A couple of weeks ago, i was jacking up my Z to put on a new belt. Then as i was jacking up the car, the jack slipped and the car landed on the oil pan. So i get under to see the damage, and it seems that i put a dent in the oil pan, didnt go through, but there is a hefty dent. When i turned on the car, there was a knocking noise, but the car still runs. As soon as i heard the noise i turned off the car and i havent touched it since, besides draining the oil. So i need some advice on how to approach the problem, and maybe any ideas of what the noise could be. Is it possible to drop the oil pan in that car without lifting the engine out, because it sure doesnt look like you can take it out from the bottom. Any advice would be much appreciated

 

Ouch....... those little mistakes can be expensive. Ideally, you'd replace the oil pan. You can remove the crossmember to remove the oil pan. The fsm states to remove the crossmember when removing the engine, so it can be done.

You have two other options as opposed to replacing the pan. Will be ghetto to some, but they'd both work just fine.

Option 1, remove the pan and pound the dent out. Check closely for cracks. Weld or braze as required, and reinstall, good as new.

Option 2, Don't remove the pan. Drain the oil. Drill a hole in the pan at the dent. Borrow a dent puller to pull the dent out. Now I'm not a fan of using epoxy to plug a hole in an oil pan, but it's worked a few times for me to get a race car thru the evening

A permanent fix to the hole would be to put a sheet metal screw in the hole, fill the pan with water above the level of the screw, then weld the screw head to the pan. No leaks.

Just my 2 cents

 

I'm all about the ghetto fix ... but if you drill a hole, couldnt the metal shavings circulate through the engine and possibly cause damage?

 

Not likely. Heavily coat the drill bit with grease to hold the chips to the drill. The screen on the oil pickup in the pan will catch the big stuff, and the filter will catch the small stuff.

btw: the bits are designed to pull the chips away from the cutting surface.

 

you most likely have bad oil pressure. You have to either remove or rotate the oil filter adapter out of the way to drop the pan. I suggest you don't go too ghetto in this area...this could cost you your motor.

 

im not a mechanic so i wont use mechanic speak.....depending on where the jack hit the oil pan and how big the dent is....makes it imperative to at very least take the pan off and inspect the oil sucky tube thingy to make sure its not blocked EVEN partially by the dent, and or make sure the tube istelf isn't crimped or bent in any direction other than normal. also im pertty sure the bottom of the tube has a mesh covering to keep big bits from jamming up your oil pump /engine ....make sure that is intact as well, then by all means proceede with the ghetto fix id use a hammer/ 3 pound sledge over a big wood block if that is at all possible.