Oil Pan Heli-coil Drama!

Hey all,

During an oil change, the heli-coil fell out of the oil pan(yes, the "factory installed" heli-coil). Went to the boardwalk dealer in Plano and was told they were used because the metal used on the oil pan is very thin to save weight; I bought some spares and tried to thread to no avail; there is no installation tool used for these; Ferrari simply changes the oil pan cover when this happens-only issue is they do not make oil pan covers for the 308qv and mine is perfectly fine. I have gone to many places and no one seems to have even seen or heard of a heli-coil this large; have found no thread repair kits either. I found a 1" heli coil and kit but I am afraid if I re-tap the hole from metric to standard I may damage the threads and be in big trouble; i have not driven the car in a month because I can't find anything to help.

My question is: has anyone had this problem? And if so how did you remedy it?

Thanks y'all!

 

Check into a timesert they are 10 times better and will not come out!

http://www.timesert.com/

you will have to call them and need to know the bolt size and thread pitch and thickness on pan

 

I just had this issue and Fastradio fixed me up. He has the timesert kit

 

Yep...and it worked out very nicely. However, with the pans that did have the factory heli-coils installed, the repair can be a bit more complicated. If the coil just unwound and the threads aren't damaged, an insert can be installed with the tooling (which I have). However, if the pan is damaged where the old heli-coil was, there may not be enough material to support a Time-sert threaded insert.

If the OP would contact me or just send me a close up photo of the hole, likely I can "save" this oil pan....

David

 

Thanks David-I will take pictures and post this evening.

 

Helicoil does make a tool and a kit that size. I have one. Nobody stocks them so they need to be ordered.

 

AT THE REQUEST OF THE OWNER, we took a pan down and welded in an O2 bung, resurfaced the inside of the pan and cleaned the weld on the outside. It is about the same size as the factory drain plug, it turned out very well. Not that I am suggesting it to anyone else but it worked very well for this particular customer,and it is what he wanted.


Wade

 

Wade, sounds interesting. Any pictures you can post??

 

Where do you get an aluminum O2 bung?

 

I faced a similar problem to this with the oil pan in a 1972 Jaguar XKE V-12. The PO had stripped the threads and had forkled in a replacement bolt that leaked. The first time I went to change the oil, I discovered that the threads in the aluminum pan were shot, really badly. I got an oil drain plug that is used for airplane engines from a friend of mine who runs a Jaguar parts website called Coolcat.com. It was a steel thread-in unit with its own steel drain plug. I removed the pan, cleaned it up, cut the threads for the new unit and installed it with red Loctite. The new unit also had a hex head, so after it was installed, I could put a wrench on the unit and another on the drain plug, and untighten it without disturbing the unit in the pan.

On another Jag of mine, one with a side drain plug, I installed an aircraft drain plug with a spring loaded stopper. Push it in and twist, and the drain opens. Done draining, push it in, twist the other way, and the drain closes. I figured if it was good enough for an airplane engine, it would be fine for my little XKE straight 6. I would not suggest this for the 3x8s however, since the drain is on the bottom of the pan, and the airplane drain extends out from the surface about 3/4 to 1" and could be sheered off, which would not be a good thing. But on a car with a drain to the side, it would work fine. The nice part is you never have to worry about stripping threads ever again.

 

Im in the middle of NASCAR heaven, Mooresville, Nc. more fabricators here than you can shake a stick at. Somoeone refered me to someone who had a friedn of someone, who said I can fix that problem for you. He whipped them up and it worked great. Strange I know but hey you do what you gotta do.


Wade

 

I'll see if I can dig them out, it was a couple of years ago.


Wade

 

Oh, you made an aluminum bung. Got it. Yeah we have done that fix before too. Works well.

 

Here are the pics; the threads are fine I believe; I ran a metal pick thingy around them from the bottom all up to the top and it did not slip out.
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Thanks Robert. Fastradio said it does need a timesert; anyone know what size/or how I can measure?; I believe the plug is .85 in and will need to convert to metric which is easy, but for the hole itself, should I measure to compensate for the inner or outer portion of the thread?

Much appreciated!

 

Let me quantify this a bit. The thread size and pitch is 22x1.5mm. The insert size is 22x1.5mm STI (standard thread insert) which should be standard for both a Heli-coil and a Time-Sert. To install either, an insertion tool is needed. With the oil pan in place and the oil pick-up screen so close to the hole, it is doubtful that the Time-Sert insertion tool can be used. Furthermore, a Time-Sert insert requires a special countersinking tool to insure that the insert is flush with the plan; hence why I asked you to send me the oil pan. The OEM Heli-coil is still available from Ferrari. However, to install it, without causing any damage, the Heli-coil insertion tool will be required.

This is a simple repair with the right tools, otherwise a lot of unnecessary, potential expensive work might be needed....

 

To remove the oil pan you need to unscrew he oil temp sensor and unscreww the nut that holds the dipstick tuube in. Remove the dipstick and with your pinky stick it in the hole and pull out about an 8 inch tube. . Without removing these the pan will not come off. The pan also has some baffles on it so you need to rotate the pan slightly to get it off but it is not hard

Here is what the pan and tube looks like removed
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Thanks for the pictures, Robert.

I have measured the size of the plug and the size of the hole; will order the time-sert tomorrow.

 

I might add if you need to heli-arc weld one of these pans due to cracking, or a stripped out bung thread, you must take steps to insure you don’t warp the thing, least you rediscover the lost art of torch warping one back to flat. Pre heat, and a lot of clamps on a flat plate are a good first step. There’s a lot of pent up molecular anger in one of those red heads.

 

I had a mechanic strip my threads and long ago not knowing about what to do I had the pan drill out for the only oil plug i could find which is the wrong size and sticks out!!

This will be the best thing you ever did as you will never strip it again!!!

If you have the pan off replace the oil screen, cheap insurance!

 

Thanks all!

Bought the time sert kit and voilà! Like magic, back on the road. Very easy to install; about $400 for the kit.

 

Whow, $400 for a kit !!! Keep it and you can charge rent when you lend it out.

 

My 308 is like a supermodel: looks great, but high maintenance!

 

Compared to that kit, my 12mm 1.25 helicoil kit was $35. An ugly duckling to a super model

 

Can you post some pics???