Scenario: driving down the interstate, looked up, something in the road the same color as the pavement, thought I could make it over it and had no place else to go, went over it and it hit my y-pipe and completely collapsed it up against the oilpan and dented in the oilpan (slightly) and also tore my oilfilter up as well. i need to know if there is anything in the bottom of the pan that could have been damaged (windage tray, pick up if in the front of the pan) in the front of the pan? this really sucks!!!!!!!

 

I don't think the windage tray and/or pickup hang down low enough to get damaged. I just pulled mine off a couple weeks ago.

You probably did break your oil level sensor though as it is fairly easy to break, but no biggie there. And you dented the pan towards the rear of the pan (tranny side??)??? Is that correct??

 

it dented on the motor side of the pan. i didnt think it was hurt but have never looked inside of it to see.

 

Hmm...I would be more worried about the crank than anything else if it is dented towards the front. I had a bitch of a time sliding that pan out from underneath the crank because they seem so close together.

I guess there is only one way to find out though.

Good luck.

 

ok. i got the ypipe off today and put on a new filter and filled her up with oil. started her up, she sounded great with open manifolds, i gave it a second for the oil pressure to come up nothing, i looked under the car and it was all over the floor. it was pooring out from up above the filter. the filter screws to a supposed oil cooler i believe and then that mounts to some piece that mounts to the block. has anyone taken this oil cooler off and if so how does the piece that mounts ot the block come off? is it just screwed to the block like a typical sm. block filter adapter? i didnt have time to go any further because when i left my gfathers garage the oil dry had not soaked everything up yet and was just trying to get a jumpstart on tomorrow.

 

Bad idea!!! You should of disabled the ignition system and keep cranking about 4 or 5 times and watch your oil pressure gauge. If you don't have any oil pressure, DON'T START THE CAR...if you do build oil pressure, then go ahead and fire her up.

Just hope you didn't spin any bearings without any pressure... How long did you let it run without pressure??

 

dude, i think he has oil pressure... he just busted his sensor...

if the oil is leaking out tho... then maybe you don't i wouldn't run it for long without makin sure... but don't be scared to test it by turning it on for a couple seconds

 

Okay, your sensor is on top of the engine...how could it have gotten damaged???

If you are squirting oil everywhere, you probaby don't have any pressure. DON'T START THE DAMN CAR IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT...IT ISN'T AT ALL WORTH IT!!!

It isn't hard, follow these steps to see if you have oil pressure

1) Make sure the sending unit on the back of the intake isn't broken

2) Disconnect the coil wire, or the opti harness, or a combination.

3) Crank over the engine for 10 seconds about 4 or 5 times.

4) While cranking, watch the pressure gauge to see if it is building any pressure...if not, do NOT attempt to start the car until you find out what the problem is.

5) If you have pressure, hook up the coil/harness and crank the engine (it might take a while if you flooded the engine a bit). I disconnected the harness on the passenger side of the engine that is on top and leads down to the opti and my engine wasn't flooded over when I tried it.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU ATTEMPT TO START A CAR WITHOUT OIL PRESSURE....IT IS STUPID AND CARELESS!!!

Sorry....this is just my opinion....if you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

 

the sensor in the pan is the low oil level sensor and it is fine. i ran the car just a few seconds after i hit whatever it was i hit. trying it out i only ran it long enough for pressure to come up, basically no longer than what it takes for pressure to come up after an oil change. question: the pipe that the filter screws to, is it bolted/screwed to the block or is it an integrated part of the block? it goes through the oil cooler, or is it something that can be replaced in the block? i believe it is bent due to the fact that there is an 8th inch gap between the front of the cooler and the block. any more ideas will be great.

 

The threaded pipe that a filter screws onto is attached to a small plate. Its bolted onto the block with two bolts. The cooler body probably just screws onto it, and then the filter screws onto the cooler body. In any event, take the cooler body off, then remove the two bolts that hold the filter mount plate from the block. It will then be easy to see if or what got bent.

 

cool. i figured that was how it is but got disgusted with cleaning up all the oil and just opened the radiator to drain and shut the lights off to continue tomorrow. i am hoping that is all that is wrong but the pad that the filter seals to has a little dimple in it about where the filter seals so i will have to try and flatten that back out. thanks for the info dave.

 

One question - you didn't also dent the bottom of the pan, did you? If so, you may have reduced the clearance between the oil pickup and the bottom, which could cause oil starvation.

About the oil spill - I understand. I'm building a new engine due to blower pulleys coming off and damaging the crank snout. Anyways, I took the accessories, hoses, wires, and intake off and went to bed. The next day, when I drained the oil, instead of 2 gallons, there were 7 gallons - there was pressure in the tank and the little drip-drip-drip from the fuel lines that I thought was just a little left in the lines drip-drip-dripped all night long and topped the oil off with 5 gallons of 93 super. Damn, what a mess.

 

it dented at the front of the lower section of the pan, in front of the drain plug and i believe the pickup is at the rearand it just wrinkled the pan i dont believe it caused enough damage to worry with though. i am going to take a few pics tomorrow just in case i need to turn this over to insurance but i will post a pic of it and the y-pipe.

 

If you need to take the pan off it is not too bad to do on a fourth gen. I just swapped to a canton pan and it only scored like 6 on the suck-o-meter. You will need to drop your starter, remove your filter, take the 2 motor mount bolts out, support the motor with a jack under the bell housing, disconnect the steering shaft (this may be easier to do as you let the sub-frame down), and remove the 2 bottom bolts from the shocks, disconnect the ABS wiring connectors, and take the 6 sub frame bolts loose. The sub frame will drop down 3"- 6" and you should be able to get the pan off and see if your pickup is bent or cracked.

 

has anyone thought about he may have boken the oil pan seal??
if u hit it hard enough to dent the pan and bend the oil filter mount. you might have broken the oil pan gasket somewhere causing leakage.