Oil Pan Gasket

[Craig1960]

Anyone ever change the oil pan gasket or have it done at a shop on a 8.3? Just curious how much work involved or what it would cost to get it done.

Mine seems to be leaking and I'm going to have to get it done. I can probably do it but it's not something I want to do in my driveway.

[dbircky]

Replaced the oil pan (and gasket). Cummins quoted $1,500 in labor. Be aware, on mine the rearmost engine mount had to be removed while the engine was supported. Also plan on using all new bolts on the frame section/hitch that are removed. It’s not a hard job, easier to just cut frame bolts off since you won’t be reusing them. Depending on how bad the gasket is leaking, and if you’re doing this yourself, $2,000 can buy a lot of oil for a minor leak.

[Skip426]

Without seeing your particular setup ; to know what other stuff is in the way ; I'll say ; messy and time consuming , but doable as a DIY .

Any repair that involves diesel oil is messy .

As mentioned you need to be absolutely sure that it's the pan gasket leaking before you get started , a leak from a main seal can get onto the edge of the gasket and follow the gap; between the block and pan; everywhere .

A thorough clean up and evaluation is in order . As mentioned given current shop rates , you can buy a lot of oil , and cleaners for your driveway .

[mackwrench]

Unless you're sure the pan gasket is leaking, I'd suggest spraying the area off with brake cleaner or degreaser, run the engine at off idle, like 1200 rpm for 30 so minutes and see where the leak is.

Also check for tight pan bolts..
My gut is this is not where leak is, but running down and making it appear like oil pan. Usually if pan gasket is leaking, it's a big easy to spot leak.

[Craig1960]

Thanks guys, my hitch is close to where the pan dips up but it looks like it should clear. I did clean it before I left for this trip and it seems to be worse then it was so now I have cleaned it again and will run it in the driveway like you say Mackwrench to see.
I'm pretty sure it's the pan as I can't see anywhere that it's running down from "but" it's very close to the front seal so I guess it could be that.:( I lost over a litre of oil in 1300km which I'd be ok with but the mess and chance of the gasket blowing out and loosing enough to do damage before noticing would be bad.
I don't have money to throw away and am capable of doing it (I think) but I don't really like having the oil pan off then have the wind pick up out of the blue(which happens here a lot)with dust blowing all around the exposed crank area. So I'd pay to have it done if it's not a stupid price. I guess if the hitch is going to be in the way I would remove that to save a few bucks.

[n2zon]

Ours was just loose. Retorqued it 7K miles ago and it stopped the leak. Next step is to clean everything up. Then, remove, clean, loc-tite and retroque each bolt in turn.

[Craig1960]

Originally Posted by n2zon

Ours was just loose. Retorqued it 7K miles ago and it stopped the leak. Next step is to clean everything up. Then, remove, clean, loc-tite and retroque each bolt in turn.

I'm hoping it will be that simple but with my luck it will be the front seal.

Got most of it cleaned up today then got sidetracked so I'll fire it up tomorrow and have a look after I check the bolts of course.

[Craig1960]

Well cleaned it ran it cleaned it again and ran it again. As of now I know I have at least one leak and maybe two. The one I know for sure is in the pan itself, near the top and fairly close the the front main seal. I say that because it almost looks like the front seal may be leaking as well but could be from the pin hole in the pan. It's kinda hard to clean it around the front seal because it's behind the engine mount and above the trailer hitch. Going to try again tomorrow and confirm if or if not the front seal is leaking.

If I can figure out that the front seal isn't leaking I'm going to try and patch the pin hole and start looking for a new pan then change it when we get back from out holiday later this summer. If the front seal is leaking I hope I can find the pan pretty quick or I might have a sad wife if she can't go on her holiday this summer. :(

[dbircky]

Originally Posted by Craig1960

Well cleaned it ran it cleaned it again and ran it again. As of now I know I have at least one leak and maybe two. The one I know for sure is in the pan itself, near the top and fairly close the the front main seal. I say that because it almost looks like the front seal may be leaking as well but could be from the pin hole in the pan. It's kinda hard to clean it around the front seal because it's behind the engine mount and above the trailer hitch. Going to try again tomorrow and confirm if or if not the front seal is leaking.

If I can figure out that the front seal isn't leaking I'm going to try and patch the pin hole and start looking for a new pan then change it when we get back from out holiday later this summer. If the front seal is leaking I hope I can find the pan pretty quick or I might have a sad wife if she can't go on her holiday this summer. :(

Sorry to hear it might be your pan, but here’s some good news. As I referenced earlier, I changed mine. Ordered it from Cummins shop, was here in 8 days. I had a couple pinhole leaks and used JB Weld to seal them to get home. You must have the oil level below the leak point, ground down to bare metal, and completely oil free (brake or carb cleaner) before using the epoxy. Did mine in a campsite, drive home 1,400 miles and did another 800 mile trip with the patched pan. It still wasn’t leaking, but I decided I didn’t want to press my luck, and figured if there were a coupe, there’d be a couple more coming. Fixed an oil pan on a OBS Powerstroke the same way 6 years ago. That one’s gone about 100,000 miles on the repair (entire cab needs to come off to pull engine to replace pan). Still doesn’t leak….

[Craig1960]

Thanks Dbircky, I figured I could patch it with something for now but if its the front seal that will be a different story. I'm going to try to patch it tomorrow if it doesn't rain then clean some more around the front seal and see if it's leaking there as well.

If the trailer hitch has to come off the square tubing the the engine mount sits on is part of that so I can't even remove it before I take it in somewhere to get fixed. Oh well guess I'll check with cummins tomorrow to see how far away a pan is and go from there.

[dbircky]

Sounds like your frame is set up exactly the same as mine. Used an engine lift with two chains bolted into the threaded holes in addition to a chain to the lift bracket. Just needed enough to hold the weight of the engine while removing that rearmost engine mount. Then cut off the bolts holding the rear frame and hitch. An atv lift was very handy in lowering it. A bit unnerving working underneath all that weight, especially with only one good fully functional arm. Once the pan was dropped, I used a new gasket and all new bolts in the new pan. Was very pleased to see there was no sludge or shiny flakes in the bottom of the pan. Used grade 8 bolts when putting the subframe back in. Used never seize just in case I every have the need to do this again (better not).
Didn’t need to put in ramps either, but did put blocks in the frame in case a airbag decided to blow during the surgery (Murphy’s Law Protection). All in all it was about a 4 hour job. With second set of hands, it could have been done in 3. If you’re doing this yourself, take care on the pan bolts, I think the factory used an impact wrench to put them in. It took a breaker bar on a couple of them.

[Craig1960]

You tempting me to do it myself, lol Unfortunately my driveway is gravel (sorta) which complicates things a little more and dirt getting in while opened up is another. I do have the engine hoist and atv lift so I'm good there. I also have 3 or 4 4x8 sheets of aluminum checker plate the I could put down too.
So far looking on line all I can find are used oil pans at new prices almost except from Alibada which I have never dealt with before so a little leery especially when it's only 100 US for it. I'm going to check with Cummins in town tomorrow and see what they say about availability.
Did you replace all the pan bolts as well? And thanks for all your advice so far.

[dbircky]

Yes, all new bolts.

[Craig1960]

Originally Posted by dbircky

Yes, all new bolts.

Thanks ordered everything today and will see when it gets here if I'm doing it or a shop.