I bought a mig welder over 5 years and maybe have used it 3 times since for minor mickey mouse repairs on steel. Now I have an aluminum oil pan with about a 2 inch crack. How hard would it be to repair by someone with basically no welding experience? And what else besides a roll of aluminum wire do I need?
Some pure argon and s**** to practice on. Might be cheaper to get another pan depending on what it is. Lol hillbilly types faster
The two previous reply's are correct and I don't doubt for one minute both these guys couldn't do it fast but..... Let me be totally honest with,,you say you have basically no experience...pay someone to repair the pan! HRP
For what it will cost you to set up to weld aluminum, you could pay someone to do it. Welding aluminum is tricky because you can't go by the color like with steel. If you really want to learn to weld aluminum and do more of it, take a night cl*** at a tech school. They also have the equipment and you could get your pan welded. I used to take a machine shop cl*** just to use the equipment.
If you have a spool gun it will much easier than trying to push wire the machine to the gun. And you want your wire touching the base metal before you pull the trigger.
An old aluminum pan that may have a fair amount of oil imbedded it and a MIG welder doesn't sound like something an experienced welder would want to try. Bob
The easiest and probably best thing for you to do is to take it to someone with an Aluminum capable TIG machine. Try taking it to one of your local community colleges if they have a welding program and talk to one of the instructors. If you were closer to me, that would be a 15 minute job in my garage
Where I work as a welder, they have 4 guys that weld aluminum out of probably 50 welders. They work in a totally separate area, so no one can disturb them. They use TIG and are paid considerably more than us "grunts".
I would have to agree. For one tigging aluminum is the easiest way and the hardest part of welding aluminum is that the metal doesn't change colors when it gets hot (glow red) it just turns to liquid and melts, if you have no experience welding your odds of doing it and making a decent weld are slim to none, take it to a shop they will weld it for under 100$ I would imagine with far better results Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
You need experience. Like the others have said, I'd highly recommend lts of practice, or the better option is to take it to someone that has welded lots of aluminum before.
That is my next choice after reading these comments. Will that hold up immersed in hot oil all the time? What about the porosity repair chemicals I remember GM using on transmission cases way back? Are they still available?
I have repaired many bike cases with JB Weld with great results. Have also used Marine Tex with same results.
Anyone use this stuff called Lab-Metal: http://www.alvinproducts.com/Products/Products.asp?ID=1 $30 a can.
I've been a welder since my teens and have never done aluminum. I seem to remember that you needed a high frequency adapter for your machine to work well. I tried to set up a machine to do aluminum when I found a high freq adapter once but I never got it set up. I have a good buddy that could weld any aluminum for me in the ba*****t of the Capitol building. Lots of L88 aluminum heads were repaired in the Capitol back then. Your tax dollars at work!
If you convert your MIG machine to weld Aluminum you need a new gas bottle of pure Argon and a spool gun to run the wire. It will be much cheaper to buy a new oil pan or hire a welding shop to make the repair. I have been welding for a lot of years and I still have trouble with Aluminum if it's been awhile since I did any. The main trouble is that it doesn't change color like steel when it gets close to forming a puddle. The oxide coating on Aluminum melts at a higher temperature than the base metal and by the time you generate enough heat for the cleaning action of the arc to clear out the oxide it suddenly melts a big hole. Clean the weld area with a stainless steel brush that is only used for that purpose then wipe it down good with Acetone and weld it immediately before the oxide coating starts to form.
Home mig welder is not going to have the power as aluminum ****s it up. I have had good results stick welding it with my Lincoln buzz box. Castings leave some black inclusions so usually have to grind it down one or two times to get a clean weld. Weld is not pretty but gets sanded in most cases.
If you've ever mig welded steel... then speed that up 4x and then you're welding aluminum with a spool gun that is... tig is similar for both metals but with aluminum mig welding it's a lot faster and quicker screw-ups!!!
>>>That is my next choice after reading these comments. Will that hold up immersed in hot oil all the time? What about the porosity repair chemicals I remember GM using on transmission cases way back? Are they still available? >>> Yep, also used JBWeld and other 2-part epoxies on the outside of bike crankcases with satisfactory results. I think LabMetal is similar to solvent-based metal powder fillers available at auto parts stores. Some are filled with stainless as well as aluminum --- don't think they'd hold up as well as solvent-less epoxies. I wouldn't try any porosity products like silicones or even epoxies on the inside of the case that might have potential for clogging oil p***ages if they break loose. A bit of oil weepage thru aluminum crankcase castings used to be quite common --- more annoying than anything else. Jack E/NJ Jack E/NJ Jack E/NJ
I've used JB Weld on an aluminum oil pan on an IT-28 Caterpillar end loader. It's held for 5 years. I roughed the surface with a grinder, cleaned it with CRC Brakekleen before applying.
For a novice you picked a real tough one for your first repair. I have been welding since 1968 and am a certified welder. A few years a friend asked if I could TIG weld the pan for his restored '32 Ford. When I started to heat the pan you could literally see the oil coming from the porous aluminum. We tried everything including sending the pan to be vapor degreased at 200 degrees. I eventually ran a decent bead and it held but it was a nightmare.
thats a good idea,also try Devcon aluminum putty.10610.its a 2 part mix.It can be machined and super tough .It is 85$ from grainger but well worth it .I know jb weld is a lot cheaper but devcon is superior.
But, if you do decide to weld this thing, DO NOT use brake cleaner to clean the oils out. There are chemicals in them that will kill you when heated by the welding process. Use lacquer thinner and let it soak for a few days. Then get some fresh lacquer thinner and give it a rinse.
Here's how to get a headache and an *** reaming Clean the pan as best as you can . Then when momma isn't looking run it in the dishwasher on sanitize pot scrubber cycle. It should come out about 200* and dryed. Throw the pan in the oven @ 400 for about an hour. Make sure you use some kind of foil on a cookie sheet to catch any drippings. While you are waiting the hour, inspect and clean up the dishwasher if you need to. The Pan should be ready to prep and weld after that hour. The dishwasher probably smells like parts cleaner, the oven and kitchen like Burt oil and that's going to give you a headache. Momma is coming home and the *** reaming will commence directly, probably before you can get the pan bolted back on.
Unfortunately, most brake cleaners nowadays don't have the good stuff (like trike, methylene chloride & carbon tet) in them anymore. Looks at the ingredients --- toluene, xylene, wood alcohol, ethyl acetate, etc Most new brake cleaners aren't much more than lacquer thinner. Jack E/NJ
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