I have a small crack in my upper oil pan, what are my options?
 

What's my best option to repair this? It's causing a very slow oil leak, so the car is still driveable, but I'd like to fix this by my next oil change.

I was thinking of a high capacity oil pan (i.e. RX8 Performance or GReddy) but my car is very very low and I'm afraid of ground clearance.

Any other options other than a stock pan and if stock is my only option, where can I find the best prices?

Thanks!

If you're worried about clearance, stay stock. If you're buying stock start with Paul at Mazmart.

how low are we talking? i have the megan coilovers and my body sites only 3-4 inchs off the ground. With all the dips out here in socal i have no problem with my greddy oil pan. My dump exhaust sits lower then the pan and its been a year and i still have no problems with scraping. I would reccommend going with a deeper pan because of the extra oil cap. and greater oil cooling. Every little bit heklps seeing as our8*'s dont like heat.

Just replace it with a stock one or get it repaired. It will likely be cheaper to just replace it. The Greddy is cast aluminum so if you hit something it goes bye bye, it won't bend, it will crack. You could also get the lower protection plate (if you can really call it that) from a series II RX-8 and add it for a little protection. The RX8performance one was a bitch to put on and had to be modified to fit. Supposedly that issue was fixed but personally I wouldn't bet on that being true considering who makes it.

But I see no reason for you to pay three times as much and go with an aftermarket oil pan.

I'm leaning more towards repairing it unless a new (used) upper pan is around $100.

I think it is very important to identify how you cracked it in the first place to make sure you dont go through the trouble of fixing/replacing it only to have it happen again. I would consider taking it off and have a shop weld the crack.

Why do you keep saying "upper pan"? There is one oil pan. And you can get a used pan in good condition for about $80.00. Having it welded will cost about the same.

This....

i doubt it's even cracked, i have never seen a stamped steel pan crack yet.

Me either and I have seen a few that have taken some decent hits. But he is pretty low so if it got caught on somthing then I can see it.

if the car is that low i would wonder if it was worth possibly costing an engine for all the headache. the pump pickup tube doesn't take much to get bashed into the pan and restrict flow to the engine.

For what its worth, I have a hairline crack somewhere around my drain plug thats leaking oil... It can happen...

I haven't seen it first hand, this is what I was told by my mechanic. Maybe I misunderstood by the upper part of oil pan.

He says it might have happened when my missing motor mount bolt shot out and cracked the pan. I'll check it out myself on the lift in the next few days.

Sounds like you need a new mechanic.

well it could happen but if it did the pan is probably screwed by now anyways. just get a replacement OEM.

So I finally picked up my car after a whole tire not beading problem, and I still haven't seen the leak, but I've been now told it's not the oil pan but right above it.

He said it's in the area where the passenger side mount bolts into the subframe (which in my case, the bolt shot out).

I'll get pictures next time I put the car up on a lift.

probably the oil metering pump.

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How dire is this?

It's an incredibly slow leak so I was going to wait until next oil change to fix everything up.

There's at least one member on here with a cracked OE stamped steel pan

always glad to help you out :cuddle:

well step one is to figure out whats leaking...

"the area where the passenger side mount bolts to the subframe" isn't even on the engine...

these cars are actually really simple, it might be worth your time just to turn the wheel and look in there

Sorry I was on my phone, I read that wrong. If it is on the passenger side subframe then it likely ran there from somewhere else and it's not likely the oil metering pump. You need to figure out exactly where it is coming from. But a lot of times oil leaks run into the subframe or cross members and then run all over the place, leaking and getting sprayed all over.

Might as well update:

Sent my car in to repair my motor mount. The welded nut on the inside of the subframe came off so the motor mount had no where to bolt into. Had to re-weld a new nut, put a bigger bolt in to fix that problem.

Now the oil leak, turns out it was just my oil pan according to the garage (not the same as before). They applied a new gasket and it shouldn't be leaking anymore.

And now I have a second flat tire in 2 weeks.

Sigh...

jeebuz ... do you go offroading in a construction site or something?

Considering there is no gasket.....;)

The pan on the RX-8 is sealed with RTV ( basically like silicone)

Yeah that's what I meant, he applied a new gasket.