Oil Pan Material

[architechnik]

Does anyone know the composition of the oil pan?

I have a few cracks and instead of buying a new one, I figure I'll weld this one. Is it aluminum or a steel composite?

 

[Ravenous]

I'm fairly certain it is stamped steel.

 

[architechnik]

That's what I was afraid of. I have a special bonding material where you heat up the metal to about 650 deg and then rub it on aluminum. It cures to over 1200 deg and is a permanent seal, but it only bonds with aluminum... in my case, welding steel will be more of a hassle.

 

[drivemusicnow]

DO you have a 6 bolt or 7 bolt? people usually sell oil pans for like 50$ in good shape.

Heck, I've got a spare that I keep around "just in case" that I could probably sell.

 

[99gst_racer]

Yes, definitely steel. And it does weld decently. I'd definitely recommned using a TIG though. From personal experience, MIG welds were much less effective at sealing leaks.


How did you manage to crack it? Impact?

 

[architechnik]

I have a '94 7-bolt, which I believe is different from 6-bolt and later 7-bolts. I've heard that AWD and FWD don't make a difference, although I believe it does on mine (really lame).

I'm not entirely certain how it cracked. There are two points both near the transfer case end, where one has actually spread to include a crescent around where the bolt is. It seems like an odd place for it to crack unless it had a hard impact from the side, but that's right where the wheel is lined up laterally.

Does anyone know what the compatibility for a 1g 7-bolt awd is?

 

[Ravenous]

If you have a map gas torch, you could try brazing the crack. I've used brazing on intercooler pipes and bungs with no problems so far and that is aluminum which is much harder to braze. I use HTS-2000, I don't know if it is as amazing as they make it out to be but it seems to work. Here is the link to the iron/steel rod stuff HTS-528 The strongest brazing rod made for joining cast iron and steel
It might be worth a shot, I got my stuff on ebay so it was less than 20 dollars, but that was the aluminum rod.

 

[architechnik]

That's the kind of thing I was talking about, but for the aluminum I only needed to use a regular propane torch to get to heat, not an actual map torch. The steel one looks like it takes a LOT more heat. 650-700 for alum vs. 1400 for the steel

 

[Ravenous]

According to the bernzomatic website you can use a MAP gas torch to braze steel Gas Type Comparisons :: BernzOmatic. Depending on what torch you have you can just buy a MAP gas cylinder (7.99 at walmart I believe) and heat it up. The nice thing about it is you can't melt the steel with the torch, unlike brazing aluminum where I melted a throttle body elbow while practicing.

 

[architechnik]

It looks like the one I have can get up to those temps, but the smallest pack of rods they have is $75, more than I want to spend on a good oil pan, let alone something that I'll use once in a great while.

Good info, though. Thanks!

 

[Defiant]

They're not aluminum, and that flea market semi-solder wouldn't hold in that application. It has to be either brazed or welded.
Or, tell Gary at Mitsubishi Graveyard you need a replacement and cut your losses.

 

[turboglenn]

MAP gas can braze it, but you have to include oxygen or it will take forever. I played with brazing with a MAP torch for a while and it's a major PITA to me when i can just weld. The guy who did the 4g63 in a BMW E30 used a MAP gas torch to braze a TB plate on his stock intake manifold...talk about patience!
rwd 4g63 into an e30