Help!

[mjncad]

Tonight my wife pretty much talked me into biting the bullet and just getting a new oil pan. I think she mainly wants to ensure that I can move the hay out on the weekend and that I put my mind back on work where it belongs

Another couple of days and she would have talked you into buying a new tractor.

 

[canoetrpr]

mjncad, if it worked that way, I think many of us would be out trying to strip every bolt we could find . I think her point of view was that I spent a fair amount of time getting the darn pan off so I might as well replace it now that it is off.

 

[J_J]

canoetrpr,

You should never torque a lubricated nut/bolt. The lube will let you go way past the torque specs. That goes for lug nuts, etc. Anything you want to torque, do not lube. Should be dry fit. Everyone should store that info away somewhere. That is the gospel, and is written in stone. Dry metal to metal fit, seems logical.

 

[kenstrac]

Pan is off, so id weld a appropriate sized nut on the inside and use the original bolt.

Just curious.. what kind of torque wrench were you using. Ive seen cheap torque wrenches not click when they were supposed too resulting in overtorqued bolts and much cursing. Cheap torque wrenches can be worse than no torque wrench at all.

The other thing might be as was said earlier Newton metres vs ft lbs.(metric vs standard)

Welding a nut on the inside , you have the thickness of the nut which will hold a fair amount of sludge and heavy contaminates at the bottom of the pan when is is drained.I would not do it.

 

[canoetrpr]

With the very limited knowledge I have of welding (something I only just started duing), welding a itty bitty nut onto an alloy of something is probably not something that is the right option for me.

I'm going to head into Napa at lunch time today to see what they have to offer wrt. drain bolts. I could not find an appropriate 1/2" bolt at the hardware stores I visited yesterday. With the local helicoil prices being 1/2 the price of a new pan, I'm thinking new pan but primarily I will do what I need to to get the tractor going by the weekend.

Ain't no fun having a weekend without a tractor running.

 

[Scooby074]

Welding a nut on the inside , you have the thickness of the nut which will hold a fair amount of sludge and heavy contaminates at the bottom of the pan when is is drained.I would not do it.

Not much in the big picture. You do know that you never get all the old oil out of an engine when you change it right? An extra couple mm on top of the oil that would normally be there after a change wont make much difference at all.

If that little bit of oil is a concern, weld the nut on the outside of the pan.

Canoe, if your not up to welding it, a local welder should do it for cheap. Heck if you were closer, I'd do it for some beer or a bottle of the captains finest Good luck.

 

[brandoro]

With the very limited knowledge I have of welding (something I only just started duing), welding a itty bitty nut onto an alloy

You mentioned that the pan is alloy so welding anything on might be out of the question anyway. I think some of the OPs that are suggesting welding are assuming a stamped steel pan. If you don't know what the alloy is it would be difficult to be sure of a good solid attachment.
If it is alloy then I would think it would be thick enough, at least where the drain hole is, to tap out the next size larger and install a new bolt. Get a bolt with a flanged head and a proper size seal washer, probably copper or brass for the washer.

 

[jimmysisson]

Doubt a helicoil would work, as they need more thread depth than you probably have in that pan. Next size up drain plug is best bet. It'd be interesting to do this with pan right side up and see (and tell the rest of us) what amount of curlies you get from the self-tapping plug. (Of course easier job to do when you can look down at it.) Auto parts should have tapping plug.
Good luck, Jim

 

[canoetrpr]

This pan's got a lot of meat in it - at least where the drain plugs are - which is what tells me that it is alloy and not steel. So a helicoil would probably work fine.

Unfortunately it would cost me more than I should have to spend on this if I want to get this working by the weekend. $100 is the local price for a M12 helicoil kit. Hiighway robbery if you ask me.

Went to NAPA today and picked up a 1/2" drain bolt. It came with a rubber washer on it it.

I guess I am going to re-tap the bugger to 1/2" after all and see how this goes. I was tempted to retap both holes so that I can use the same size wrench under there - but why fix something that ain't broke. That way if I take my stupidity to its upper bounds and manage to strip the other good hole at a future time, I can always resort to a 1/2" drain plug there. They they will be even ;-)

 

[AKfish]

The one experience I have had with a self-tapping oil pan plug was not a good one... the garage that serviced my Ford PU stripped the OEM and then when I called 'em on their screw-up they "fixed" it with a self-tapping plug.

It was just slightly crooked - and always just that little dribble.. even with a copper or a nylon washer.

I'd vote for a brased nut on the outside of the pan (since you can't find a suitable "tapped" replacement). It would be a quick fix for a local shop. Brasing is not as hot a welding process and should not harm the alloy material of the pan.

'Course if you want the OEM look and the new pan is in stock... (It's only $$$).

(Never mind... you're a faster typer than me!)

Best of luck.

AKfish