.

I don't believe any sort of repair would be well advised. Replace the pan and inspect/replace the pickup, as required.

I was using a different jack. Thats why there are red paint marks on the oil pan. Somehow it slipped. Car wasnt all the way down and I was hoping it wasnt resting on anything important. So i jack it up with the green jack and a beautiful dent in the oil pan was revealed.

Anyway, I took off the pan. I saw the strainer was bent a bit. Otherthan that, I hammered the pan into a proper shape. Just in case i put rtv around some of the bends from the hammer. Bought a tube of Ultra black RTV. Put it back on.

And the oilpan was not easy to take off. There are about 4 or 6 bolts that cannot be reached with a socket. Had to use a tiny wrench in a very very tight spot. It took pronanly an hour to unscrew those few bolts. That crossmember was in the way, the part that the jack is sitting on.

Those 4 screws thread into the inside of the engine if that makes sense. the others are outside. Somehow one of them wont tighten well. Im assuming the thread get messed up somehow. I have no idea how. Im pretty frustrated as this took literally the whole day.
not gonna fill it up with oil until tmrw

 

[Popsy]

You can use Loctite 5910, my favorite

 

[Trav]

No offense but this doesn't sound good at all, the rtv inside the pan is useless its just going to break loose and possibly clock the pickup, the bolt with bad threads needs a helicoil although you may get away with a slightly longer bolt.
Not replacing a damaged pickup is a real mistake that can cost an engine, I wish you luck and it may work for a while but if it ends up knocking from starvation I wouldn't be too surprised.

 

[MarkM66]

You put up drywall with screws. Oil pans attach with bolt!!!!

New oil pain and pick up should of been installed. As pretty much everyone suggested.

Please reconsider future automotive repair endeavors. Next time it could be you under that slipped jack.

 

[Fsharp]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
We have a large number of very conservative people here. I say fire that puppy up and go. The crank counterweights will knock the pan back out if it interferes which I seriously doubt.



Pretty much.
Crank it up, if the oil pressure light doesn't go off or comes on then park it until you fix it, otherwise just let your mom know to watch for the oil pressure light when she drives it until you can get it fixed.

Slathering on black RTV might slow or stop the leak if you make sure the area is clean and dry when you apply it, but if the leak isn't too bad I wouldn't worry about it. It'll be more of a pain than it is worth to clean off when you change the pan

 

[kschachn]

I agree with Trav that you don't want any RTV inside the pan. The pan needs to be replaced with a new one, and if the pickup was bent it also needs to be replaced.

And if a bolt wouldn't tighten up properly then it is likely the aluminum is stripped. It will leak at that point. The pan must be removed, the threads drilled out and a Helicoil used to repair the threads. The way the threads get damaged a lot of times is because there is rust on the exposed tip of the bolt. When you remove the bolt it backs that rusted end through the aluminum and strips the threads.

 

[greasemonkey1]

If you have to drill the bolt, I've had really good luck with a special drill bit that has a counter clockwise twist
Think I got them from a snap on dealer. Usually they will grab the metal being drilled and spin out the offending fastener. They're a short bit with threads cut on both ends of the bit and worth every penny

 

[SHOZ]

^^^ Left handed drill bits. Work like a charm usually.

If the bolt is a 6mm one, a 1/4-28 one the right length can be used and with aluminum you don't even need to tap the threads.

I see from the picture it looks like a bigger bolt......

 

[TMoto]

Please tell us you did not climb under that (or any) car with only the jack supporting it from what I can see in the pictures. Always use jack stands set in the proper location for the vehicle!!

 

[funflyer]

Lots of good advice so far so all I will add is to use Permatex Ultra Grey RTV to reinstall the new pan, no black RTV as it doesn't set as hard as grey.

 

[Kira]

1) Are you doing this all in the street? Glad it ain't Winter.
2) Use anti-seize upon reassembly. Lube and wire brush the aligning studs before undoing the nuts.
3) I've always employed boards (good 2X6's) to ease jacking with a toy jack.
Best of luck.

 

[lucas01230]

Originally Posted By: MarkM66
You put up drywall with screws. Oil pans attach with bolt!!!!

New oil pain and pick up should of been installed. As pretty much everyone suggested.

Please reconsider future automotive repair endeavors. Next time it could be you under that slipped jack.


Very insulting. Its called a mistake, you've never made one? Don't come in MY thread talkin all this trash. Yes I know what bolts are except when you have a dented oil pan and possibly damaged oil sensor and pickup people tend to spit the wrong words. Sheesh. NOT IN MY THREAD. Half joking but come on man.
I was under the vehicle with jack stands plus the jack as backup, in all situations.


I didn't have to drill out the other end of the bolt. It had some sticking out of the nut on the other end...vicegrips.
I really dont think this needs a new pickup, It's solid. I didn't take any picture because I knew this was gonna take a long time to work on.
Thanks for the suggestions on the helicoil.


Originally Posted By: Kira
3) I've always employed boards (good 2X6's) to ease jacking with a toy jack.

Do you mean like a 2 piece 4x4 of 2x6 to put ontop of the jack?

Lastly, thanks all for suggestions. I will keep all this in mind for the future. I will monitor the oil pan if it leaks. So far it doesn't seem to be leaking.

 

[HangFire]

Making mistakes is all part of the learning process. I've made a few. I worked on my wife's car tonight. I didn't make any mistakes, but I did take the time to put 4 large wheel chocks around both sides of the front tires while working on the back. Why? That's a long story, from a long time ago....

Hopefully you'll get away with not replacing that pickup, but please reconsider. Even a slight bend places it higher where it is more likely to suck air. Plus, it could have a gap at the connection it didn't have before, or a crack as Trav says, and suck air.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: TMoto
Always use jack stands set in the proper location for the vehicle!!


"proper location" is ambiguous, but I'd guess you mean the ones in the handbook, as specified by the manufacturer.

If so, I'd say "not necessarily"

On older vehicles these locations are quite often compromised by corrosion and can be unsafe.

On my current vehicle, the recommended location at the front is strong enough but looks like it was unsafe when it came from the factory, since the jack (or at least, MY jack) is poorly located there.

You have to use judgement and find safe jacking points that you, the operative at risk, are comfortable with. Speaking personally, these are seldom if ever those in the handbook.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: lucas01230
Originally Posted By: MarkM66

3) I've always employed boards (good 2X6's) to ease jacking with a toy jack.

Do you mean like a 2 piece 4x4 of 2x6 to put ontop of the jack?


I love wood, but in this application it may not be best for the job, because of all that beautiful grain and figuring, which can lead to sudden splitting under a point load.

A heavy bidirectional laminate array of biopolymer microtubules (plywood) is safer, but I have some stainless steel rubber-backed industrial floor tiles that I use for this sort of thing.