Hole in my oil pan!

[Cougsfan]

Today while mowing I hit a hidden rock. It somehow poked a good size hole in the rear end of my oil pan right. (Looking at it with hindsight, it seems impossible for this to happen, but I managed). It is a good size hole, about 1" long and 1/8 inch wide. Fortunately I heard it hit, then I noticed the oil light come on very shortly after. I have to admit that I couldn't figure out which idiot light it was that just came on. (I wonder who is the idiot: the guy who can't figure out what it is, or the guy who came up with such a senseless, non-representative icon) I shut the tractor as soon as it dawned on me it might be the oil light and got out and saw engine oil still draining to the ground. I thought the oil drain plug had fallen out it was coming out so fast. I am sure the engine is OK cause it probably ran less than 30 seconds after the oil light came on. Of course this happened less than 3 hrs after I changed the oil.

So now I have to fix it. I think I can take it off and pound it straight and take to a professional welder and patch it. My question is: do I have to drop the front drive line to get the pan off? The pan kind of straddles the drive line. If so, is it a big deal to disassemble the drive line?

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Wow Cougs,

Seems like if you didn't have bad luck, you'd have no luck at all.

 

[ptsg]

That's indeed bad luck.

I'm pretty sure you can get the oil pan out without messing with the driveline. Although, it's not that big of a deal to take the drive line out. There is two splined couplers that are easy to take over. One around the area of the clutch bell housing, hidden with an inspection plate. And the other is closer to the front axle, just need to pull the cover tube back to access the coupler.

Now, Branson only uses one boss on the oil pan, instead of two bosses around the drive line, like most tractors. So I think once you get the oil pan loose, you can just slide it out.

By the way, we all like pictures of destruction or the bottom of the engine if you don't mind.

 

[LouNY]

Sorry can't help you with the information requested, good luck with the repairs.
Would a slid hammer pull some of the dent while the pan is still bolted on?
Could it be welded on in place?
I have had pans twist and warp while modifying them when they where not bolted to a block, Depending on the size of the patch it may not bother.

 

[5030]

If it's aluminum and not die cast, TIG it. If it's steel (better), MIG it. If it's die cast aluminum you'll probably be better off replacing it. Die cast aluminum because of what it's made from (scrap aluminum remelted) is very hard to weld and even more difficult because it has motor oil on one side. Your chances of getting a leak free weld on die cast is almost nil.

 

[ptsg]

If it's aluminum and not die cast, TIG it. If it's steel (better), MIG it. If it's die cast aluminum you'll probably be better off replacing it. Die cast aluminum because of what it's made from (scrap aluminum remelted) is very hard to weld and even more difficult because it has motor oil on one side. Your chances of getting a leak free weld on die cast is almost nil.

It's just a piece of pressed sheet metal. Shouldn't be too hard to fix.

 

[BigMark]

2 part epoxy will fix anything, just have to get it really clean first. I used it on my old F150 and it lasted several years until I sold it. Fixed the oil drain tube on my JD-455 recently, still holding up so far.

both mine were small leaks not large holes

 

[MH8675309]

Ive brazed holes in oil pans before with good success. It is better to have the pan off to clean it out. If heated enough any remaining oil could flash

 

[Cougsfan]

I have been too busy doing other things to work on it yet. I will figure out how to pull the drive shaft. It is just pressed steel oil pan. I will take a picture when I get it off. It isn't much of a dent. Mostly just a gash. I have a friend who is a good welder. As the hole is on the bottom I don't think it will get enough heat to warp the pan. The pan is an inverted "V" shape on the bottom to go around the drive line, so it is impossible to drain every last bit of oil out, so welding it in place is a bad idea. (I have never seen a pan shaped like that). JB weld is amazing stuff I have used it to fix a lot of things (including a cracked engine block). I think I would prefer a weld or brazing though.

A hole poked in the fuel tank and oil pan in the same week! I would challenge any of you to top that, but I am not that hateful

A new oil pan is fairly cheap (only $88 my dealer says). But I am still gonna see if we can just weld it anyhow. I just bought a 12" long condenser hose for the AC to replace my leaky one that was $92 plus $40 for freight. I think Branson uses a dartboard and darts to come up with parts pricing.

 

[Cougsfan]

Ok, for those of you who asked for the bloody and gory pictures of destruction, here they are:


The hole is actually much bigger than I thought it was! This is at the rear of the pan. It seems nearly impossible for this to happen, but it did. A couple of notes: Removing the drive line is easy if you know how, but miserable if you don't. The manual is not only less than helpful and not clear, it is also inaccurate on how to do it. If you are not careful, you could easily drain all the oil out of your hydraulic system (The seal holding the oil in tends to come out with the rear drive line cover!). Also note the little round magnet that they put inside the oil pan. When I first saw that I thought "OH NO! A part has fallen out of the engine!"