General Tech What did you work on Today?

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Stinkwater

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator

SoopaHick

Certified Weld Judger
Moderator
One of the Auto students used a post jack on a cast aluminum oil pan without any kind of blocking and cracked the pan earlier this week.

Instructor brought it over and asked if we could weld it up. I love opportunities like this because my liability is way low (because it's a donated school car) and I get to practice something that doesn't come across my desk often.

Cast aluminum seems to scare a lot of people but it is relatively easy to repair if you already have TIG Aluminum abilities.
Lots of cleaning, and then run the arc with no filler just below melting amperage to help bring out all the spider cracks you can't see. Drill holes in the ends to keep the cracks from spreading further. Then weld it all up with a copious amount of filler.
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SoopaHick

Certified Weld Judger
Moderator
That's impressive!
I always have to burn the oil out of the cast or it never works well for me. Granted I'm usually having to weld the inside of a thing that's absorbed oil for years.
I'm not sure what vehicle it came off of. But it was definitely grimy as hell. Lots of brushing, torching, and the die grinder to top it off made it "clean enough." If you look close you can still see the dirty specks that are inevitable with oily cast aluminum.
 

zmotorsports

Hardcore Gearhead
Vendor
Location
West Haven, UT
One of the Auto students used a post jack on a cast aluminum oil pan without any kind of blocking and cracked the pan earlier this week.

Instructor brought it over and asked if we could weld it up. I love opportunities like this because my liability is way low (because it's a donated school car) and I get to practice something that doesn't come across my desk often.

Cast aluminum seems to scare a lot of people but it is relatively easy to repair if you already have TIG Aluminum abilities.
Lots of cleaning, and then run the arc with no filler just below melting amperage to help bring out all the spider cracks you can't see. Drill holes in the ends to keep the cracks from spreading further. Then weld it all up with a copious amount of filler.
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Nice job on the cast aluminum repair. I've done quite a bit of cast aluminum welding over the years as well as I also bathe the torch/arc over the area to do some pre-cleaning measures before adding filler. It also does a good job of adding some heat for pre-heating the part. I've started using 4943 TIG rod a few years back and have produced good results with it.
 

SoopaHick

Certified Weld Judger
Moderator
Nice job on the cast aluminum repair. I've done quite a bit of cast aluminum welding over the years as well as I also bathe the torch/arc over the area to do some pre-cleaning measures before adding filler. It also does a good job of adding some heat for pre-heating the part. I've started using 4943 TIG rod a few years back and have produced good results with it.
What is the main difference you saw doing 4943 instead of your basic 4043?
 

zmotorsports

Hardcore Gearhead
Vendor
Location
West Haven, UT
What is the main difference you saw doing 4943 instead of your basic 4043?

To be honest, I really didn't notice much of a difference in the actual weld or weld process. I started using it a few years ago because it is stronger than 4043 and with cast in particular, I wanted every advantage possible to avoid any additional stress cracking once the repair was complete.
 

The_Lobbster

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure what vehicle it came off of. But it was definitely grimy as hell. Lots of brushing, torching, and the die grinder to top it off made it "clean enough." If you look close you can still see the dirty specks that are inevitable with oily cast aluminum.
Curiosity got me so I went and looked, was on their white ranger. Saw the repaired pan next to it on the bench.




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JeeperG

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverdale
Billet cam ?
MSD pro billet with a composite gear. I'm hoping those bits just dropped in the pan and that's all the damage we have. Not being an engine nerd like some of you. I'm trying to understand what happened. One answer I don't have is I'm not entirely sure which oil pump I'm running.

Guess we'll be problem solving

Ifn I'm lucky I can clean it out and toss this one back on?
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On to a comp cam 11-423-8
 
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