Well after countless oil drain plugs and oil drain plug gaskets, it seems I have found the source of my teenie oil leak that is driving me MADDD !

Seems my Milodan pan has a slight crack in the weld around the drain plug bung. This leaks around a drop of oil a day with cold oil and a few drops if the car gets warmed up...

My question is, can this be fixed with the pan on the engine? Could this be MIG welded if I drained the oil or am I risking starting a fire inside my motor?

Is there something else I could use to seal this up like JB weld or an epoxy? Any ideas are appreciated. My aim here is to not have to remove the pan as I JUST put the steering all back together all purty and it's just a PITA!!

Thanks guys!

I just welded the oil pan on my sons truck, in the truck. Drained the oil and let it drip overnight. Cleaned the area good (hit a rock and punctured the pan). Disconnect the battery, find a good ground and weld. I had a blow gun handy just in case of flames but nothing happened.

If the crack is NOT on the threads, and if it's just where the bung is welded around, it's not stressed and there is no need to weld it.

If it were me, I'd drain the oil so there is no more oil leaking through it (also consider tilting the car up in the back also) then use JB weld on it after a good cleaning/prep. This is just what JB weld is made for.

Another way in a pinch without draining the oil, would be to use the quick JB weld which sets in a few minutes. Once the quick stuff has fully cured, put regular JB weld over it and beyond the original repair. It would not look as nice but should work. As long as the quick Jb weld is oil resistant.

Issue with welding it in the car is you almost never get all the oil oit of the crack, and the weld is very porous. causing a leak again. 2 ways to deal with it, well 3 accually. 1st, just drain, clean, scuff, and add JB or some epoxy, 2 drain, clean, and use a very sharp center punch and peen the weld shut. Ive done this as long as the crack isnt very long and wont open back up when tightening, and losening the drain bolt. 3rd, drain, let sit for a few days, clean, let sit for a few days, then take a small blazer torch, or something similar, try to burn the oil out of the crack, then tack weld it shut. The 3rd is the best bet, but also takes the longest. I usually get some similar material and make a few practice spots to make sure the welder isnt too hot or cold, and have at it. I also like to ground the welder directly to the oil pan as clost to the weldment area. This makes sure the best possible ground, and you arent arcing through your timing chain, lifters, rockers, or anyother metal to metal areas inside the engine.

I fixed an oil pan on a cummins in the truck the last way I described, and had ZERO issues, also welded up a ford 7.3 pan where the debris shield over the flywheel rubbed a hole in the pan, Zero issues there also. Ive probly repaired 50+ oil pans in vehicles and only had 1 poof, and that was my fault. NEVER EVER SPRAY BRAKE CLEANER INSIDE THE PAN TO CLEAN ALL THE OIL OUT OF THE PAN!!! even after letting it sit for 3 days, I still managed to blow the oil cap into the rafters LOL!!!

nothing was hurt, no fires, but I was sure scared.



Kasey

I had a pin hole in the weld on a new pan I installed. I coated the drain plug gasket with the Right Stuff rtv and installed the plug no leaks now.

I'd try the JB first,fixed a cast alum. pan on the wife's car after she ran over a block of wood,and it was cracked pretty bad. Just vee'd it out with a die grinder and used the quick set JB. Did let it drain over the week end first and cleaned it good. So far so good.

The crack must be very small as I can't see it with the naked eye. The weld just gets "moist" after a few hours...

I will see if I can get somebody with the welding skills to fix it right or go the JB route for now.

Problem is finding a decent pan that doesn't require suspension mods and works with the stroker motor with 7" pickup :-)

I tried to weld a pan in the car once. I drained the oil and stuck a torch in the open drain plug and all seemed good. I got sidetracked and didn't get around to welding it for about 20 minutes.

When I started welding it lit up the gas fumes in the pan and it shot a flame out of the drain pan to about the mufflers. It burned long enough for me to get out from under the car and watch it shoot the flame. Darn lucky I was welding from the side.

Many have welded in a pan in the car safely and many have gotten hurt.

I doubt I will take the chance again.

Its nonstructural, get it red hot with the torch then braze it. Tim

I've used JB for oil pan pinholes. As many have posted, drain the oil, clean well, scuff with coarse paper, clean again, and apply the JB. Touch up paint as required. My repair lasted many years - as long as I owned the car.

Do it the hard way if you like but I bet if you put the Right Stuff rtv on the plug you would be fine, if it is really leaking like you think it is.