Oil pan question

[olmytsi]

A while back i overtightened one of the return line bolts and broke the head of the bolt off. It has been leakin but slow enough to where it didnt really matter. However, i will be installing a new return line in about a week. Should i try to drill the bolt out or should i just replace the oil pan? And if u recommend swapping oil pans, what exactly will need to come off ( ie driveshaft etc) and how long should it take?

ps: yes i kno i am a dumbass for overtightening it but i was at my first stages of working on my car...you learn from your mistakes.

 

[ADrewzki]

I would recommend drilling it out and retapping the hole. Either way, you're going to have to take off the xfer case, get the exhaust out of the way, drain the oil (duh), and I found that it helps if you take off the carrier bearing on the axle. You can then take off all the bolts and the return line and take the pan off. Just make sure you scrape all the old gasket material off and clean out the inside of the pan. You don't want any metal shavings or anything to get into your oil. You may need a new exhaust/O2 gasket also. Good luck.

 

[92redman]

If just the head broke off, you may be able to get some vise grips on bolt and and extract it. If it won't turn, you may need to heat up the pan around the bolt. If the bolt broke off flush, you can use a center punch to make an indent dead center of the bolt and drill a hole in it. You can get a screw exctractor the correct size and turn it right out. If all else fails, you can increase the size of the drill bit until you start to get just the threads left and dig em right out.