Cracked Oil Pan--Fatigue

[David Kirkham]

Guys,

The oil pan on my car cracked and finished my track day early

I wanted to show you guys how a weld can fail in "fatigue." Fortunately, someone noticed oil was POURING out from under my car after I had just gone out and only taken one lap. I pulled into the pits (leaving a trail) and figured a line must have come loose. When I jacked up my car I realized track day was over.

David

[David Kirkham]

Here is a close up of the crack. The oil was literally running out.

[David Kirkham]

Here is a close up of the crack. The oil was literally running out.

[Avmaviator]

That is pretty wild that 1) it cracked so "neat" and straight, and 2) that oil was pouring out instead of sepping out.

Are you going to reweld it or put a new one on?

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by Avmaviator

That is pretty wild that 1) it cracked so "neat" and straight, and 2) that oil was pouring out instead of sepping out.

Are you going to reweld it or put a new one on?

We don't have the time to fix it--too many other projects. We put another oil pan on already. I will probably just sell this one at garage sale cheap. This induced us to make our own ALUMINUM oil pans

The oil was pretty hot so it was POURING out.

David

[Racer_X]

David,
What would you want for it? Been looking for a pan for my build and I don't mind putting a little elbow grease in to re-weld that pan.

Thanks, Curtis

[RestoCreations]

Do you think that crack was caused simply from vibration or??? Aviad or Armando pan?

[4pipes]

The bottom of the pan might have been moving up and down, driven by engine vibrations. Like a drum head. That could explain the neat edge crack.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

This induced us to make our own ALUMINUM oil pans

David, some info please. I checked your site and none there.
Perhaps a little feature post on this new pan?
Construction?
Pick-up?
Tray?
Scraper?
Availability?
Price?
Hey-there's no 'social' icons on the bottom here! All gone?

[*13*]

Good to hear it didn't destroy the engine. Looks like a nasty little hole

[Jerry Clayton]

Thats a common place/way for an an oil pan to fail---oil pans will oil can---and the stress point is at the weld line where two flat sheets come together at 090*and are welded---especially with alum--there are so many different alloys of sheet stock, so many different welding rod alloys and then add in the welding technique and you have a sure to happen failure--just depends on how long it'll take

[Rick Parker]

Gas weld looks too cold, probably butt welded. He needed to not have the pieces flush when he welded, the bottom piece should have been held back half the thickness. That way it's more like a fillet weld, lots stronger. Harmonics play a big part.

[LRRCobradreamer]

If it had been welded correctly then the weakest area is the "Heat Affected Zone" or HAZ. A failure in the HAZ would be next to the weld not through the middle of the weld. Something was not set up correctly or poor penetration, IMO.

Note, simply re-welding would likely result in the same failure, not worth the risk IMO.

Lee

[RodKnock]

Not sure if it's an Aviaid, but the original Aviaid oil pan for my engine developed a leak at a weld immediately. If I remember correctly, mine was a pinhole at a bottom corner. And I heard from one other person with the same problem that I had.

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by Racer_X

David,
What would you want for it? Been looking for a pan for my build and I don't mind putting a little elbow grease in to re-weld that pan.

Thanks, Curtis

I think they are $600. I'll let it go for 1/2 price.

David

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by RestoCreations

Do you think that crack was caused simply from vibration or??? Aviad or Armando pan?

Originally Posted by 4pipes

The bottom of the pan might have been moving up and down, driven by engine vibrations. Like a drum head. That could explain the neat edge crack.

Indeed--vibration. We have had several pans crack over the years. So, we just decided to make our own.

David

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

David, some info please. I checked your site and none there.
Perhaps a little feature post on this new pan?
Construction?
Pick-up?
Tray?
Scraper?
Availability?
Price?
Hey-there's no 'social' icons on the bottom here! All gone?

We will post on our new oil pan when we finish the prototype. We just haven't quite finished it yet.

Aluminum
Same pick up as original (Aviaid).
Modified tray and scraper
Not available yet
Price--close to the same.
I am not sure about the social icons stuff...Jamo?????
Ron????

I AM on facebook (all day every day).

David

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by Jerry Clayton

Thats a common place/way for an an oil pan to fail---oil pans will oil can---and the stress point is at the weld line where two flat sheets come together at 090*and are welded---especially with alum--there are so many different alloys of sheet stock, so many different welding rod alloys and then add in the welding technique and you have a sure to happen failure--just depends on how long it'll take

The original pans is made from steel. It has been zinc plated.

David

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by Rick Parker

Gas weld looks too cold, probably butt welded. He needed to not have the pieces flush when he welded, the bottom piece should have been held back half the thickness. That way it's more like a fillet weld, lots stronger. Harmonics play a big part.

Yes, the weld did look a bit cold to me too. I agree joint fitment is critical to a good weld. Harmonics and vibration are really difficult to control, however.

David

[David Kirkham]

Oil pan sold.

David