Hi everybody,

Thanks for any help you can provide.

I am replacing the oil pan on my 92 Dakota, 4x4 5.2 L when I ran into a little snag.

One of the bolt holes has what looks to me like a threaded insert, possibly to repair stripped threads. This insert is proud of the bottom of the block making a flush oil pan fit impossible. At first I thought it was a guide for the gasket, but the hole in the gasket is to small. It looks like it is threaded. I've never seen anything like this before and I'm looking for advice. I tried screwing it back in by simply putting a bolt in it and tightening. It didn't move.

Any ideas on what it is? What do I do about it?

 

It looks to me like a heli-coil type repair gone bad. I would say try and grind it flush and run a tap through it to clean the threads after grinding it down.

 

I've thought about that but was a little apprehensive. If (when) I mess up and hit the bottom of the block with the grinder, I could have a bigger problem on my hands. Is there a way to back that bugger out and replace it?

 

If it is a heli-coil (which its hard to tell by that picture), no, they cannot be backed out!

What I don't understand is how did the pan fit before you took it off?

 

The pan fit fine before I took it off.

I was thinking I backed the insert out when I took the pan out. I could be wrong and it's been that way all along. This project has dragged on longer than hoped and I've already tossed the old gasket before I noticed this issue. I would have liked to see if the old gasket was bored out for that hole or not.

What are you looking for to determine if it is a heli-coil?

 

Well this is what heli-coil looks like...




Kinda like a spring, but it is a coil of threads. I just can't tell by the angle of your picture if that looks like a spring or not.

Look to see if that hole in the pan is bored out.

 

I don't believe that is what I got in there. It looks solid, not a wire. I tried taking clearer picture but wasn't sucessful.

 

Hmm... probably doing the same job as a helicoil, just not a helicoil. You were probably right about someone stripping the threads out at some point.

Well if its not a heli-coil, and its solid, there is a chance it might come out!! Try taking a torch and heating up the block around the insert and then try grabbing the insert with some vise-grip pliers and turning it out. Can't really tell you how to fix it after that though.

 

Ya just looks like a threaded insert. Just for like said above striped threads. The best solids are the ones with little rods sticking out so you can hammer them in and make the insert stay in place. For something like these below you can just get a bolt and just tighten it down without the pan. Once it hits the insert it, the insert will start driving in. Just backing out the bolt is the tricky part so you don't back out the insert. You can also get a cut off wheel and make a notch in the insert to use a srew driver to drive it back in. Some come stock with a notch.

 

This sounds like the best thing to do... just be very carfeful not to go too far probably hold it there for a second and then stop.