2001 2.3l 2wd hole in oil pan????

[2.3l4banger]

Last night i was driving my truck home and i saw that my check gauge light came on... So I looked at it and saw that my oil Pressure gauge was dropping, I then shut my truck off and coasted to a parking lot and there was a trail of oil behind me and was pouring out of the front of the oil pan. I waited until it cooled off and crawled under and i found a nut with part of a bolt in between my oil pan and front cross member. The hole is about 1.5 inches tall and about .75 inches wide.. I have absolutely no idea where it could have come from and how much work it will be to replace, I cannot do the work myself because i now live in the phoenix area but I would like to know how big this job will be. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[adsm08]

Big job. Engine has to come most of the way out.

 

[2.3l4banger]

Any idea on time for a shop? Just an estimate? I am pretty stuck here... Either fix it SOON or get a loan for a vehicle.

 

[adsm08]

Not sure, maybe 10 hours or more.

 

[2.3l4banger]

Dang... That's doable I think though I believe.
Thank you.

I am still troubled with where the broken bolt came from...
It is a pretty decent size too. I can't feel anything moving in the suspension nor can i see where it came from, and i know for a fact it is not internal because i have a pretty good sense of awareness when it comes to engine noises.
And I am a student at UTI... Feel slightly embarrassed that i cannot do it myself, they wont allow us to do anything that will take a substantial amount of time in the shop. I really would rather do the work myself.
What can you do. haha

 

[Andy D]

Can you drain the oil, shoot the hole with brake cleaner and JB Weld in a patch? I used JB Weld to patch a rusted pan on my Jeep. With a 3/4 X2" hole , I would use a small piece of metal . It will need to be wedged into position and needs to cure over night. All this is supposing that the bolt hasnt got a chewed up hunk of con-rod attached

 

[RonD]

Bolt probably came from another vehicle, possibly headed in the opposite direction, and bolt bounced up with enough force to put a hole in the pan.

Good news is that the oil pan is not pressurized, so can be patched until such time you want to replace it.

Any shop can put a patch on it with sealant and some self tapping screws, maybe an hour if they take a coffee break.

JB weld might work but I would be afraid it might break off at some point, so definitely use the metal patch on top either way.

 

[Haywire6000]

I would just weld it, take a wiz wheel clean up all around the whole, find a piece of scrap and weld it over the whole.

 

[Andy D]

I would just weld it, take a wiz wheel clean up all around the whole, find a piece of scrap and weld it over the whole.

Welding is likely to touch off crankcase fumes, that is why I would go with epoxy

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

First, I'd like to say I'm sorry you wasted $30k... That was the worst decision I've made in my life, that school is a joke! Although it was fun, and so was my job at Coyote.

Anyways... Are you in a complex or a house? We had a house, and wrenched in the garage all the time. Pulling the engine really isn't that hard, and you can rent/ borrow an engine hoist. I swapped my old engine in 8 hrs. That's only 2 nights of work. 4cyl 2wds are the easiest, even a UTI student could do it.

Just pull it compete with the trans, fix or swap the pan, and drop it back in.

 

[PanamaExpat]

I am with Ron on the JB Weld patch. Cut a piece of beer can or soda can about an inch all the way around larger than the hole, Brake clean the oil pan in the area that needs fixed, take a stainless steel Chore Girl pad and scrub the paint off and rough up the metal a bit, brake clean again, then mix JB Weld and place it on patch and stick 'er on there. You should be good to go in about an hour. I have fixed numerous gas tanks, clutch covers on dirt bikes and such with this method. Works great and never had a problem. I have a 96 Crapalier in the back yard that I did that on the fuel filler neck to 10 years ago and it is still holding today.

 

[modelageek]

Big job. Engine has to come most of the way out.

I would just weld it, take a wiz wheel clean up all around the whole, find a piece of scrap and weld it over the whole.

Adsm don't you think a welding shop could weld this right up?

IMHO I would not use J B weld on an oil pan unless it was just so I could get it to a welding shop.

 

[Haywire6000]

Just realizes I spelled hole as whole...

 

[PanamaExpat]

We understood what you meant