Iv'e got an 86 f250 4w4 w/ a 351w. While changing my oil today I though it might be a good idea to scrape off the rust from the oil pan. Little did I know that the rust had become a srtuctural componant of the pan. It started w/ a pinhole leak that was less than 1mm in diam. When I stopped as the gas station there was a steady stream of oil shooting out of the hole that was now about 3mm in diameter. bought a couple of qts and got it home.

Anyone replace the pan one of these trucks?? Haynes manual says you have lift the motor! Any suggestions for a somewhat permenant fix, assuming there is enough metal left around the hole. I was thinking about drilling and tapping a hole them putting a plug in? JB weld? How about brazing or welding? Any rough ideas on what a shop would charge to swap oil pans out??

 

Replace the pan, the last thing you need is for your oil pump to suck up a rust flake and ruin a engine.. and yes you do need to lift the engine, the oil pump dosnt allow the pan to slide out. you should change that while your in there.

 

Change the pan, it is not that difficult, maybe time consuming but straight forward. Change the pump also, I went to a high volume pump because of towing and hill climbing. this also quited my lifters.

 

Drain the oil.
Clean up the rusty area with a wire wheel on a drill.
Go over area with laquer thinner on a rag.
Mix up a good quality epoxy for metal and cover the offending area.
Let it set 24 hours.
Refill with oil.
I have performed this repair many times with a 100% success rate.
Steve G.

 

For an emergency quick fix use a two part gas tank leak sealer. You should be able to find it at your parts store. You will need to replace the pan soon as stated above though.

 

you don't have to pull your motor just unbolt motor mounts and lift it until the bell housing hits fire wall then just change your oil pan

if you start mickey mousing it you'll constantly be fixing it

 

Thanks for the ideas. I was startting to feel overwhelmed w/ taking this on, but it sounds like you guys feel this is not overly difficult.

I just re-read the haynes manual , I just have to lift ithe engine, not pull it out of the engine bay. Haynes indicates you can do it w/ a jack. They mention to place a "thick block of wood between the oil pan and jack" ??? Does this mean I would be rasing the engine by the oil pan?? Would'nt that squash the pan?

I might try the epoxy for now...I dont have a garage and have 4 feet of snow out there. I'll try the pan swap towards summer. So, change the oil pump while I'm in there..anything else while the engine is up?? Rear oil seal? Oil Pickup? The truck only has 29k on it so I wonder if it's worth changing out anything. Almost every problem I've had w/ this truck has been due to rust. I've replaced just about every metal tube on the thing.

 

jack it like they say but on the bell housing that way you can get the pan out