Well, rest assured, I'm an idiot!

[WANT '71 280SEL]

I had my friend and his girlfriend driving with me down a major road. I wanted to get into a left turn lane but there was an entrance to the lane through a median. The median splits the road in half then has a break in it to continue into another lane for turning left. Well, I didn't make it into the lane and bottomed the car on the median. The median was about 6" high maybe? Anyways, I had the car straddelling (sp?) the median until I lurched the wheel to the left where the car got the other half over it. Well, while I was finally going down the turn lane wanting to turn into the parking lot to make sure nothing major was damaged, I checked the lights and oil pressure to make sure nothing had been damaged. Well, I got out of the car and instantly saw a river of a thick dark fluid pouring out of the bottom of the car. There was a thick stream behind the car. When I jumped into the car to shut down the engine the oil pressure was still at 2 bar and the oil light wasn't on yet so I know I'm safe there. Well, anyways, I ruptured the oil pan in the front I believe and there is now 8.5 quarts of Mobil 1 Truck & SUV sitting under the car.

So now tomorrow I'll have to get a ride to work and fetch the tow dolley. Man, this really sucks. A new pan is $300 so I'm hopiong to pull the one off the car and have it patched. The pan has a plate rivotted onto the front of it where the PO must have hit something and it was leaking pretty bad. I guess this will make me move the oil pan repair to a higher priority!

Thanks for reading,
David

Its 300 dollars!?

[CzarFC]

There is a lower pan that is part of the "oil pan" and it is held on by ~40 small bolts depending on the particular model of vehicle.

This part is in the $100 ballpark... at least here... *MAYBE* $300 at the dealership

I replaced mine on my '78 300CD after stripping out the drain plug and I think it was $100 including the new gasket

Easy job, if you have it up on ramps or jack stands, I'd say maybe 3 hours for an average DIY, beer factor included.



Scott

Thats sad...a very similarly constructed (and same thickness metal) pan for a 1.8L watercooled VW is about 16 bucks?

They are by no means very different...

[WANT '71 280SEL]

czar, a 603 doesn't have a lower pan like a 617. I know what you mean though since I had to replace the lower pan on my old '79 300SD. A 300SDL just has one large pan and it is stamped aluminum? The pan for the 617 is steel I believe. I just looked on here at it's $376! I think I saw one for $300 on ebay though.

Thanks
David

If you go to this link http://car-part.com/ there you can get them for $150 or less.

[WANT '71 280SEL]

BusyBenz, thanks for the link. There was one ad that I can call and ask but all the others wanted $150. Still more than I was hoping to pay, so we'll see. I'm hoping to get the car up to work and get it on the lift to get a final examination. I think I should be able to have it welded or a similar repair.

Thanks
David

[WANT '71 280SEL]

Went back today with my uncle and the tow dolley. We would have towed it but he said it's about impossible to tow a car like that on the front wheels. So, we observed the damage and saw a 3-4" crack with one area of separation being about a 1/4". So, we went to Autozone and got some putty stuff that is supposed to harden to a like steel in 5 minutes. I don't think I mixed it up well enough, well anyways, I puttied it up and let it sit for 30 minutes then we poured 8 quarts of Coastal 15-40 in and started her up. There was a constant dripping but good enough so we could drive it the 25 miles to work. Anyways, when I got to work, I was letting it run for a couple minutes so the turbo could cool down (the 25 miles is highway driving), and when I looked under the car, there were 3 streams of oil coming out though not nearly as fast as right after I hit the median. So, I pulled the car into the garage and it is sitting with an oil catch pan underneath it. I bought 3 gallons of the oil so if anyone is interested in a gallon of Coastal 15-40, you can have it for $2, which it cost me a little over $5. This deal would be good for those of you who are local of course. I thought I might need the 3rd gallon if the leak was bad enough and I would have to stop to top off the oil. I didn't want to use any of my good Truck & SUV when it's just going to come right out anyways.

Thanks
David

[lietuviai]

I bought a couple of OEM oil pan shields several months ago for my 123's just so I wouldn't bust my oil pans but I have still yet to install them.
I got a feeling I'll keep putting it off until I bust one of mine.

[WANT '71 280SEL]

I don't know how anything but a lift kit could have kept me from crushing the oil pan. There was 4000 pounds colliding with cement and something had to give. I think if I had some sort of protector it would have just taken both the protector and the pan out. I forgot to check the rim over for damage. Man, I just redid them a couple weeks ago!

Thanks
David

[boneheaddoctor]

What engine got whacked? I've got a spare upper and lower pan for a OM617 if thats what it was.

[Matt SD300]

Go to a pick your park junk yard!!!!!!!!!

$20.00 bucks or less will get you a lower pan!!

[JimmyL]

Originally Posted by WANT '71 280SEL

I don't know how anything but a lift kit could have kept me from crushing the oil pan.
Thanks
David

The best thing to keep from crushing the pan is not hitting a hard immovable object in the first place. You kids slow down and be careful. (As a father of 2 kids driving I'm required by law to shoe-horn that in whenever possible)
More and more kids on here every day, which is good, but most of yall will one day learn to avoid things before they happen.
(Warning, boring old-guy story coming) My son was driving me towards the house a couple of months ago. We were fixing to turn left onto a road, and I could tell that a car was fixing to pull out in front of one coming from behind us. I said "watch this!", and about a second later WHAM! One woman pulled out and was hit by another woman. My son's eyes were as big around as bundt cakes, and I can't tell you the lasting impression that made on him. I'm still a dork of course, but did earn a little driving cred with that one. Kids steer, Olds drive. (OK, slower than we used to )

[WANT '71 280SEL]

It was my SDL. It only has one pan and it's going to be BEAR to get out. The engine will have to be jacked up as well as possibly some other things removed. It's a long engine and that makes for a long pan. Rigt now I'm driving an '02 Ram off the low. Thing is, it doesn't have a CD player so when I go up tomorrow I'll be sure to switch cars.

I wasn't driving fast, I just wasn't paying attention as to just how far over I was in the lane. It was my fault though and I admit that. It was VERY avoidable. I wish I were drunk so I had an excuse. Well, live and learn.

Thanks
David

Originally Posted by JimmyL

The best thing to keep from crushing the pan is not hitting a hard immovable object in the first place. You kids slow down and be careful. (As a father of 2 kids driving I'm required by law to shoe-horn that in whenever possible)
More and more kids on here every day, which is good, but most of yall will one day learn to avoid things before they happen.... Kids steer, Olds drive. (OK, slower than we used to )

Just be careful about stereotypes...
I pride myself in remaining calm in evasive manuvers and predict traffic problems. Given I have 3 good years behind the wheel and know how my car handles in a range of different situations.

When I see an accident...I am not suprised...merely checking for injuries and moving on...