Repairing a rusted oil pan

[Richard Beels]

Replace the pan.  It's not really that difficult.  I did it a month or so 
ago.  Luckily, I have a spare engine sitting in the corner so I just 
swapped pans.

 From memory:
Get a new oil pan and gasket.
Get new subframe bolts (These are "always replace" items).
Remove the under-engine cover
Drain the oil - save if it's new if you want.  I had just changed the oil 2 
weeks before and since it was Mobil 1....
Undo the 4 bolts holding the subframe and pull it out down of the way.  It 
will just hang there.
Grab every 3/8" socket extension you own and a 3/8" u-joint adapter because 
there are lots of bolts and some are at weird angles and depths.
The only tricky bit here is the alternator bracket support at the front.  I 
found it easier to just pop off the bumper cover (it's just 2 bolts, pop it 
off the side clips and then disconnect the fog lights) and remove the 
alternator.  YMMV.  There are something like 18 bolts.  There are 2 or 3 
(or 4?) on the rear flange alone.
Before you get the last bolt off you will want to be careful since there 
will still be oil in the bottom of the pan.
I re-used my gasket since I didn't have a spare one and it was 10pm and I 
needed to drive 200 miles the next morning for work.  I'd recc. a new 
gasket but if you're careful, you can remove the pan without damaging the 
gasket.  I did use some Permatex Hylomar (sp?) gasket dressing on both 
sides of the gasket when I put the new(er) pan on.  Miracle in a tube, I 
call it.
While you have the pan off, put a cloth down under the block since oil will 
drip.  In fact, you will be amazed at how much oil drips out of the block 
and wonder - shouldn't this oil have dripped down before? and: How long 
does it take for all the oil to drip down to the pan?
Scrape the block really well to get all the gasket material off and wipe it 
down.  Prep the pan and gasket.  Re-wipe the block.  Pop the pan on there 
and start finger-threading the bolts.
The manual doesn't mention a pattern to the bolts but I did them in the 
manner of tightening a head down to block.  Snugged them up and then 
torqued to spec.
When you do the subframe, there is a specific-order to the bolts: rear 
left, rear right, front left then front right.  And it's best to snug them 
while the car is in the air and then do the final torque when it's on the 
ground.

One thing to look out for that I ran into was that the replacement pan 
touched the plastic oil baffle for the oil pump pickup.  What I ended up 
doing was clipping a little bit off and trial fitting the pan and checking 
for touching.  I did this without the gasket in place knowing that if it 
didn't touch without a gasket, its additional clearance would guarantee no 
touching.  I ended up trimming maybe 3/16" off one side of the baffle.

And don't forget to put oil back in the engine when you're done.



At 09/06/2004 at 22:55, Shakespearean monkeys danced on Radek's keyboard 
and said:
>Hello fellow listers.
>
>16 years of Canadian salt have taken their toll and here I am with a rusted
>through oil pan on the 90Q.  It's only a pinhole for now.  Would anyone have
>experience patching rusty, oily metal?  I don't think epoxy will stick.  Any
>new technologies out there?  I really don't feel like replacing the pan now
>since I think it means removing the subframe.
>TIA.
>
>Radek
>1988 90Q
>1991 V8Q 5-sp.


Cheers!