Rusty oil pan repair.

[KrisZ]

The oil pan on my 2003 Focus was really rusty. It did not look that bad when I was buying it, but looking at it more closely I knew something needed to be done about it if I wanted to have no nasty surprises.
I repaired it over the weekend. Here are some pics before, I treated the pan with Fluid Film before winter so it looks oily.





I cleaned off the big chunks of rust and treated the rest with rust dissolver gel. Really great stuff for automotive applications, as it is in a form of fairly thick gel so it stays on parts.



Here is how the pan looked like after several treatment coats. The grey patch in the middle is a cold weld, apparently resistant to all sorts of automotive fluids, that I had to apply after the pan sprung an oil leak when I tried to scrape off chunks of rust.
It was just a matter of time before the leak developed on its own. I hope the weld will hold.





And here is the finished product. I used Tremclad rust paint. I brushed on a thin first coat followed by a thicker second coat.

 

[tig1]

You need a new pan. It shouldn't be that hard to replace on your Focus.

 

[spasm3]

I might just get a replacement pan and really clean and paint or coat it. That pan looks really bad.
Not sure if this fits yours but for the time and effort cleaning and repairing yours , this might be worth it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DORMAN-264-048-Oil-Pan-/390440630675?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A2003|Make%3AFord|Model%3AFocus|Submodel%3ASVT&hash=item5ae8133993&vxp=mtr

 

[Warstud]

Originally Posted By: tig1
You need a new pan. It shouldn't be that hard to replace on your Focus.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[bdcardinal]

Thats cool you repaired it, but just looking on rock auto, replacement pans go for $44-56. At that cost you have crossed the delta of repairing vs replacing.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Thats cool you repaired it, but just looking on rock auto, replacement pans go for $44-56. At that cost you have crossed the delta of repairing vs replacing.


Well, I figured that few bucks worth of materials and about two hours of my time would be worth a shot.
Besides, when things are this rusty, there is no knowing what else will fall apart when you start taking stuff apart. Also I'm in Canada and things are priced much higher than down south.

 

[Donald]

When I had the engine replaced in my 2001 Jeep, they removed the oil pan to swap it and it was not in good shape so it was replaced.

The problem I see is if the pan develops a bad leak while you are driving, when the oil light comes on, it may be too late. To spend $50 or $100 to prevent that seems worth it. I suspect you have just bought some time with the repair and you will eventually need a new one. The issue is will it develop a slow leak and you will notice or will it leak badly and possibly ruin your engine.

Get the vehicle Krown'ed.

 

[salesrep]

I fought a rusted out oil pan on an 03 Dodge Ram ( a lil more than $45 or 50 to replace.,,,,this looks like a great attempt, hope it holds for you.

 

[kschachn]

+3. I hate groaty components on my car including old rusty bolts and nuts. I'd have to replace that pan pronto.

And how the heck did that get so nasty? The ones on my OLD cars (including the 19 year old BMW and especially my Sienna) look quite good still, even here in #saltWisconsin. That thing looks like it is 75 years old.

Originally Posted By: Warstud
Originally Posted By: tig1
You need a new pan. It shouldn't be that hard to replace on your Focus.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[The motor guy]

I'd say you missed the point of being able to repair it by about 3 years. Just throw a new one on there. It's going to bust a hole going down the road one day and there goes your engine.

 

[tbm3fan]

Yikes, glad I don't live near any snow. You don't want to see a picture of the underside of my Focus. Still looks like 2004.

 

[Trav]

Quote:
And how the heck did that get so nasty? The ones on my OLD cars (including the 19 year old BMW and especially my Sienna) look quite good still, even here in #saltWisconsin. That thing looks like it is 75 years old.


Its the metal used. I see cars 20+ yrs old with nice pans and other that are much younger like this one.
I had an Expedition with a rotten frame and rockers but a great looking oil pan and have 2 Grand Prix that are rust free summer cars but both have badly rusted pans.
I don't think they make their own pans just outsource so god knows who made them and what cheap probably recycled metal they are made of.

 

[kschachn]

Well the other thing is how much impact resistance that pan has if it's essentially being held together by paint. Several years ago someone dropped a ladder in construction traffic and I ran it over. It dented the oil pan but caused no leaks, I wonder how this pan would fare in the same instance.

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
I'd say you missed the point of being able to repair it by about 3 years. Just throw a new one on there. It's going to bust a hole going down the road one day and there goes your engine.

 

[demarpaint]

Good luck, you need a new oil pan. Now if its a beater like my Aerostar was and you really don't care, here's a trick I did thanks to Eljefino. The trick bought me about 18 months: Clean the pan the best you can with brake clean, remove loose [censored] being careful not to create a leak. Looks like you prepped it pretty well, just be sure its oil free. Get some lead flashing and form it to the contour of the oil pan. Apply some RTV sealant all over the molded flashing, pull it off and get more RTV sealant in there. Now put the molded flashing in place and seal all the edges of the flashing to the oil pan. Let it dry for about 24 hours, and then drive. The Sealant will eventually fully cure. For best results if the pan is leaking drain the oil before making the repair, the longer it drains the better. If you should scrape or wire brush and create leaks, you're screwed.

 

[Doog]

Don't repair it...let it rot out until a pin hole leaks all the oil out and your engine seizes in the middle of Winter 150 miles from home. Then it will truly be Found On Roadside Dead

 

[zzyzzx]

How did that happen? The pan on my 1995 Escort looks much nicer (no rust). I also would have bought a new pan.

 

[kschachn]

Wow. Now that shouldn't cost more than what, twice the cost of a new pan?

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Good luck, you need a new oil pan. Now if its a beater like my Aerostar was and you really don't care, here's a trick I did thanks to Eljefino. The trick bought me about 18 months: Clean the pan the best you can with brake clean, remove loose [censored] being careful not to create a leak. Looks like you prepped it pretty well, just be sure its oil free. Get some lead flashing and form it to the contour of the oil pan. Apply some RTV sealant all over the molded flashing, pull it off and get more RTV sealant in there. Now put the molded flashing in place and seal all the edges of the flashing to the oil pan. Let it dry for about 24 hours, and then drive. The Sealant will eventually fully cure. For best results if the pan is leaking drain the oil before making the repair, the longer it drains the better. If you should scrape or wire brush and create leaks, you're screwed.

 

[Ducked]

If I needed to repair that, I'd probably put a fibreglass or ferrocement shell over it. The latter could probably use scounged-up materials.

I have to confess I've put such ferrocement liners inside corroded outrigger box sections in the past.

But you don't need to. You should replace it. Since you've got the paint, consider using it on the replacement.

If you didn't have the paint, you could rub sunflower oil on it with aluminium foil, or just spill some oil om it occaisionally.

If your rocker cover gasket leaked like decent folk's cars do, you wouldn't have had that problem

 

[cp3]

Don't worry Kris, I get it. Did the same with my old Saturn when it began seeping oil through the pan.

You guys have no idea of the cost of parts up here. I was looking at $75-$100 for a pan at the wreckers! I don't think Kris' $20 worth of materials crossed that delta up here.

Kris, I will highly recommend RockAuto though. Great service and great prices compared to local. Have done several orders with them and had no issues. It is typically the first place I go to price stuff now.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: cp3
Don't worry Kris, I get it. Did the same with my old Saturn when it began seeping oil through the pan.

You guys have no idea of the cost of parts up here. I was looking at $75-$100 for a pan at the wreckers! I don't think Kris' $20 worth of materials crossed that delta up here.

Kris, I will highly recommend RockAuto though. Great service and great prices compared to local. Have done several orders with them and had no issues. It is typically the first place I go to price stuff now.


Thanks for the suggestion! I'm gonna try Rockauto and see how that goes. Currently the pan and the gasket will run me about $200. I still have to call my source for cheap Chinese junk and see what his prices are like (if he even has it).
For now though, the patch is holding so I can take my time with finding a good deal.