oil leak at an fitting through oil pan. Turbo Oil Return

So customer shows up with an early Toyota land cruiser that he got off Ebay. On the surface it us a nice looking Vehical. But closer inspection has found a bunch of issues. The current one I am tasked with is fixing the oil leak where the turbo oil return line goes through the oil pan. The return line was plumbed using a large AN fitting. The one through the pan is a suppose to seal with an o ring but after I removed the pan I found that the hole drilled through the pan was hacked and is to big as well as being out of round the o ring does not seal but instead partially falls into the whole on the pan. Thus it does not get compressed and does not seal. If I could get it to seal it would probably not last long as the sharp edge of the hole in the pan will eventually cut the o ring. So how to fix it?

Option one is to get a new pan but I can not figure out what type of motor it is. It is a turbo diesel that looks like the turbo was a custom install. So at this point I am not having any luck finding any I'd numbers on the motor to id it to get a new pan and properly install the oil drain return line.

Option two is to clamp cooper behind the hole and weld metal back on to the hole and the grind it by hand back to flat and round and re install the old AN fitting.

Another thought I had was to see if there were gaskets that I could get to replace the o ring with but there really is not enough overlap of the fitting on to the pan because the hole was drilled to large.

Any other ideas?

This is not a customer where JB Weld is an option.

Welding is the right solution.

There's no pressure behind the fitting, so JB weld is a legit option. But if the customer don't like, get the welder hot.

This really is a show quality truck. It is like the seller hacked the last bits together to get it sold. We have had to un do most of the fuel system and re plumb it from scratch. And the wiring to the rear lights was so bad we just scrapped it and ran new from the fues box back making a new rear harness. All the wires were exposed when we got it and there where several wires to nothing just cut but not capped or taped. Best to make it all new. It is what I am thinking I should do with the entire oiling system for the turbo.

Either weld it up or bore it out for a bigger fitting.

I had the same problem and JB weld did fix it, if you wind up getting desperate.

What about those AN-sized washers with o-rings built in to them? I think the place I got mine from called them stat-o-seals maybe?

I agree with option 2 being your best bet.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Either weld it up or bore it out for a bigger fitting.

That's really it. I'd probably just up to the next size fitting and adapt it down if the hole isn't already huge. It's going to be tough to weld a plate on and make it look perfect and not weep.

There's another option.

On fleabay (and probably elsewhere) you can get "no-weld" oil return kits that just require a hole to be drilled. Uses a washer/o-ring on both sides to seal, and uses nuts to locate.

I used one on mndsm's MX6. There's many different sizes available. I just used barbed on his, but i'm sure there's AN available.

As for what oil pan it is... What's the displacement of the motor and year of the truck?

The hole in the pan at the moment is about an inch in diamiter

Weld on appropriate sized AN bung.

Weld on bung is the answer it will cover the hacked hole and add some stiffness to the repair as the bung itself is wider and thicker.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/Hydraulics/Hydraulic-Adapters-Fittings/Weld-in-Tank-Flanges/?page_no=1&page_length=9999

Weld a bung. Absolutely the right way to do it. The fewer interfaces with a seal, the fewer things that can leak.

dean1484 wrote: This really is a show quality truck. It is like the seller hacked the last bits together to get it sold. We have had to un do most of the fuel system and re plumb it from scratch. And the wiring to the rear lights was so bad we just scrapped it and ran new from the fues box back making a new rear harness. All the wires were exposed when we got it and there where several wires to nothing just cut but not capped or taped. Best to make it all new. It is what I am thinking I should do with the entire oiling system for the turbo.

Sorry, your first sentence compared to the rest of the paragraph seems an interesting juxtaposition.

z31maniac wrote:

dean1484 wrote: This really is a show quality truck. It is like the seller hacked the last bits together to get it sold. We have had to un do most of the fuel system and re plumb it from scratch. And the wiring to the rear lights was so bad we just scrapped it and ran new from the fues box back making a new rear harness. All the wires were exposed when we got it and there where several wires to nothing just cut but not capped or taped. Best to make it all new. It is what I am thinking I should do with the entire oiling system for the turbo.

Sorry, your first sentence compared to the rest of the paragraph seems an interesting juxtaposition.

It is not as bad as I am probably painting it. Virtually every mechanical system is new there is zero rust and the interior is in fantastic shape. It looks like a restoration that was 90 percent complete and done to a very high standard. Then the PO probably rushed the last 10% once he got it sold. I would definitely rock it.

I spoke with the new owner and I also got some gaskets that will work for the AN fitting to the pan. The owner is ok the use of JB weld. He just does not want to see it so I am going to use the gasket on the inside of the pan and then put a VERY small bead of JB weld on the outside under the compression ring of the AN fitting and then tighten it up to the pan. Between the JB weld on the outside and the large gasket on the inside it should work just fine. I am still hoping to ID the motor and just put a new pan on it but I am going to get this setup and done also as the owner wants to use it over the 4th of July weekend. Even if I id the motor I am not sure how easy getting a new pan will be.

Oversized O-rings (larger section diameter, not OD)should allow you to get decent crush after you clean up the hacked hole...

Actually, on turbo engines there can be a significant amount of crankcase pressure. Welding is the only way to ensure against leaks.

bet if you post a picture of the engine one of the guys here will ID it within 30 minutes

patgizz wrote: bet if you post a picture of the engine one of the guys here will ID it within 30 minutes

Going to do that but since it is a customers car I am a bit leery of doing that.

stafford1500 wrote: Oversized O-rings (larger section diameter, not OD)should allow you to get decent crush after you clean up the hacked hole...

Exactly what I got!

kb58 wrote: Actually, on turbo engines there can be a significant amount of crankcase pressure. Welding is the only way to ensure against leaks.

Is this applicable to turbo diesel as well?

TD is worse than gas, higher compression and higher boost, generally. That being said, usually the crank pressure is relieved out of somewhere easier than the drain fitting. Usually the dipstick.

How about sealing washers without rubber? Here is one with a 20mm center.

Of course, I don't know how much thread length you have on the through fitting either...

Copper crush washer might work, come to think of it. Look on the rack of drain plug washers at the parts store.

iadr wrote: Stat-o-seal?

That I am going to save in my arsonal of fix's. those look to be a great idea!!!

I ended up welding the opening closed. This took hours as it has to be oil tight and that takes tones of time and patience. Weld grind repeat and because it is a stamped pan the metal where the hole was is very thin so burning it out was a problem it took a while but I got it done. Once I got it smooth and tested tight I then used JB weld like bondo and skim coated both sides. Sanded flat and repeat until it was perfectly flat and the thickness of the metal was built up a little. This also made me feel better as I was worried about weepers even through I tested it. I then scribed a new hole to exactly the diameter I needed and carefully ground it out rough with a dremel then I took my large tapered grind stone that I use for smoothing out the inside of blocks and did the final grind to a shade under my scribe making it perfectly round. I tried the AN fitting and it was perfect. Tight enough so it had to thread it in and tight enough so the o ring on the AN fitting seated on the outside of the pan. I then installed the nut using lock tight 271 and then drilled the nut and locked it in place with roll pin also set in lock tite 271. That thing is never coming loose / undone. I showed it to the customer and they were very pleased. It helped that I also re painted the whole pan so it looked new.