Thread: Drain Plug Update

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Some of you may remember my problems that I had with the oil pan plug on the Fairlane. I thought I had it ?fixed? by JBWelding another washer to the bent one and used a red fiber gasket. Well, everything was going good I thought but I've been noticing a drop of oil on the drain plug lately and figured that the gasket needed replacing. So I decided to change the oil and replace it with Valvoline VR-1 Racing Oil with zinc and ?maybe? some Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer also. Haven't decided definitely on the Lucas yet.

I thought I'd go ahead and make the change but when I removed the drain plug the JBWelded washer came off with the bolt so I was back to square one again. Obviously the hot motor oil eventually broke down the JBWeld so I'm thinking that I just need to order a new oil pan and be done with it but my eyes, hands and age would mean I needed to get a shop to put it on for me which is not a problem. However, before I ordered the new pan, I replaced the filter, started cleaning the drain area and put the bolt and a new fiber gasket washer in to see if I could at least get it to hold long enuff to get it to the shop., I put the old oil back in, tightened the bolt pretty snug and the leak has stopped.

OR AT LEAST it is has stopped so far so I'm gonna leave it as is and do some mini-road spins to see if it holds. If it does then I may just try and keep on keeping on.

I'm wondering if I might have straightened the curved surface enuff to seal off when I put the longer bolt and JBWeld on it. What ever it was, it's holding for now so I'm gonna keep an eye on it and see what happens.

This is the setup that the PO's had on it and it leaked pretty bad no matter what.

This is what it looked like when I ?thought? I had it fixed and it held for probably a year.


This is the Current drain plug with only a fiber gasket between the bolt and the pan. All of the JBWeld around the drain came off.


Anyhow, I just wanted to update this and let viewers know that, altho JBWeld is an awesome product, some things like crankcase oil will break it down over time.

Have a great weekend,
Em

Way long time before JB Weld----------there was/is an 2 part for stopping leaks on aircraft tanks------I might still have some around here altho old maybe I can get current info off the cans-----------We used to use it on race wheels to stop leaks thru porrus sections

How about a new pan, $45.00 + shipping (usually less than $10.00 for shipping), might be cheaper in the long run.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/su...view/make/ford

Originally Posted by 36 sedan

How about a new pan, $45.00 + shipping (usually less than $10.00 for shipping), might be cheaper in the long run.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/su...view/make/ford

Yeah, I'm leaning that way - - - - - can't say I didn't try but as inexpensive as the proper fix is and as expensive the worst scenario would be, I think I'll order one and the gaskets and let my professional shop dudes do it for me. I mainly posted this to let folks know that the JBWeld has limitations on some applications. Thanks for the link.
Em

I'm not surprised that the JB Weld repair came loose. I'd order a new pan, but if you're feeling overly thrifty and since the threads are OK another approach for a shade tree repair might be to get a thick "fender washer" sized for the drain plug, snug it in place with the plug and then seal weld around the outside of the washer to the pan, being sure you cleaned all of the old paint, JB weld, etc off for a good, clean weld with no pores. A new pan's gonna remove all doubt, and will definitely look better until you bottom out on the speed bump again.....

Got one ordered from JEGS plus the gaskets. Only $73 total with free shipping. I didn't want chrome but it was the cheapest so I got chrome.

Em, hope I'm not preaching to the choir here, but either sand the chrome off of the gasket surface before you take it to the shop, or be sure that they know to sand that surface before installing the gasket. Chrome pans leak if you don't rough up the sealing surface.

Of course, now your wife'll be finding you out laying beside the car, gazing at that shiny chrome pan all the time.