oil pan on 91 350

[SteveVB]

It looks like i need to replace my oil pan before it rusts through.
Has anyone replaced the oil pan on a 91 K2500. Possible in my driveway? Factory manual says remove exhaust crossover. Can I do it without removing the exhaust(big PITA ) and with the age of it I dont want to get something that snowballs into who knows what... :headwall

[wyldman]

Welcome to Letstalksnow.com !

You do have to remove the exhaust.Is it acually leaking yet ? You may be able to clean it up and seal\paint it.It would sure beat having to change it.

[SteveVB]

Thank you for the welcome Chris- I posted infrequently on another board which seems like more than a few migrated from, glad to have found this site. Some of the names seem familiar

Well I think Im past the point of sealing and painting. I missed a leaking battery(I think I overtorqued the side terminal on the GM battery and cracked the case )which seems to be the culprit. I had to replace the battery/starting cable, the trans cooler lines, the clamp on the cat, and the pan is bad in one spot. Undercoating on the frame seems to of saved it from any damage. I am reluctant to scrape away the rust on the oil pan - it is that "blossomed" type rust, which tells me the structural integrity of the metal is gone. Im running on prayers I believe.

I thought about draining the oil, scraping the rust off and welding a patch over the area, not sure this is a good idea since the residual oil may ignite.

Sad thing is the pan doesnt leak at the gasket- I hate to take apart something thats not leaking...even harder since I DO have a leaking intake gasket.

[Alan]

Originally posted by SteveVB
I am reluctant to scrape away the rust on the oil pan - it is that "blossomed" type rust, which tells me the structural integrity of the metal is gone. Im running on prayers I believe.

I thought about draining the oil, scraping the rust off and welding a patch over the area, not sure this is a good idea since the residual oil may ignite.

I had to deal with the same situation on an 88 S-10 w/4.3. Only way I could see to change the pan was pull the engine. Mid-winter so I really didn't wnat to tie the truck up. I considered welding in place. What I was going to do was dump the oil, run an inert gas hose off my MIG regulator and flood the engine with a CO2/N mix. The inerts would be heavier than air and should fill the pan first. (I understand they do something similar on aircraft carriers in war, evacuate the aircraft fuel lines and fill them with CO2 to keep fires down.)

The idea became moot when I started cleaning the pan and found that same bubbled rust with just about NO metal under it. I was cleaning with a welding pick and it would split what was left of the pan open if I hit too hard. I ended up brushing and sanding until I got relatively clean metal. The I applied a couple coats of a snake oil called "Seal-All", stuff I have used in the past on fuel tanks.

So far (about 9 months) it is still holding. I check it regularly and no wet spots yet. I coated all the rusty spots I could find, knowing it was going to be perforated soon in any moisture at all got to it.

It's not a permanent fix, but I figure either the engine will be comeing out of I'll be unloading the truck at some point. One way I'll replace the pan, the toher way someone else will.

[Pelican]

Hi Steve!:drinkup

Glad you found us here!

[SteveVB]

Well today after replacing the TC output seal and bushing, and changing the fluid in the TC, and replacing the idler arm, I started to wire brush and poke at the pan... pop a bit of oil pours out :(
Ive cut off the exhaust crossover and am trying to get the damn struts removed but the top bolts are a huge PITA to get to.
just venting. :headwall

[SteveVB]

Thought Id post my trials with my Oil pan replacement for anyone who may need to do this in the future.

After getting the struts off the tranny and engine mounts, removing a section of the exhaust, loosening the starter, removing the oil cooler adapter, moving the trans lines out of the way, disconnecting the driveshaft and dropping the differential and axle housing I got the oil pan out. Took about 3 hours.

Had to move the dipstick tube over to get the old gasket off and new gasket on. I replaced three or four pan bolts that I screwed up when I removed them.

Put it all back together and as Im putting the trans lines back in place the one I haven't replaced springs a leak :( I get to install another stainless steel cooler line- woo- whoo :p

I figure I have 7 or 8 hours into the pan - anyone have a shop time manual?-How long would a shop charge to replace the pan?