ARGH,

well i spoke to soon about the ease of my vortech install. My oil leak around the oil sender has become my nightmare.

My upper oil pan where the oil sender screws into is cracked. Oil just pours out when the car is on.

The actual upper oil pan is only ~$100 from Nissan (I have a 2003 G35c btw). Has anyone had to replace this? Ideas on how involved it is to replace? Looks like you have to remove the cross member or pull the motor

The easier option would be JB weld the 1/8" BSPT to 1/8" NPT adaptor in the hole. Do you guys think that would work? That should seal the hole and crack.

Please help.

Thanks!

 

Wow sorry to see this. The upper oil pan is a PITA to replace while in the car. The JB weld might hold but without a clean surface to put it on I doubt it. It might hold initial but the heat and pressure will force it out. I would say go ahead and try it and see if works. If not then you can always replace the upper pan.

 

well i can clean it with aerosol brake cleaner and qtips type applicators.

If i fill the threads with JB weld and do not thread the BSPT adaptor too deep, as not to split the hole further, i think it should seal.

not sure what my other options are as i cant even drive the car right now. I;d have to flatbed it to a shop or something.

 

also, should i use waterweld or regular JB weld?

or would it just be beter to plug the hole with a BSPT plug and jb weld and connect the sensor to my sandwich plate?

 

i would try jb weld and try to seal the crack first - paste it into the crack and over it - then get a vise grip on that for 24 hrs. Then use jb on the threads and put in the plug. wait another 24 hrs and cross your fingers... good luck. i think it'll hold just fine.

 

I think JB on a high pressure surface like that might be too risky. If it makes you feel any better, that is a very common area to crack, since it can be difficult to tell when to stop!!

The pan's are inexpensive, but labor is not. You could tackle it yourself, but as you mentioned, the lower cross member needs to be removed, and you'll need something to support the engine. That's a days work easily.

 

if i remove the lower cross member according to the service manual and use a jack to support the engine, i can do all the work under the car correct?

Once the cross member is out, i can drop the upper pan, correct? Just as long as I dont have to lift the engine.

i have all the time in the world as the car isnt a DD.

Being that there's so much pressure and if the weld ever let go, it would be way more expensive to fix than just removing the cross member.

looks like i will have to call infiniti to see how long it takes to get the part.

Thanks for the reply.

 

wow that sucks man, sorry to hear this. that is not an easy change.


sharif, you say thats common but i have yet (knock on wood) to see one mess up on all the kits we have done, and thats A LOT. i am always making sure that AJ or Eric is very very careful with all that kinda stuff.

good luck man, easiest way would be to unbolt the motor, lift it up and then unbolt the oil pan, you will have to take a lot of stuff off of it first though.

 

LOL..sorry for the confusion. It's not common for US to break them...hasnt happened yet. But we had one customer do a self install, and he came in for tuning with the crack/leak. And on a customer supplied used oil pan, it was pre-cracked for our convenience.

 

well i ordered up a new pan, the gaskets and the 2 O-rings. i'll drop the suspension/cross member and go from there.

does our motors have hooks on them for engine lifts? i'm goin to do the ol 2x4 across the fenders method to support the motor when then cross member is out.

 

I'd say just take your time and replace. JB Weld is decent but can only withstand so much pressure, heat and elements of nature. I remeber I cracked my transmmission on my SI and I used some weld to seal the crack but after a few months I ended up shelling out the time and money to replace the tranny.

 

It would very bad if that weld broke while driving. Make sure you have an oil pressure gauge if you are going to try and weld it.

 

Ouch, sorry to hear bro, we were just talking about this yesterday too, i hope you get everything fixed.


I happily paid $300 re-stock fee to cancel my Vortech order today due to all the problems it was having

 

well, After dropping basically everything out from under the car, I got the upper pan out. Really not that big of a job, just time consuming. Well my buddy did pop himself in the face with a breaker bar after one of the bolts just got loose very quickly. Busted knuckles are at a minimum though. Too bad I'm not doin headers, as with this much stuff removed, its prolly not to hard now.

As you can see the split is basically the entire length of the sender hole. ****!

The 4x4 fender support did the trick, but it was a tense moment lowering the floor jack.

New pan will be here wednesday and we get to rebuild, and refill the radiator, clutch, and oil lines. Fingers crossed!!

 

Crappy, I had the same thing happen to me on my vortech de-install. JB weld held for a while, but eventually started dripping and seeping, reaplaced the pan as well. Good call just replacing the upper pan off the bat.