F350_Hauler |
04-29-2008 11:50 PM |
You will not be able to weld it. The fitting/nut are aluminum and the pan is steel.
:-X25
Be careful if you unbolt the dipstick tube bracket upstairs. I did and the fitting was undone at the pan and the inside part fell right inside. I tried to fish it out for 5 hours with no luck. I stuck a rubber expandable plug in the hole after I pulled the starter to make enough room to do so. The rubber plug with a bolt in the middle of it to tighten and thereby expand the rubber plug. Then I put the starter back in and it left no room for the plug to fall out, but it wouldn't have anyway. I snugged it up really good. I drove it like that for a year. Then I bought a downpipe/exhaust system, a 2" body lift kit, an add-a-leaf spring for the front and a new through-pan fitting and new nut and the gray silicone. When it was finally time I undid the body mount bolts in the cab and jacked the cab up like 6"-7" and put it on jackstands. Then I undid motor mount bolts, exhaust downpipe, fan shroud, and don't forget the underneath power steering low pressure return line. I then jacked the motor up at least 6" maybe 8" and I pulled the pan. It was tough to do with that gray silicone. I barely got it out but it came. Then with the pan out I cleaned the edges for the re-install and mounted the new through-pan fitting and then put new gray silicone on and put it back in. WHAT A JOB. But in the end it was worth it because then I installed the body lift and the new exhaust. The body lift is a somewhat dis-liked mod but I'll tell you what, this particular truck had 386K on her and the new lift hardware, properly installed tightened her up incredibly, made plenty of room for the downpipe and helped me to clear large tires with the add-a-leaf.
On a side note here: I noticed that the inside thread of the pan fitting nut was stripped out for a turn or so. I would recommend that you take a really close look at the inside of that nut to make sure the threads are good. Before you undo the mounting bracket for the dipstick tube either tie wire around the stub neck or put mini vice grips in the tube itself loosely so you don't damage the tube. Do something to keep that fitting from falling into the pan. You can actually buy the o-ring for the inside and a new nut from International and you can snake the o-ring into the inside and then put on a new nut and that may solve your problem. If you clean the pan area around the fitting really good with brake clean you can also use the gray silicone and that baby will stay in there and not leak. Take your time. Clean it up REALLY GOOD. Don't over-tighten the nut. It bends the inside fitting if you do and sort of dishes it out. If you are too cheap to get a new nut you can cut the flat flanges off and make it into a normal nut and turn it over and the threads will be better.
Sorry for the long post. Trying to save time and trouble on a rather tricky situation if the fitting falls into the pan.
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