Oil Pan Woes... - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Zeitgeist · #16 05-05-2006, 01:23 PM

While I think an aluminum oil pan is a questionable design element, I don't think the OM61X engined vehicles were any less immune to road impacts--if anything, more so. Wife v1.0 bottomed out our old '73 220D at the base of a hill one day and punched a quarter-size hole in the steel portion of the pan. I think it's a stoopid design that allows the pan to be the lowest point at the front of the car. I sure wish MB had stuck with a steel sub-pan like the earlier models, but it would be helpful if they raised the pans up a tad for a measure of insurance against just that sort of impact.

btw: I think JB-Weld would more than sufficiently patch an aluminum pan.

Palangi · #17 05-05-2006, 05:39 PM

Randy

Glad to hear the outcome will not be too bad.

For all you 123 herders out there, the part number for the oil pan protection skid plate is: A 123 520 03 42 . Price was about $120 last time I checked. This would prevent oil pan damage on a 123 in all but the most extreme bottom-out accidents. If it quits raining, I will install one on my 240D this weekend.

Diesel Giant · #18 05-05-2006, 10:10 PM

Glad to hear the welder can fix her up.

Hatterasguy · #19 05-05-2006, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R Leo

It is a stupid design and IMHO, is simply another example of how engineering and longevity have taken a back seat at DB since the end of the W123's run.

No offense to you personally(

) but that's just a load of BS.

That can happen to any car, I know people who have done the same thing to Honda's, VW's, ect.

The oil pan on the SD is just as exposed.

pawoSD · #20 05-06-2006, 02:39 AM

The oil pan on a dodge caravan is very very exposed as well, it hangs down at a 30ish degree angle to the road so its lowest point is the back of the pan. Big rock or curb would = bye bye half of oil pan....those 4qt's would drain out mighty quick.....

R Leo · #21 05-08-2006, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

No offense to you personally(

) but that's just a load of BS.

Personal or not, I've wrenched on 115s, 123s and both early and late 126s and IMHO, the SDL I have isn't 1/10th the car a 123 is. In comparison, they're an fragile, over-engineered POS, which reeks of being expressly designed to have a limited lifespan.

Placing a cast aluminum oilpan where it can contact a curb before the wheels rates as an all-time high point in design stupidity. But, come to think of it, the engineers probably didn't do that, accountants probably did. I can hear it now:

"Helmut, das revenue vor der shop service hast been dropping since die w123 design debacle. Wie must do something at once!!"

"Ja, Herr Schroder! Vie haff been verking on eet und haff ze perfect zolution: der oelpan!!!"

Hatterasguy · #22 05-08-2006, 02:23 PM

It's funny if you ask 10 different people which MB's were made cheaply you will get 10 different answers.

I guess we have a gentlemen's disagreement on this one.

R Leo · #23 05-08-2006, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

It's funny if you ask 10 different people which MB's were made cheaply you will get 10 different answers.

I guess we have a gentlemen's disagreement on this one.

Agreed.

The ironic thing about the SDL is that, despite it's shabby condition, it never fails to elicit positive comments.

R Leo · #24 01-12-2011, 08:31 AM

Back in 2006 when this was first posted, I thought about welding the pan but after getting a bid of over $500 for the work, elected to JB weld it together.

The JB patch worked like a charm until 1/9/11 when I smacked the pan into a concrete cattleguard beam here at the farm. Thank Dawg I was the one driving. Had it been anyone else they would have probably driven it until the oil all drained out and the engine seized.

Anyway, I towed the victim to the barn and proceeded to perform plastique (ie JB Weld) surgery. The impact was in almost the same place as in 2006 but this time, it generated loose pieces. After rigorously cleaning the wound with electrical contact cleaner, I pieced it back together, filing on the edges of the parts some to make a better fit.

I mixed the epoxy, JB Quik (4 hr setting) and applied a bead around the pieces, put them in place and applied heat from a small space heater. The heat was required because I was doing this work in an open hay barn and the ambient was right at 30F.

I let the repair sit overnight and today, the next day I noticed a small void that was weeping some oil. I wire-brushed and degreased the entire area then applied another layer of JB over everything. Applied heat and let cure another 4 hrs.

Last night, I dumped in 7.5qt of Rotella, installed a new filter and headed to town. All looks good to me.

bustedbenz · #25 01-12-2011, 09:57 AM

We didn't trust JB weld when I cracked mine on a speed bump a couple of years ago. Changed it with the engine still in the car; took the mounts loose and put bottle jacks (or maybe the floor jack, I can't remember) with wooden supports under the engine and jacked it up several inches, but left it "in" and attached.

Mine had a crack right at the front lip that let the oil drip out. I've still got the pan, but we aren't planning to reuse it. Eventually I'll sell it or trade it to somebody I guess if they think they can JB it and go back to work with it.

leathermang · #26 01-12-2011, 01:47 PM

When I use JBWeld on things like this... no matter what the actual metal is....
I put brass shim stock over the JBWeld... this helps keep it from dripping away from the intended target in some instances... but makes it possible to load up the amount of JBWeld.. like any epoxy it needs a certain amount of thickness to be strong.. and then it also spreads out the strength over a larger area... properly cleaned , use of enough heat for the situation , letting it set the recommended time ( typically overnight )..... can make for very nice repairs... I have holes in rusted out steel tractor gas tanks which are still holding after 25 years...