Oil pan and pick up struggles

[Newkidonthebloc]

Hello everyone,

Last saturday I did my first oil change on the car and had a look inside de engine from the bottom. I have a few pictures attached. Found a few bits of casting flesh in the bottom of the pan (however, does the rest look normal?).

The problem occurred when trying the screw the oil pan back onto the block. I noticed that the pick up hit the bottom of the pan before the pan hitting the machined surfaces of the block. I have read elsewhere that the pick up should be off the bottom by just a bit (like 1/16 - 1/8).

Contrary to that, the service manual actually states that the pick up should touch the pan (see picture).

What should I do now raise it or leave it?

My plan is to order a 3/8 npt tap and a pipewrench to clean the threads and give the pick-up one more rotation and get it up slightly higher? This does mean that I have to pull the pan back off with the new gasket :'( can you reuse those when they did 0 miles?

 

[Big Bad Dad]

You pulled the oil pan off of the engine just to do an oil change?????

 

[Newkidonthebloc]

You pulled the oil pan off of the engine just to do an oil change?????

I bought the car last summer. Had to change the gasket since it was leaking and wanted to inspect the engine too.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Ok. But then I would question why you would consider using a pipe tap to change the position of the pickup tube, since it has apparently been working for many years? And why you would want to ignore what the factory manual says to change it to something you read "elsewhere"? The old saying is "If it isn't broke, don't fix it..." (Just my honest opinion)

Edit: If the pickup is holding the pan rails off of the block, you should make sure the bottom of the pan is not dented. It is pretty common for that to have happened.

 

[Newkidonthebloc]

Ok. But then I would question why you would consider using a pipe tap to change the position of the pickup tube, since it has apparently been working for many years? And why you would want to ignore what the factory manual says to change it to something you read "elsewhere"? The old saying is "If it isn't broke, don't fix it..." (Just my honest opinion)

Edit: If the pickup is holding the pan rails off of the block, you should make sure the bottom of the pan is not dented. It is pretty common for that to have happened.

I just think the pick up was in there better than how far I can get it in right now. The pick up might have been bottomed out before but I am worried that it was just tightened up better. I hope that just cleaning the threads will allow me to screw it in deeper. I dont think it is right for the pan to put stress on the pick up tube.

 

[451Mopar]

If the pickup is screwed in tight, you can just bend the pickup tube.

 

[493 Mike]

If the pickup is screwed in tight, you can just bend the pickup tube.

The weakest area is the thread, be careful!
Mike

 

[padam]

Trying to tap may be a major hassle, it can be tough to get the tap started well under the car.
Also, I believe this is a straight pipe thread, not NPT.

A windage tray and extra gasket will give more clearance.

 

[451Mopar]

The weakest area is the thread, be careful!
Mike

true. I forgot to say, heat the tube till it is orange where you want to bend it.

 

[1967coronet]

Get everything cleaned up good.
Make sure your pickup tube is not making contact with the pan baffle edge.
Don't try the tap idea.
Like posted above , you can remove the tube and tweak it up a little or go with a windage tray and the dbl. gasket.
The pickup sitting to low or the tube hitting the baffle prob caused the leak your fixing.

 

[Lefty71]

I'd dent the pan before I would mess with the pickup tube. Trying to screw the pickup in further wont likely gain what you need and can do more damage than good if already tight.

 

[Jerry Hall]

I had the same problem on the Hemi I am assembling. I didn't buy a special tap for the pipe threads. I went to the plumbing section at my local Lowe's and got a plumbing fitting that fit and used that and WD40 to clean the existing threads. This worked fine and it got me the extra turn I needed. Now the pickup is between 1/16-1/8 off the bottom of the pan with the windage tray and both gaskets. I had a new oil pan, but hunted for months for a new pickup. I ended up getting a used one from a member here. The threads do get dirty and clogged over time and use.

 

[69Bee]

Sweet Jesus, just smack the pickup with your hand until the pan will sit flush without a gasket, I do this ALL of the time. There should be no clearance issues with the crank just bumping the pickup to miss the pan. You are just going to need to move it a small amount to clear the pan, DON'T overthink this...

 

[zyzzyx]

Whatever you decide to do, DON'T heat the tube until it turns orange! You will cause scale to form
on the inside of the tube and then when you start the engine, your oil pump will "inhale" the scale.
Take the tube out of the engine and put it in a vise. Bend it cold with a dead blow and put it back.
Adding a windage tray as suggested earlier would be a good idea too. If you try to bend the pickup
by hitting it while installed, it may work fine but may also break the pickup at the thread area. Good Luck!

 

[493 Mike]

Trying to tap may be a major hassle, it can be tough to get the tap started well under the car.
Also, I believe this is a straight pipe thread, not NPT.

A windage tray and extra gasket will give more clearance.

The thread IS NPT. 3/8".
Mike

 

[Jerry Hall]

The thread IS NPT. 3/8".
Mike

Normal Pipe Thread 3/8" or in a Hemi 1/2"

 

[R413]

Heat and bend, them remove and clean the inside.

I had a pickup too long so I cut it off and rethreaded the end at the hardware store. Worked great.

I don’t like yours keeping the pan from meeting the block, this will promote the leak and stretch the pan rails at the bolts. Make sure to tap them flat before installing it.

 

[towtruckAl]

any one hear of a thread chaser , cleaner tap not thread cutter tap , and agree cold bend if necessary , no heat , have used 2 pan gaskets more than once , with out problem .

 

[Dave6T4]

Windage tray and 2 gaskets might give you what you need.

 

[451Mopar]

Good points.
The threads are NPT, and it can be difficult to thread the tap deeper if it is a straight hole and the hole is not reamed with a NPT tapered reamer.
I adjust the pickup screen so it is flat (horizontal) to the oil pan bottom, and the pan will just touch the block without a gasket. Then I install the windage tray and gaskets.
On several of my engines that were converted to 1/2" oil pickups, I had to make or modify the oil pickups.
The 500" 400 block has the BCR caps and girdle, so I could not find a pickup that worked and had to make my own. Welded some seamless chromoly tube to the pickup screen part from an old Milodon pickup. luckely, it worked out where the tube is mostly just a straight shot to the oil pan sump, with just a bend at the pickup end.
On the 505" engines, without girdle, I was able to heat and bend pre-made pickups to fit correctly.
I did remove them and clean them after heating and bending them.
I think the cad plated ones, the plating turns into something like a white ash powder where heated.
haven't had "scale", but discoloration of the tube metal.