Best way to remove/tap the oil pan?
 

I've been asking around and I'm still pretty fuzzy on the procedure.

I've heard several different ways, from dropping the subframe, raising the motor, to just leaving the son of a bitch in there and tapping it while it's still bolted to the car.

Is there an 'easy and safe' way to do this? I have searched around, but I guess I'm not searching for the right stuff.

"safe" is to pull the motor.

You really can't take of the oil pan while the motor is in the car, and really don't want to. It involves removing the subframe and prying against some kind of miracle grip adhesive Mazda put on the pan gasket.

"easy" is to simply drill in place. I drilled mine in car...it wasn't too bad...but I had an extra set of hands to help push and align drill and tap.

I'm about to put in another motor, and am still not gonna crack the oilpan. I'll just drill it while on the stand, flush with mineral spirits, and then put in car.

I just tapped mine on car. didn't lift the motor or anything. Just had to loosen the a/c, mark the spot, drill and tap. I followed the advice from Begi to leave the oil in the car then drain after taping. I also greased up the drill bit and tap really well so that it would catch all the shavings. Haven't had any problems and i believe most people on here have done the same thing.

http://www.flyinmiata.com/support/in...all_turbos.pdf


Section 4

just tap that bitch and be done with it.

I've done it 3 times. 2 on car, 1 on engine stand. Never removed the pan. In car is more difficult, but not bad. A few things that made it easier for me:
1. I used my 12" long 3/8 bit I bought when installing my rollbar for my "pilot" hole. Made it easier to keep the drill "more" perpendicular to the pan when drilling by moving the drill body more in the fender well.
2. Rememeber you don't have to drill the final hole perpendicular to the pan when drilling. You just have to TAP the hole perpendicular. So, you can get away with having the drill at an angle to the pan when drilling making it much easier to do on the car. When I finished drilling, my hole was very oblong. I filed it abit to get a decent starting hole for my tap, and then carefully tapped the hole keeping the tap lined up like I wanted.

Sweet. This is exactly the advice I needed, I was really afraid doing this was gonna spin the shit out of my bearings and the last thing I need is a blown motor haha.

Thanks a lot dudes!

If you heard any other way than simply drilling and tapping it, then you should cease to listen to the advice givers.

I just did this yesterday, it was way easier than most people think. Just keep on greasing your bit to collect shavings and reclean it often. I honestly dont think hardly any shavings at all went into the pan.

Is that because the basic design of the twist drill bit is essentially designed for chip removal by use of the spiraling flutes?


:idea:

I would imagine :bowrofl:

If you have an air compressor, connect a blower nozzle to the breather hose and set the regulator to 5-10psi. That will blow out any shavings from the inside out.

Or use the "air out" side of a shop vac

As long as it doesn't put out more than 10psi or you risk blowing out the seals. Or, I suppose you could drill a small pilot hole first to relieve pressure.

Don't forget that pressure will be relieved through the PCV valve into the intake tract as well. I'd say the shop vac in reverse is a great method.

I also recommend sealing up the fitting after screwing it in. Mine leaked and I am going to jbweld the next one.

put sealant on the threads when screwing it in, not after. Well, and/or at least.

Ah, yes! Mine was plugged.

I used some bent q-tips to get out a lot of the shaving before I flushed with mineral spirits, it worked great. There were some fairly large shavings in there from the tapping.

Haha sweet advice from everyone.

Think I can get away with just using some RTV on the threads, or should I use proper JBWeld?

I also have an unopened tube of quick metal loctite from a 'something-is-really-wrong' failed crank repair lol.

For an improperly drilled and tapped hole like most people finish with after drilling/tapping with the pan in the car, yes, use JBWeld. For a properly drilled and tapped pan with the pan removed, using Teflon tape or Teflon goo would work. Their purpose is to lubricate the NPT threads so you can screw it in tighter, making a better seal, which is done completely with the threads, not any type of liquid sealant.

a local guy just lost a motor due to shavings from drilling the pan. I know 1000,0000x57 billion people have done it on the car, but I'd pull the pan.

Just my 2 pennies..I did mine off the car off,the engine.I put it on the shops Devlieg horizontal boring mill,drilled it 35/64",Tapped it 1/2"NPT,washed it in the parts washer.then I screwed my SS fitting in,and silver brazed it.Mine is PERMANENT,and 0 chips anywhere near my new bottom end.Feel free to omit the part that involves the 1/2 million dollar machine shop.but the rest might work for you.
(G)

Our Devlieg was awesome, then they fired the only guy that knew how to run it. /thread jack.

Those things are as easy as smacking kids to run.
(G)

Don't be a pussy, leave it on. Use butt loads of bearing grease on the bits and tap. Most of all take your time. Flush it out with mineral spirits or oil then use thread sealer and you'll be a ok.

This...but couldn't you have done the same job on an old Bridgeport?


Stealth97's comment is why I said pulling the motor (and pan) is the "safe" way. I'm going to have a motor out soon, and had considered drilling it on the stand and just flushing...but I'm really considered a better, more permanent solution like yours.

If you do, weld in only a short coupler so it can be plugged if you remove the turbo.

so... friends who are helping me out say I must remove the oil pan or else they won't help.

can anyone point me to a general idea of how to get the sucker off, and any possible maint. items i'll need on top of it?

I think I talked to you about this at the last roadster meet. I did mine on the car. I drained my oil afterwards. Any metal that is small enough to fit through the oil screen in the pickup tube should easily pass through oil pump clearances and be trapped in the oil filter.

Be a man, drill the pan on the car. If you want to be extra careful overfill your oil pan with oil, so as your drill penetrates the oil flows out the whole clearing the shavings.

just curious how do you lose a motor when there is an oil filter?

That's a great idea. It's better and lazy so double win!

Ill be doing mine on car,after reading this.

Do NOT ever use teflon tape on your engine. NEVER. NOWHERE.

It will cost you more aggravation to get their help than to do it on your own leaving the motor in the car.

Why is this? I'm curious... Do you mean don't use Teflon tape if you don't know how to install it properly or not at all?

Teflon tape has the nasty habit of ripping off in chunks and clogging important things like oil pickups and turbo oil feeds.

If you must pull the pan, you can drop the subframe after suspending the engine from the shock towers (or nearby). Somebody is actually marketing a pipe tool for this purpose to Miata racers. It's a matter of disconnecting brake lines, shock hats and then the six subframe bolts and lowering it down. I did it with a lift and it was surprisingly simple. W/o a lift may be different.

I can't imagine using so much teflon tape that it actually gets past the threads you're trying to seal. :confused:

Yes, this is true if it is installed incorrectly... I don't see what the harm would be if it was install correctly though. I would see the Teflon 'goo' as more of a mess and more likely to get into your system over the tape. :2cents:

this

Be my guest.

would something like this work to hold the engine? while removing subframe...
- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Dude just drill and tap it yourself while it's still on the car. Yes it sounds scary, but it was one of the easiest tasks in my install.:2cents:

If it will indeed support 1000 lbs and your not supporting something other than a Miata engine, yes.

x2, use washers on your fitting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!1!11!1one

You are taking a tiny project and making it into a federal case. Relax man its not hard. To ensure you do it safely wrap some black tape on the drills so when you drill it the drill cant go any more than half an inch.

drill it with a small drill, then drill it with a bigger drill and then drill it with a bigger drill. start with 1/8", then i think i used a 7/16, then go with the final drill. No biggy.

btw to answer ur question, the best way to tap the oil pan is if you drill a hole in it first.

i used some thread sealer and havent had a problem with any fittings leaking. Turbo oil is good and so is the drain plug. I must say do not use teflon tape on the oil supply that goes to the turbo. I've seen few turbos on the forum here burn since the teflon tape would get into pieces and go down the line and toast the turbo.

Washers? I don't understand :( :hustler:

^ drilling for oil fail?
http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/...name-fail1.jpg

A shaving stuck my oil pump relief valve open. :vash:
Also had a few just barely caught in the pickup strain. And yes, I used grease on the tap and flushed the pan. Next time I am taking the pan off before tapping.

Pulling subframe is 100x easier then pulling engine...IMO

and then take off pan and get a -10an bung welded nice and high underneath turbo exit, and never worry about it again.

i'm happy at least one person said this.
the last thing i want to do after i get all my parts (18 years from now) is pull the engine just to tap the pan. just seems like a pain in the ass for something that's obviously needed, but small in comparison to other shit.
now, if you're doing a clutch at the same time...makes def makes sense to pull the engine i guess.

I just did this a month ago... just make sure you get the car as high off the ground as humanly possible.

Good idea, although I believe others have suggested welding an NPT bung on to the pan. With the -AN bung sticking off the side of the ban, it's easy to damage that beveled edge and render it scrap, yet very difficult to replace or fix.

With the NPT bung, threads are interior and protected from banging around, dropped wrenches, etc, and easy to fix by simply chasing the threads with a tap.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the thread necro.

As long as this thread is raised from the dead . . . .

I won't claim what I did is the "best" way, but I'm pretty sure it's the easiest way. Especially if you want to keep your AC. Details and pictures are in my build thread. I've had the car on the road since April and have racked up ~3,500 DD miles since then (I have a 45 mile one-way commute -- and I live in Hell . . . I mean TX -- it was 107 today).

Zero issues with the oil system. Based upon that, I recommend what I did if you're looking for quick, easy and effective. YMMV.

link to thread?

In sig.

/me has sigs disabled
went to profile > about me > sig
got it.
thank you

I am about to start installing my Begi kit. I am going to tap the pan while its on.

I am curious what kind of tooling people are using. I have AC and PS, so its crowded up there.

Seems like there is more room to work just forward of the engine mount....once the headers are out.

I used a hand drill. Seriously. I did such a good job that it seeped oil from the fitting ever after for 3 years. Winning

hand drill...like one of these?

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/im...kn8mPdkKngPOwA

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/im...W_FHvenwm_3-hA

I tried my pneumatic drill and it seem small enough to work.....just have to be real careful with the chips.