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[mccresa]

Oil Pan Leak - Weld versus Replace

In preparations for June cruising my inspection of the engine room discovered an oil soaked pad under the starboard Cat, further investigation found an oil leak from the oil pan. After cleaning the area and running the Cat it was clear the leak was coming from the weld for the drain-plug flange. Further inspection was disappointing.....to drop the oil pan it appears the engine needs to be lifted off the mounts to gain access to the forward oil pan bolts. This graduates the job from a DIY to a hired job, at least for the "lift".

New oil pans are $1500 which is a hard swallow, but in the grand scheme not so bad....issue is its back-ordered from Caterpillar. I looked on eBay and prices are generally1/2 to 2/3 of new with unknown origin or pedigree. Not really interested in that gamble.......my eBay track record is just "fair", I have had several disappointments.

So I'm contemplating weld repair which generally I believe a suitable alternative. I've organized many weld-repair jobs during my profession and know the technical ease and considerations involved.

My two questions to the forums:
Any known alternatives, pitfalls or tricks for removal of a Cat 3208 oil pan?
Any known problems or considerations I may not be considering for a weld repaired oil pan?

I did contemplate a temporary "JB Weld" patch repair.......however for a "crack" it's very likely not to hold long, and I'm currently in a location to do the job correctly.

 

[Bmarler]

I would consider a weld repair a permanent repair. The only thing I’d take into consideration is wether or not the pan is cast or pressed. Is the drain fitting cast?
How was the original connection made?
A competent welder can help figure out these things and advise on the success of a weld repair, but he’ll need to have the part in hand. If someone has experience with this particular pan, that knowledge would be good to have prior to pulling it out.

 

[twistedtree]

Would you attempt to weld it in place, or would you still remove the pan? How would you test the weld for leaks, and how would you load test it since the leak presumably is the result of someone wrenching too hard on the oil pan drain plug?


Has Cat given a lead time on the back order?

 

[mccresa]

The weld repair would be with the pan removed, that's the only way to do it proper. Likely drill-out the crack to stop propagation and eliminate stress-risers. Load test not possible, hence known risk. Currently getting Cat to provide accurate lead-time on new part, which is the preferred if it doesn't take months.

 

[sunchaser]

MCc
Cat 3208 oil pans commonly give problems after a few decades. Especially with salt water sloshing around. Check out boat diesel for comments and history. Once the pan is removed, cleaned and inspected the final solution can be determined. The other engine is possibly suspect too.

I'm a big fan of JB Weld. As a patch in place, it may provide temporary relief especially with no pressure. The oil should be removed, the area cleaned and sanded and give the JB a try provided no oil keeps oozing out. But if the area is holed rather than a small crack the options are few as pan corrosion is at play.

With your welding experience you may be able to braze in place, watch out for too much heat. Unfortunately pan removal may well be in your future.

 

[Bmarler]

No way I’d weld it in place. If you want any chance at success it will need to be squeaky clean. If you’re talking drilling the end of the crack I assume it must be cast. I’ve welded plenty of castings, almost always with high nickel rod, sometimes with silibronze. I think the nickel rod is better, but definitely takes some time to do it right.

 

[Comodave]

We pulled our SP225 Lehmans up and out of the engine room ourselves. I had some help since it was a 3 person job. I made a crane and used a chain fall to lift the engine. Then we slid it with a dolly on the I beam over the other engine and stacked it for the winter to get good access to the engine room for general cleanup and painting. The following winter we did the other engine. But to just lift the engine to pull the pan you may get away with a much simpler setup.

 

[motion30]

I was able to change my oil Pan with the 2 bottle Jacks, unhooked the exhaust, Loosened the back mounts. Remove the bracket and mounts on the front. The hardest part was removing the rusted bolts that hold the oil pan. Apparently they make these oil pans in batches so they are not always available. I was lucky the dealer knew that the oil pants would be made in 2 weeks

 

[High Wire]

Who would be wrenching on an oil pan drain plug in a boat? Oil is pumped out. It’s a non-critical, easy to monitor weeping leak. JB Weld or Belzona until the engine is pulled for it’s next rebuild. Then do a weld repair or replace the pan.

 

[Blissboat]

Who would be wrenching on an oil pan drain plug in a boat? Oil is pumped out. It’s a non-critical, easy to monitor weeping leak. JB Weld or Belzona until the engine is pulled for it’s next rebuild. Then do a weld repair or replace the pan.

Yep, this is a ridiculous failure to have to deal with. Although I'm not experienced with JB Weld, High Wire's remedy sounds right. To be sure, it would bug me every day to have to think about a potential gravity leak from the lowest part of my engine. But disconnecting everything for a few inches of hoist to R/R or just remove / repair the pan would also be mighty annoying. Unless something else needs attention soonish, I'd favor the intermediate term fix.

 

[Jmarsh203]

JB weld stick it for $4. I’ve used jB weld on multiple oil pans to GREAT effect, punched a quarter sized hole in one of my oil pans, let all the oil drain out right there in the parking lot and blasted out with brake clean after(didn’t have much of an option btw couldn’t do anything but stand there and look stupid as the lifeblood drained out of the pan lol). Then filled hole with jB weld. Lasted 5 years and 80,000 miles on that car, and was still holding very strong when sold. Just carry some extra oil enough to refill which you probobly already do and some extra jB weld stick in case it fails which I highly doubt it would. I’ve also used it a ton on dirt track race motor oil pans and have never heard of a failure but the pans were usually changed out yearly when the motor was getting freshened up.