Seeping around pan oil return fitting !
 

I drilled and threaded my pan a couple of years ago for the braided oil return line, put Teflon tape on the fitting threads and screwed it in. I could not go too deep because it would touch something…

I get seepage around the hole. JB weld did stop it for a while.

Anybody else have that issue and have any fixes ?

Thanks

If you want to use a braided return line with a flare fitting, you need to weld a bung into the pan.

The pan material is thick/strong enough to support a hose-style pipe-thread fitting with a rubber/silicone hose attached. Bit it is not strong enough to support the much-stiffer braided hose.

Thanks!

Mine looks like this but my hose is straighter

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...326_192844-jpg

All the searching ive done in the past couple years while piecing together my turbo setup, ive never seen any comments about a drilled+tapped+jbwelded oil return not being strong enough to use stainless line. Did i miss something?

BTW my oil pan fitting does not seem to be loose but rather leaking.

Think I'm going to turn the fitting slightly with a wrench to get a feel if it is bottomed out against whatever it hit in the pan initially. This will break the JB weld around it and I'll go from there.

Still curious if anyone has a reply to what hornet said, really curious as I just drilled/tapped/jb'd my pan for -10 and stainless line

I ran a tapped/jb welded fitting with a -10 line that was way to long and put a lot of force on the fitting and had no problems still.

Best to put in a bung. If you go the JB Weld route with a stiff line, then make sure the parts are super clean for the JB Weld operation (brake cleaner or carb cleaner works well) and then setup the length of the line so there is as little force on the fitting as possible. Keep an eye on it. The pan just isn't that thick.

When I went on AN fittings I always run some PVA around the inside of the joins to stop any seeping - it works well with JB Welded fittings too, let the JB do it's thing and then run some PVA solution over the top [it's thin enough that it will find any cracks/holes and fill them]

JB weld should be fairly viscous when you first mix it. It always goes on rough and with "brush" marks (I usually use a scrap of zip tie to put it on), but always smooths out by the time it dries.

What I have done in the past (now I just weld a bung) is to put everything on including the line and then put JB-weld. This way the JB-weld is not under stress. If you put JB-weld on first, then put the line on, it puts the JB-weld under stress.

remove it completely, clean it all up, and redo.

this time without teflon tape.

Use JB weld on the threads, prep correctly, and then "weld" the seams.

Yuk! what a mess :(

Anybody remove the fitting all together and plug the hole without removing the pan ?

I will, or at least I'm going to try.

I'm about to put a new NPT fitting in my already-drilled-and-tapped-by-PO pan so I can use a flare fitting instead of a barbed one. Would it be acceptable to use permatex thread sealant in place of JB Weld? It's what I have laying around. I'm guessing the answer is a no. Is the oil pan really that thin? How thin are we talkin? I guess I'll find out soon...

I think JB weld is thicker than Permatex and might do a better job.
whatever U do make sure there is no trace of oil in the area.

It's pretty thin. Assuming you tap 3/8 NPT, figure on getting something like one and a half threads' engagement.

For an in-car fitment where TIG welding isn't an option, I personally wouldn't use anything other than a thick, 2 party epoxy. JB Weld, Scotch-Weld DP460, etc. You need something that's both a strong adhesive and also a seam-filler