Hey, I got a small hole in my automatic transmission pan. It it possible for me to weld it, or are they made out of aluminum?

Thanks,

Originally posted by Gui:
<STRONG>Hey, I got a small hole in my automatic transmission pan. It it possible for me to weld it, or are they made out of aluminum?

Thanks,</STRONG>

I believe the pan is steel - but it's pretty thin. You may end up burning a larger hole. A better bet might be to get a used one from a bone yard.

Just buy a replacement. If you do weld it I would gas weld it or silver solder it but not mig or arc because you will just make bigger holes.

if its in a good location enlarge the hole to 7/16 or 1/2 and ad a drain plug!

if not a guy whop can TIG weld could fix it good as new.

Id be happy to fix it but unless your in or around AR the shipping would be more than a used pan probably.

JB Weld.

You would have one hell of a time tig weld it due to the ATF that is in the metal. I do tig weld and it wouldn't be my first choice.

well, let me also ad, that I have a glass bead blaster, and acetone to celan the stuff that has to be XRAY quality.

I promise a good tig welder can fix it like it was never broke.

send it to me if you wish, Ill show you, and cjdean.

I weld this type of stuff everyday, some grit blast, some wire brush, and it ends up like a scaled rainbow

Here's how you fix it.

Perheat the area with a torch to burn off the old oil. If its steel it won't take to long.

Then mig ot tig will work if you know how to weld. I would tig the hole myself. <IMG SRC="smilies/rolleyes.gif" border="0">

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will open the puppy up, and see how thin the metal is. I am assuming it is a pretty thin tin metal, by what I can see in the hole.

I will leave this draining tonight, and take a crack at it tomorrow. I will also look around to see if I can find a used pan in good shape, what may be an easy solution.


thanks again for all the help!

Gui

If you have a torch you could just braze it shut.
Another option is to get some 1/8 plate,then put 6 or more strategically placed holes in the pan and spot weld the pan to the plate at each hole.
For best results the plate should be oversized a little and bend the sides up at a 30* to 45* to avoid snagging rocks.
Be sure to do a leak check with water before the install.

The drain idea is a good one too,just knock out a bigger hole and braze in a 1/2" NPT weld-a-let from your local plumbing store.The down side to that? .....unless you have a skid plate it's something else to snagg on the rocks and rip it wide open.

I agree with bossgrip I brazed my oil pan before <IMG SRC="smilies/usa.gif" border="0">