Re: Wits End - Leaking Oil

Posted by Hugh MacKay on October 26, 2005 at 00:22:25 from (216.208.58.116):

In Reply to: Re: Wits End - Leaking Oil posted by Michael Soldan on October 25, 2005 at 17:41:07:

Mike: I suppose after 50 years a Farmall oil pan could have a pinhole leak. For the big 3 automakers it has been quite common occurence in vehicles even after 5 years, and that is only in the past 25 years. The first time I heard of it, I said,"Riduclous, an oil pan couldn't rust." however they do. But I'll bet no pre 1960 oil pans have rusted pin holes.

I have a story also. My 6.2 Chevy diesel had an oil leak. I really hadn't examined it closely. One day I was changing oil, and had reached the point of 4L of new oil back in crankcase. Went back under truck just to double check I had thightened filter and plug. While under truck I took a closer look at pan. My leaked oil was only on flat surface on bottom of oil pan. Clearly it was not a crank seal as I had been expecting to find. I got some rags and cleaner, soon found 3 pin hole leaks. Pan seemed very solid even close to pin holes. Sat.pm and I thought where could I ever get this repaired quickly. I decided NO way. Looked around my shop to see what products I might have for a sealer as a temporary fix. Gasket maker or black was all I could find. Back under truck sanded surface and cleaned it a bit. These pin holes were very slow, similar to blood if you picked your finger with needle. I marked exact location of pin holes, removed oil and cleaned throughly. With tip of finger I forced gasket maker into pin holes. After drying some I applied more on surface, actually did about 3 coats building a patch over entire area of the 3 pin holes. Refilled engine with oil, it didn't leak. About 7 years and 150,000 miles later it still didn't leak. In fact I sold the truck for parts in 2001 as frame was rusted and broken. The buyer put engine in a 4x4 truck he only uses for snow plowing. He gave me good money for that truck, mainly because engine sounded good and had no leaks. I did tell him about the oil pan. His reaction, "If it held for 7 years and 150,000 miles on a diesel, probably wasn't going to fail soon.

Since that time I've always taken a second look at quick easy fixes. Believe me it can save a lot of dollars.

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