F250 rust/rot oil pan repair?

[BillyBronco]

I have a 2003 7.3L F-250 that spent a couple years in New York with the previous owner early in it's life. The oil pan has some rust/rot that is causing it to leak just a hair. It is down on the "hump" by the drain plug. Apparently this is a common problem in Ford trucks. To replace the oil pan you have to pull the engine as you can't get it off with the crossmember in the way. I refuse to do this so I am looking for the best way to repair it on the truck. The size of the area that needs repair is about 1.5" x 5". The rest of the oil pan is solid. After looking around here are the common fixes.

Brazing - Seems to be the best long term solution. I could clean up the area and braze the area. For further reinforcement after the area is brazed I could cut out another piece of metal and then braze that over the area as well giving it "double" protection.

My concerns here is I have never brazed anything before but it doesn't seem too difficult. What brazing rods should I use? HTS-2000 rods seems to get recommendations as it can take some oil contamination. Could that one be used on the oil pan effectively? I believe the oil pan is steel.

Fiberglass - prep and lay multiple thin layers of fiberglass.

JB Weld - Clean and prep the pan well but this one seems to hold the worst either because the area wasn't prepped well or it cannot take the constant heating and cooling.

POR 15 patch - I never saw where someone actually used this so I don't know how well it would work. http://www.por15.com/Putty-Fillers-a...r/products/10/

I am looking for a fix that will hold up a long time. I will let the oil drain out over a couple days and then make sure I clean and prep the area well. Any recommendations or thoughts?

[terrillf150]

I just did this to my little ranger. Mine had a decent hole rusted in it. I searched all over looking for opinions. I ended up draining all the oil and leaving it sit for a day then I wire wheeling the crap out of it cleaning it with brake parts cleaner and wiping it down till my shop cloth didn't see any oil rust or dirt. I mixed up some jb weld a slobbered it on. It work so far and for the time cost I'd do it again.

[texascadillac42]

Is there enough room to just unbolt the motor mounts and lift the motor up as high as it can go, then pull the pan? I know on the OBS trucks you can just sneak the oil pan out when the motor is pulled up, while everything but the mounts are still bolted on.

[#rawkon]

Fix it right and have the peice of mind.

[takotruckin]

It is possible to do it with the motor in the truck, just lifted up. But it is easier to get it sealed up with the motor out and upside down.

[BillyBronco]

I have looked around enough to see that the best way to do it is to pull the engine and replace it. I am not goint to do that and I am not willing to pay a shop $1800 to do it. I am looking for opinions for alternatives to patch the pan because removal is not an option I am considering.

[Joey D]

On my 00 F 450 7.3 I cut the cross member out swapped the pan and welded it back together. I did let it sit for a few days to make sure the oil was done draining and the pan rail was clean.
I held the cross member in place with vise grips on the 4 corners and just started welding. If you bother to grind down the welds no one would ever know.

[ALEX Bronco]

I wouldn't even consider trying to repair the pan. Replace it and get it over with. I have tried patching Ford oil pans in the past, and it has been a waste of time. I Think on my own rig I would consider cutting the crossmemer as was mentioned earlier.
If it comes down to it, the 7.3 comes out pretty easy.



Brett

[BurnedBronco]

just replacethe pan.i can do it in a 10hour shift from rolling it in the shop, to back outside with a fresh full service.

[BillyBronco]

Originally Posted by BurnedBronco

just replacethe pan.i can do it in a 10hour shift from rolling it in the shop, to back outside with a fresh full service.

If you were near I would pay you to replace the pan. I want to repair it and if I can't get the repair to work then I will look at replacing it. I don't see why a pan that is brazed properly wouldn't be an good fix for a whole lot less money and effort.

[85f150dsel]

brazing can be a PITA around oil. I've Mig'ed a few, but prep is going to be the worst part. You could let your engine sit a week and it would still drip oil into the pan.

[#rawkon]

JB weld and brazing is just a temp bandaid at best, the rot is still there and its going to continue to get worse. Why do it half assed.

[Black Dog]

We paid a guy to R&R the rusted out pan on our F350 plow truck with a 460. I think it was about $900 for just labor by the time he was done. I found the oil pan rusted through (along with the dipstick tube) when I went to change the oil. My brother and I looked at each other....

"you wanna fix it?"
"nope"
"you wanna fix it?"
"nope"

hire it done
It is kind of a cool truck, but I hate wrenching on that POS.

[LOGANSTANFORTH]

I'm going to assume they are stamped from the same piss poor thin steel as the diff covers that rust through...

[BillyBronco]

To update this. I let the oil drain for 5 days, hit the affected area with a wire wheel and a flap disk to clean all of the rust off. I found 3 pin holes. I degreased it using a lot of brake parts cleaner. I brazed the three holes shut and tested to see if it still leaked and it didn't. I then coated the affected area with Devcon 2 part epoxy. I went over that with two thin coats of PC7 2 part epoxy putting more resin than hardener on it so it would stay a bit elastic so it could expand and contract with the heating and the cooling of the oil pan. I sanded inbetween each coat. With each coat of epoxy I did a bigger and bigger area. I am happy with the results thus far. I will sand the last layer of epoxy and finish with 3M undercoating spray. I have driven about 1500 miles and 6 weeks with my repair job and it is holding thus far. Time will tell if it will begin to leak again and if it does I will pull the engine to replace the pan. Overall, I am happy with the results.

[Slowzuki]

Common repair up here. They usually "self undercoat" once the pin holes start.

[#rawkon]

Hell all that time adn work, Sound like it might have been easier and simplier to replace the oil pan at this point. Glad your repair is working though. Hope it lasts

[87manche]

for future reference, Permatex makes an oil pan repair kit that has some cool epoxy that sticks to the "wet" metal. My neighbor used it on his 90's F250 like 2 years ago, because it was winter and he didn't feel like working on it. It's held up so well he never got around to replacing the pan.

[BillyBronco]

Originally Posted by #rawkon

Hell all that time adn work, Sound like it might have been easier and simplier to replace the oil pan at this point. Glad your repair is working though. Hope it lasts

I had about 2 hours in my repair versus 15+ hours pulling the engine to replace the pan.

Originally Posted by 87manche

for future reference, Permatex makes an oil pan repair kit that has some cool epoxy that sticks to the "wet" metal. My neighbor used it on his 90's F250 like 2 years ago, because it was winter and he didn't feel like working on it. It's held up so well he never got around to replacing the pan.

That may have been nice and held up but I am fairly confident my fix is quite strong and hopefully holds up even though it may have took longer than the above Permatex kit. Time will tell.