Oil pan crack question

Yesterday when changing my oil I made the mistake of over tightening the drain plug. This crack was my result. After the second quart of oil was in, I noticed a drip coming out from the plug.

I already ordered a new pan on ebay and it should be here in a couple of days, but my problem is I have to get to and from work. I don't know how to gauge how badly the drip is, but I imagine I'd have to fill a bit of oil after it has been sitting out for a shift. My bike is my only mode of transportation right now.

I'm wondering if a JB weld and maybe stop leak patch could hold me over a few days until the new pan gets here? What do you think? I have to figure something out by tomorrow and its coming very fast.

 

RTV, JB Weld, Seal-All, any of them should work fine to patch it up till you get the new pan. Just be careful if you use JB not to weld the bolt in unless you want to make a mess when you take the pan off.

How far is work?

You'll want to park it on the center stand so the oil is nice and even when you check it before every trip.

Place a measuring cup under it to measure the amount of oil leaking over a period of time, but if you do the repair right it shouldn't drip.

 

I wouldn't use JB, use epoxy putty, the stuff you use to repair exhausts etc, this should seal it without draining the oil.

 

A valuable lesson. The drain plug only holds back the oil. Snug is tight enough.

 

True, Cold Steel or Waterweld would work also. I was assuming he took the pic after taking the drain bolt out after finding the leak so oil wouldn't have been a factor in drying.

Putty also cures faster.

 

Lay off the spinach there Popeye best bet whatever you use drain the oil clean the threads of the bolt and pan along with the crack with some solvent (lacquer thinner alcohol carb cleaner or whatever you have) and dry it with air before you apply the seal to it. Good Luck

 

The oil drain plug goes a tad tighter than "snug."

The more valuable lesson is use a torque wrench.

(I always replace the crush washer too.)

 

By snug I mean till the bolt bottoms, then approximately 1 flat. Over the years I have encountered a lot of techs who think the drain plug goes up through the engine and holds the head on,(by the way they tighten drain plugs.) All you really need,if you're not using a torque wrench, is to contact the sealing washer, then add some tension to the threads to avoid it rotating out.

When you tighten any fastener you are in fact "stretching" it. On a long bolt or stud you can actually see the results of over-tightening. On a short fastener with no "grip length" (unthreaded portion of a fastener) something is going to give. In this case, being weaker than the plug, the oil pan.

 

You can FIX that Crack with , ... DURAFIX Aluminum Welding Rods.

Product Info:

http://durafix.com/

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jijW310xvp4

 

Its all good, my truck us back up and running so I'm waiting on my new oil pan to come in the mail. Yeah what a valuable hands on lesson. One I'll never forget.