The Black Hole

[410Fortune]

Ah now I understand the split nut, so do you wrap the whole dealio with tape after the splice is made?

Thank you! that is a nice chop saw, my rigid brand one has seen better days I have beat the living snot out of that thing for 10+ years

 

[gmanpaint]

Yes sir. The 3rd pic in that post shows it wrapped up.

I wrapped it in tape, then used split loom over the head inline with the 4 ga, then another short loom over the split post, then more tape over the whole thing to seal it up. A little bulky after all that, but the location under the rig next to the frame rail, made me want to over do it.

That DeWalt D28715 chop saw is the bigger HP one. It has the quick change nut for blade change, and a bar lever to change cut angle, instead of having to use a wrench. Makes it simple to work with. It's a Hoss!

 

[gmanpaint]

Been at this new project since I last posted about it. Had a couple of things slow me down, and hoped to be further along by now.

Ran out of welding gas on a Saturday morning, and supplier was closed until the following week. Ruined the weekend. Then my shipment of cubitron file belts got lost in shipment, and held me back again. Ran out of a certain material last night. Almost made it with what I had too. That's what I get trying to save, and not getting more than I need. Lol

Basically just been a few hours here and there in the evenings. It is what it is. Main part is about 90% done. The little things on this will eat the clock up. Hoping another week is all it takes.

Pics coming as soon as I have enough of it built, to make it worthy of sharing. Just seeing if you all are still paying attention or not.

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm watching, and recovering from my project yesterday. I rebuilt the front suspension of my newest 98, I found four bad BJ's, so new CA's and camber bolts etc, new rotors, shocks, hubs, two TRE's, and left the axles and pads in place.

The front diff took close to a quart, maybe 2/3 of a bottle, I didn't expect it to need that much(no notable leaks at the three seals). I'm getting an alignment at 10AM, and hopefully I can get to the 4R70W VB work next. Night,

 

[gmanpaint]

That's a lot of work for one day. Nice job!

My other projects are waiting on this one to be finished. This one was born because of another, and.... well, all will be explained soon. Lol

 

[WormsExplorer]

Paying attention to what?!?!?! LOL

Just kidding. I like reading your Posts. Get great Ideas for my Ex.

 

[gmanpaint]

Turned the rig around the other day, and found this today. It normally sits with the pass side tires off the drive, so I never seen it before.

Pass front tire:

Yep, that's an oil leak. Traced it up the LCA, onto the Rack ram (it was dripping engine oil), and above it to the source.

That's the front of the oil pan. The block is a little wet directly above the pan only. This tells me it's leaking at the gasket.

Upon further inspection following the pan back a few inches, I find the CAD housing making contact with the pan. The engine mounts are flexing and the pan is hitting the CAD. This might have broke the seal of the gasket. Worse yet, it might have cracked the pan itself.

Looks like I have another repair to do. It's going to have to wait until spring. Not going to mess with it over the winter, in a driveway.

 

[CDW6212R]

Hmm, I thought how could a new gasket leak, then you show how close the diff/CAD is to the pan. I hope it's the steel pan, or maybe later you can swap a steel one into it. The AL pan will be thicker in that tight area, so a steel one might have more clearance there.

 

[gmanpaint]

Its the steel pan. It wasn't cleared enough when installed.

 

[QuietStorm17]

Ouch! Sorry to see that and I would wait till spring also. Busting a frozen knuckle or two is no fun.

 

[gmanpaint]

Yep, no fun at all.

Engine has to be lifted to fix it. That entails a lot of work, and not going to make it even harder, by fighting the elements.

I'm beside myself over this screw up. It has put me in a not so good of a mental state.

 

[QuietStorm17]

We all screw up at times and it’s even worse when we should know better. I’m speaking from experience! Look at it as a learning experience, a pia learning experience. For now get something good to eat and drink that will change your mental state.

 

[410Fortune]

drop the diff
shave those aluminum ears off the CAD, it looks as if they are not needed
Clearance steel pan slightly with BFH
I'm hoping its not cracked
It may be possible to lower the diff slightly?
Drop bracket lift would help here or maybe lift the engine 1/2"
FUN!!! If it wasn't for this new leak what would you do to occupy all of your time??? My truck projects just love to keep me up at night!

 

[gmanpaint]

Well, I refuse to install a drop bracket lift. I can't stand them. Personal choice.

Those ears are for the fork slider inside the housing. I'm not so sure I want to mess with those. Maybe a little wouldn't hurt?

Only thing I can remotely think of to lower the dif is a couple of washers. Not sure that would work because of the LCA's below the CV's.

I can remove the CAD housing to get room to massage the pan more, but they way they did it, I don't know if it would survive any more beating. They beat on it wrong. Instead of pushing in the corner of the pan to clear the CAD, they hit it on the side. It was the first time they had to do this, as they asked me how to do it. I found pictures here from a member that did it successfully, and sent them to them for reference. That was a waste of time, as they didn't follow suit. They did it with the pan loose, before engine install. They didn't bother to work on it anymore after engine drop. Told me it was close, but cleared just fine. I know better now. Explains why this thing goes through oil so fast.

The other thing that made me miss this leak was that same side CV axle boot blew, and slung juice all over. It hid the oil leak on me.

Here is a picture of how they hammered the pan from the side, instead of a lower angle at the very corner.

Pardon all the mud. I haven't cleaned the underside yet after it's last outing.

 

[410Fortune]

yup I see what you mean, they pushed it in at the wrong spot
Dang!!
Hope its not cracked. At least it is a metal pan!! can be welded, patched, bent, beat into submission

 

[WormsExplorer]

WOW The shop that did this for ya sounds like a flyby the seat of their pants. Its so hard to find good help now a days. People that actually care about the product they put out. I hope it is an easy fix though. Like 410 said at least it is a steel pan.

 

[BKennedy]

The pan can be repaired. You could cut the corner off and weld on a new piece to clearance it. You shouldn't be hard on yourself when it was other people's screwups. I have been fixing other "professional's" work on my Explorer, RV, for years.

 

[gmanpaint]

Whats got me depressed is a mix. First one is I have to deal with this, and the angry resentment just keeps growing. Secondly, is all the work just to get the pan off to repair it. The pan work is like 2% of the job. It's close to pulling the engine out completely.

I think I will try what 410 said first, and drop the diff. If the pan is not cracked, I should be able to attempt a little more massaging of the pan for clearance. Then try to reseal the gasket by loosening all the bolts, adjusting the pan, and tightening back up????? Does that sound doable or is the cross member just going to make that impossible ???

Moving on to actual forward progress.....

I have been hard at it all week, each and every evening in the shop. (last night until 10pm!) I will put in a long weekend on this latest project, and be close for painting phase. I'm torn if I should show some building progress pics, or just show it when completed and installed. Hard to figure y'all out anymore. Lol

 

[Turdle]

Oh, man. when I switched the pan to the one I got from 410 ( everyone remember that fiasco? ) it was really sketchy. The engine needs support from the top while pan is dropped. The pickup tube has to be removed to get the pan out, then dropped into the new pan and re attached thru a 3" gap on the side of the pan.

OMG NOOOO!! can I drop my oil pan???

 

[CDW6212R]

I'd avoid loosening the pan bolts if there is any sealant in the seams, that can end up a slight leak due to the bond being broken(oil in the seam etc). With original gaskets, the age and hardness make leaks common, I presume those should be new gaskets, but did they put RTV in the corners etc.

Drop the diff, like you plan, but then decide what the pans needs before thinking of lifting the engine etc. Turdle is right, avoid that for sure.