2aroundtheworld
Active Member
Well, today was not good. I need to figure out a way to repair or replace this.
Help with a broken oil pan - stuck in Baja. Need oil pan asap...
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2aroundtheworld
Active Member
We'll be in La Paz tomorrow. Just need to find a good motorcycle repair shop. And hopefully a good JB Weld artist...
~TABASCO~
RIDE ON ADV is what I do !
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I’ve helped people several times with the JB weld fix. The most important thing is to get all the oil off. If you have no cleaner, do the best you can. If your in town it’s best to wash it down with brake cleaner and maybe even heat it up to remove oil before the JB Weld.
Or TIG weld it all up if you can find someone. You will need the pan off the bike either way. It looks like you have chunks missing. Welding would be best.
Can you tell if it also broke the rear mounting bolt. If so it might have cracked across the entire rear of the pan. I’ve seen that once before.
Or TIG weld it all up if you can find someone. You will need the pan off the bike either way. It looks like you have chunks missing. Welding would be best.
Can you tell if it also broke the rear mounting bolt. If so it might have cracked across the entire rear of the pan. I’ve seen that once before.
RCinNC
Well-Known Member
I think, if it was me in that dilemma (and assuming that the shop in La Paz can't TIG weld or direct you to someone that could), I'd drop the oil pan and get it as clean as you possibly can.
I'd then cut away any of that jagged aluminum where the pan broke, so none of the metal was bent up inside the pan. The goal is to get the area near the hole inside the pan to be as flat as possible.
Then I'd get a small piece of 2mm aluminum if it was available, or a piece of sheet steel, and cut it to fit over the hole from the inside. Aluminum would work best, since it will be easier to shape. The piece should be larger than the hole; the goal is to be large enough to cover the hole and to provide enough room to screw the patch into the oil pan.
Drill through the patch and the oil pan and then tap the holes in the pan so you can screw the patch into the oil pan from the inside. Something small, like a 6-32 screw (or it's nearest metric equivalent, since it's Mexico). Cut off the excess length of the screws where they protrude from the exterior of the oil pan and grind them flush with the exterior surface.
After the patch is secured in place, clean the patch and the area around the patch with acetone or lacquer thinner. Cover the entire patch from the inside with JB Weld. Make sure the entire patch is covered, so the JB Weld seals the joint between the patch and the oil pan and covers all the screw heads.
Once the JB Weld on the inside is dry, flip the pan over and cover the hole in the pan and the areas where the screws come through the pan with JB Weld from the outside. The aluminum plate inside the oil pan will add a lot of structural integrity to the patch. That looks like a pretty big hole to just try and slather JB Weld over it; the aluminum patch will actually be what covers the hole, and the JB Weld will just have to seal the gaps where the patch meets the oil pan, and cover the screw heads in the patch. You could even cut a piece of metal window screen and place that in the hole from the outside; it'll help reinforce the JB Weld on the outside of the patch and make it more resistant to cracking.
All of that should seal the hole in the pan, plus have a lot more strength to deal with the bouncing around you're probably doing on bad roads down there. I think it would get you home without further issues.
Alternately, you might be able to use something like this to patch the oil pan from the inside:
I don't know if you could find a kit like that where you are, but it's designed to patch a fuel tank, so I'm sure it would work to patch an oil pan. Patching it from the inside, whether with the aluminum patch or the epoxy resin and fiberglass one, will give you a better chance of success than trying to slather something on from the outside.
Admittedly I've never patched an oil pan, and I don't know what the inside of the pan looks like and whether or not it would easily lend itself to the repair I described. But if I was standing there looking at that hole and wondering how to get moving again, these two ideas would have been what I'd try.
I'd then cut away any of that jagged aluminum where the pan broke, so none of the metal was bent up inside the pan. The goal is to get the area near the hole inside the pan to be as flat as possible.
Then I'd get a small piece of 2mm aluminum if it was available, or a piece of sheet steel, and cut it to fit over the hole from the inside. Aluminum would work best, since it will be easier to shape. The piece should be larger than the hole; the goal is to be large enough to cover the hole and to provide enough room to screw the patch into the oil pan.
Drill through the patch and the oil pan and then tap the holes in the pan so you can screw the patch into the oil pan from the inside. Something small, like a 6-32 screw (or it's nearest metric equivalent, since it's Mexico). Cut off the excess length of the screws where they protrude from the exterior of the oil pan and grind them flush with the exterior surface.
After the patch is secured in place, clean the patch and the area around the patch with acetone or lacquer thinner. Cover the entire patch from the inside with JB Weld. Make sure the entire patch is covered, so the JB Weld seals the joint between the patch and the oil pan and covers all the screw heads.
Once the JB Weld on the inside is dry, flip the pan over and cover the hole in the pan and the areas where the screws come through the pan with JB Weld from the outside. The aluminum plate inside the oil pan will add a lot of structural integrity to the patch. That looks like a pretty big hole to just try and slather JB Weld over it; the aluminum patch will actually be what covers the hole, and the JB Weld will just have to seal the gaps where the patch meets the oil pan, and cover the screw heads in the patch. You could even cut a piece of metal window screen and place that in the hole from the outside; it'll help reinforce the JB Weld on the outside of the patch and make it more resistant to cracking.
All of that should seal the hole in the pan, plus have a lot more strength to deal with the bouncing around you're probably doing on bad roads down there. I think it would get you home without further issues.
Alternately, you might be able to use something like this to patch the oil pan from the inside:
I don't know if you could find a kit like that where you are, but it's designed to patch a fuel tank, so I'm sure it would work to patch an oil pan. Patching it from the inside, whether with the aluminum patch or the epoxy resin and fiberglass one, will give you a better chance of success than trying to slather something on from the outside.
Admittedly I've never patched an oil pan, and I don't know what the inside of the pan looks like and whether or not it would easily lend itself to the repair I described. But if I was standing there looking at that hole and wondering how to get moving again, these two ideas would have been what I'd try.
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2aroundtheworld
Active Member
Well we made some phone calls this morning and apparently no one has it in stock in the USA and Canada...it's going to take a week or so, and my friend is flying down Sunday.
anyone is parting out an engine and has one for sale?
anyone is parting out an engine and has one for sale?
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~TABASCO~
RIDE ON ADV is what I do !
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I have a cracked one.... I can weld it up and ship it out......... This might be a last resort but you could finish your trip.......
2aroundtheworld
Active Member
Thanks - that may be last resort indeed. Give me a few hours, we'll see if we can get the one we have fixed here somewhere in LaPaz.
You might ship him one of your bash plates while you're at it!
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Fennellg
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Disregard they have terrible reviews. Like the worst I have seen in the 1's ...... 
Just in case you read the post I deleted. Stay away from Adeptpowersports their reviews are beyond bad in the 1's.
Just in case you read the post I deleted. Stay away from Adeptpowersports their reviews are beyond bad in the 1's.2aroundtheworld
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Well progress is being made. Now it's up to the welder.
~TABASCO~
RIDE ON ADV is what I do !
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For an experienced aluminum welder, that is no big deal ! Keep up posted ! ! ! !
If the mechanic is "cool", and lets you back by your bike, look up in the oil pick up 'screen' and look at the screen. Make sure you have no little pieces of aluminum or ANY other foreign material in there. You will need your flash light to look....
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Fennellg
Well-Known Member
Looks like you are where you need to be. Could you imagine being in a Yamaha dealership. Doubt they would have the equipment or experience to even attempt this.
Could you imagine being in a Yamaha dealership. Doubt they would have the equipment or experience to even attempt this.scott123007
Well-Known Member
If you can't get a hold of a proper skid plate, have the welder remove the drain bolt and eliminate it. Unfortunately, that is a pretty common problem and if you're riding more of the terrain in your picture, with the same shitty skid plate, it could easily happen again. Just weld over the drain bolt area, and replace the pan after your trip.
2aroundtheworld
Active Member
Pan is fixed. Thanks everyone for the support. We're back in action! Head back over to this thread to follow along:
Thanksgiving 2022 Ride - We're taking three(3) 2012 Super Tenere to Baja!
It's time for the next segment. I am really slow at this... After we left our camp at the Baja 1000 site near San Felipe, we headed South in direction of Bahia de Los Angeles. The day was pretty uneventful, but the evening not so much. We opted to share a hotel room that night as we were...
www.yamahasupertenere.com
tntmo
Well-Known Member
Looks like they put a fresh coat of Flex Seal on it, you're good to go.
Fennellg
Well-Known Member
If it holds are going to run it or get a new pan. How much was the repair?
2aroundtheworld
Active Member
I am not sure yet. If it holds well all the way to San Francisco I may just leave it. I think it came up to $200 for everything (moto shop and welder).
The towing out is another story...
Fennellg
Well-Known Member
Reasonable given the jam you were in. Happy for you. It sucks when your bike is down. You just don’t feel right till you up and riding again.