Oil pan hairline crack

[Palut]

Today I noticed that my oil pan has been leaking not because of a crappy crush washer, but because of a hairline crack about 2 inches long. It's so small that its barely visible. Some parts of it can only be seen by the oil seeping out of them. This crack is mostly straight. It runs sort of tangent to the drain plug hole. It comes very close to the hole, but does not actually touch it. It is so close that part of it will be covered by the crush washer.

Are there any easy ways to fix this short of replacing the pan?

 

[-Clayton-]

You better not take any chances with something like that and replace the pan.

What kind of vehicle?

I take it that the pan is aluminum.

 

[Palut]

'95 Honda Accord. Yeah, it's an aluminum pan. I'm thinking of checking around junkyards for one.

 

[muddawgs]

i've jb welded a puncture in one of my trucks after getting crazy on some rocks and sliding into a broken gate. took it off cleaned it,applied and sprayed some rattle can black on it and it held fine when it was sold a few years later.. the new owner knew and was cool with it..
your alternative could be to take it off and have it welded at a good welding shop. a good shop can weld whatever and be done in a few min. the price of a new pan can be pricey depending on what your car is and if you can find a new one.

..mudd

 

[Quest]

Take the pan to a shop and have them weld the hairline crack (alu welding).

Otherwise, use some jbweld or a wrecker replacement.

 

[55Test]

My brother cracked the oilpan in his old Cavalier a few years ago. He let the oil drain out for an entire day, got some alcohol and cleaned the area around the crack as best he could, then hammered the cracked area flat and put some JB weld on it. After the JB weld cured, you never would have known there was a crack, it sealed perfectly. Letting the oil drain for at least 24 hours, cleaning the area with alcohol or some other grease cutter then hammering the area is key.

 

[mechtech]

JB Quick Weld with a patch over it will work well. Even a piece of a pop [patch] can is better that epoxy alone.
Of course, proper surface prep is the key.

 

[chas3]

the oil pan should be thick enough to weld. but if you like fixing things yourself, consider brazing/soldering it. just need a propane or mapp torch. getting the pan clean enough will be the big problem.

 

[Hadrien]

Have you checked rockauto.com? I cant imagine a new pan costing more than $75-$85 bucks. Better safe than sorry I always say.

 

[LargeCarMan]

You won't be able to weld the crack without removing the pan. Even then with the oil that is impregnated in the aluminum the weld will be inferior. Replacement of the pan will need to be done to do the job properly.

 

[mechtech]

If 'do the job properly' is something that lasts for many years, and is quick and cheap, then JB quickweld and a patch is proper.

 

[RH+G]

The pan is black right? Its a steel pan. Just replace the pan.

 

[GoldenRod]

Can you pull the pan on these Hondas without having to pull the engine?

 

[Palut]

I figured that since the crack is so close to the oil plug hole, I don't want to mess with welding it. Plus I need this car most every day. So I just ordered a Dorman oil pan off of Rockauto.com. My dad says he knows they made quality parts in the past. Are they still good, or did they pull a Fram and become lousy?

If there's anything interesting to see when I remove the pan, I'll post some pics for the good of the forum.

 

[CharBaby]

Palut, sorry Im reading this post late but;
I've changed the oil pan on a Honda in the past because I thought is was leaking due to rust. The oil seemed to be oozing out of the rusty area. After I dropped the oil pan I found out that the leak was coming from the vent hose "clamp" near the top of the pan and was dripping down right on the rusty area. Also I discovered that the pan was a double walled oil pan,(Hondas are great). I completely ruined the oil pan trying to remove it and had no choice but to insatll a new one. None of the bone yards in my area had a pan for my Accord so I had to buy new,($200.00 dealer only). Please chack your vent hose and clamp(if equiped) before replacing the pan. Also, I had to loosen the motor mounts and hoist the engine several inches in order to access the pan more easily.

 

[Palut]

Thanks for that input Char Baby. I know for sure that this is a crack in the pan. I can see part of the crack, feel the whole thing with a fingernail, and if I wipe away the oil from the crack, I can see it seep right back out along the whole length of the crack. My dealer wanted $180 for a new pan and $30 for a gasket, but rockauto.com had a new pan for $72 shipped. It's pictured with a new gasket, but didn't explicitly say it came with one. If not, another online place has them for $17. Not too bad.

I'm going to remove the center beam that goes under the engine, just a few bolts hold that in place, but I don't think that the pan will come out past the exhaust. Do you think it would be easier to simply remove the first section of exhaust pipe or actually raise the engine? I'm thinking exhaust pipe...

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[chas3]

depends on the condition of the bolts on the exhaust pipe.

 

[CharBaby]

Palut;
I too had to remove the center beam and front part of the exaust that connects to the manifold. But I still had to raise the engine a bit. Yours may be easier than mine although not a really hard job!

 

[Palut]

Well, I got the pan changed out on Saturday (the 1st). It wasn't too hard of a job, but I did end up having to remove the first section of exhaust pipe. Didn't need to raise the engine though, as it was completely unobstructed w/o the exhaust in the way.

While the pan was off, I checked out what the oil pickup looked like, and it was perfectly clear. No blockages or buildup on the screen at all! Keep in mind that this is what the engine looks like under the valve cover (that was approx. 7k miles ago).

The pan had a little varnish buildup in it, but I could tell that it was being removed over time. There is a windage tray below the crankshaft that obstructed my view of most of the bottom of the engine. That also had a good layer of varnish, but I could see that the varnish was going away: there were spots clearing up.

Looking at the crankshaft, I could see light varnish on it, but nothing serious, and the cylinder walls were very clean from what I could see of them, as were the piston bottoms and connecting rods.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the way the engine looks inside! I can't wait for 30k miles to go by. Then I'll get to pop the valve cover to adjust the lash and see if there's any improvement. I promise to post some pictures then!

PS. I'm sorry that I didn't take any pictures, but I didn't want to drip oil all over my digital camera.

 

[CharBaby]

Happy to here that everything went well and thank for keeping us up to date.