Oil Pan vs. Rock, Cliff Jumping...middle of NOWHERE [PICS!!!]

[bmwman91]

So I went out to my favorite cliff jumping spot this weekend with a buddy. Usually someone else drives their car...their nice stock-height car. Well, everyone crapped out minus one guy, but he did not have a car to take there. So, being that I have been going out there for years, and have taken my car out there a couple times, I figured alrighty, let's go, I will just be really careful (mmmmm run-on sentence).

The road is a real POS (9 miles that can take almost 40 minutes to drive). Ruts, huge bumps...plenty of reasons why I really dislike taking my car out there. Well, I figured I would just drive really carefully. At some point on the way out there I heard/felt something contact the bottom of the car. I pulled over immediately to check the pan. No leaks...well alrighty, prolly just the sway bar or subframe then. I had smacked the subframe once before anyway out there. So, we press on & get out to the place.

My buddy & I had 4 good hours of fun dicking around. The place is gorgeous. Anyway, we come back out to pack up & leave, and I see a big pubble under my car. Crap. I go see what it is. Oil. Crap. It did not look like a lot of oil though, maybe a quart. I pull the dipstick...it was dry. Well, OK who knows. It only looks like a quart down there. I started it up to see if the pressure light would come on. Sure thing so I turn it off after ~2 seconds. OK maybe the pump is unprimed (wishful thinking, I know). I restart it & blip it up to ~3300RPM...no repriming, so I shut it down without even waiting for it to get back down to idle again. Definitely no oil...the lifters were pretty noisy. There must have been a little residual oil in the pump/filter housing though because back when my pump blew the lifters were LOUD...this was not as bad. I guess it was just forcing the rest of the oil out from the filter housing. The engine was bone cold as well, and the total of maybe 5 seconds of running should not have been an issue if the lifters did not even get loud again.

So, I managed to get a ride from the one car out there with room (the place usually has a couple families out there on weekends). There is NO cell phone service out there until you get back to the highway about 10 miles away. So, we hitch a ride to town & get a tow truck. He knows the area well & gets me out. From there I have a flat bed take me the 55 miles to Stockton where I leave the car at UOP where I was staying for the weekend. I looked at the damage & it was easy enough to patch.

<small world>
The couple that gave us a ride out was from San Jose (where I am living). The wife works at Cisco Systems (as I do as well) 4 buildings away. Crazy.
</small world>

I got JB weld in the morning, some Brake cleaner & some rags to clean & patch the oil pan (temporarily). I have 1 bolt left to go taking it off and the campus police come & stop me...it is a liability to have people working on their cars & chemical spills & blah blah blah. So, I have to get a tow to San Jose 86 miles away. Needless to say, AAA must HATE me. $450 ONE way for the tow truck to San Jose. I bet it was nearly $1500 in cost to AAA over this weekend. That PLUS membership has paid for itself for like the next 19 years, assuming they let me renew it next April! So, I am home and am going to try to MIG weld it shut. Anyone here have a spare lower pan they can sell me?

Here is the location on Google Earth:
The nearest town is Angel's Camp, about 20 miles away.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof01.jpg
Definitely some interesting terrain.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof02.jpg
There are a few hydroelectric plants out there, usually unmanned unfortunately.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof03.jpg

There was some fun to be had. Thankfully I did not realize that the pan had indeed been damaged yet so there was no lingering anxiety...that was after we got back to the car. My guess...the pan was punctured when I felt somethign hit, but being that the oil pan is part of the PCV system, the engine vacuum at idle kept the oil in. It was probably leaking a bit when the throttle opened & the crankcase/manifold pressure came near atmospheric. Good times out there!
A boulderer's paradise!
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof04.jpg
Nothing like a running dive off something 20ft tall!
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof05.jpg
The infamous pyramid. Scary stuff. ~40ft tall, about 6ft of horizontal rock to clear half way down!
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof06.jpg

The location is gorgeous. Anyone who differs...check for a pulse! The water was probably a good ~50deg. F. The water was nice and clear as the river was slowing down this late in the season.
Minus a few big rocks, the pool is a good 25ft deep. Never been to the bottom.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof07.jpg
The water is usually 3ft higher here, and moving faster. Some kids had attached a water skiing rope/handle here and you could ride the small rapids a couple years ago.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof08.jpg
There are a few small sand beaches out here. I took pictures sitting on one.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof09.jpg
There is one of the nicer beaches off on the other side. A nice ~35ft jump is to the left.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof10.jpg
A little artsiness with the camera.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof11.jpg
Careful was the word of the day...it is not a waterproof camera.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof12.jpg
Sitting in it and riding it the ~20ft or so was good times.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof13.jpg

So, the car. You do not want to find this under it usually, and you REALLY do not when out here!
Hopefully it will not get into the ground water. The poor car...it looks rather destrought. I cannot blame it!
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof14.jpg
The damage was not extensive, but it does not take much!
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof15.jpg

[bmwman91]

Here is the remote location we were out at.
http://www.e30tuner.com/other4/clof16.jpg

The last 1/2 mile of road is nice & new pavement...it is the land owned by PG&E. The rest of it...I do not even like thinking about it!

Hope you enjoyed the story. Anyone else have a breakdown at a REALLY sh!tty place?

And if anyone is in the Bay Area/San Joaquin/Sacramento area & wants to check the place out lemme know. I get up there once or twice a month during the warm months. You will want a stock ride-height car, or truck. Plenty of sedans have made it out there no problems and it is not a problem at all (3 whole years with NO issue, even the other times I took mine out there). I just managed to get the rock that was hiding in the shade.

[asubimmer]

dang sorry to hear it. You may want to check w/ bret (rigmaster) on r3v or e3t. if you aren't on them i'll contact you for him.

[nickmpower]

i've been cliff diving once. (I jumped once cause the raft was leaving) It was about 40 feet into about 40 degree water, but it was a blast

you didnt happen to go to santa clara did you? thats where im headed for engineering.

anyways with your fabrication skills you should be able to fab something not as nasty as this up

[bmwman91]

Nope, no Santa Clara. I went to UOP (U. of the Pacific) in Stockton.

I thought about a skidplate. Honestly, I think I am gonna see if I can trade my sport shocks/springs for some good-condition stockers. I am far past done spending $ on my car. I am even thinking of selling it and getting a touring motorcycle...but the winter would be hard with no car. I am at a point in life where I want to travel a lot and go places that are accessible only in a taller vehicle. I have been feeling this way for a few months now, and this only reassured me that I was thinking clearly.

I really like having a fun car, but I do not race/autoX it with the BMWCCA anymore, and I want to drop money on traveling and crazy adventures. Being out in the working world has changed my perspectives a lot. That is not to say I would not be involved with the M42 community (hell, I started it), but I guess my interests are moving away from the car these days. I guess I am feeling like my car is not a very practical one in the condition I have put it. Raised back up to stock height it should be a bit better. The M42 DOES get decent mileage when I baby it and stay under 75mph. I dunno, I prolly won't sell it, but I will un-modify it a little.

[bmwman91]

Oh and yeah, i never use those forums anymore. If you could ask him how much he wants for one that'd be greatly appreciated! I do not know that MIG'ing the hole shut will be the best long-term solution.

[FL318is]

Amazing locale! The oil thing is something else. I feel your pain.

[bmwman91]

Yeah it sucks. I have to try & weld it shut tonight, too. I usually carpool to work, but my company is paying for me to go to a 3-day offsite fluid analysis CAD training, and I will be driving myself over there. Oh well, if all else fails, JB Weld for the win lol.

On a sidenote, the combined 4 or so hours I spent with tow truck drivers was awesome. I heard some wild stories to say the least, traded a few of my own, and learned a lot about the history of the area I was at, and the perks of being a tow truck driver. It is almost tempting to go do that after my loans are paid off!

[D. Clay]

I have an intense love/hate - approach/avoidance thing with cars.....I always come back!

[bmwman91]

Haha I think I may see how that could be.

Looks like the car is gonna be getting back to stock height real soon here, too.

[bmwman91]

Since this incident I have pulled the pan, cleaned it & repaired it (well, until I get a replacement). I carefully pressed all the metal back into place (the hole was larger than it appears from the picture, a fair amoutn had bent up inside of it). After more cleaning I applied JB Weld over the affected area. At least I was only 100 miles away from my next oil change! No JB weld inside of it though...I do not want it popping off from thermal expansion cycling and getting into my lubrication system!

Anyway, why did it not leak when I got out & checked it? I left the car running when I hopped out. The hole was still relatively small. The oil pan is part of the PCV system. So, the engine vacuum was enough to keep the oil in there (vacuum is highest at idle anyway is it not?). Luckily I was going really easy on the gas. Had I equalized the crankcase pressure for an extended period a LOT would have dumped out while running. Air was undoubtedly getting in there as well while the vacuum was high, so reving would have frothed the oil and sucked air bubbles into my oiling passages. Thanks St. Christopher, yet again!

[bmwman91]

Alrighty, an OEM skidplate has been ordered up & should be arriving by 8/15. Whee. From what I understand, it does not simply bolt up...it requires some drilling & crush-fasteners. The hell with that. I am buying some grage 12.9 bolts, cutting the heads off and welding them to the crossmember/front frame.

[aaron_silva]

I had a similar incident when I hit a patch of failed pavement on my way to work. Luckily, my coworker is good friends with a welder.

Before:
http://www.yellowlightman.com/dmc/gallery/albums/userpics/10037/IMG_1341.JPG

After:
http://www.yellowlightman.com/dmc/gallery/albums/userpics/10037/IMG_1352.JPG

An interesting note. I found a bolt sliding around the inside of the pan. If you look closely you can see that the threads of the bolt left an inpression in the pan. Also, the stop and go motion left "wear" marks.

BTW- My girlfriend just graduated from UOP and is attending graduate school there.

Aaron

[bmwman91]

The bolt thing (and the marks) are actually really common. I have seen it on like 4 other cars (mine included). I wish I had a talk of 100% Argon, rather than the Ar + CO2 mix, for my MIG unit. I cannot do Aluminum right now, damn.

What's her name? She in the Education program? I know a bunch of ladies in it (I am engineering myself, but somehow met a bunch of Ed folks). I just finished my 4th year (of 5), so I might know her.

[FL318is]

Alrighty, an OEM skidplate has been ordered up & should be arriving by 8/15. Whee. From what I understand, it does not simply bolt up...it requires some drilling & crush-fasteners. The hell with that. I am buying some grage 12.9 bolts, cutting the heads off and welding them to the crossmember/front frame.


Do you have the PN for the OEM skidplate. Florida city roads usually have huge dips for flood water drainage.

[aaron_silva]

Here name is Kimberly Hawk. She was in the Sports Med program. She is now doing Pharmacy school to be a legal drug dealer.

What type of engineering? I am in my 5th in Civil.

Aaron

[bmwman91]

I am doing mechanical (the engineers that make the things that blow up the targets civil's build).

Haha we have met actually, when you were visiting your GF in the quad's or something. I remember the car seen in your sig. You were parked in the pool parking lot. I was checking it out and you must have seen someone snooping around the car. We BS'ed a little when you realized I was not a townie trying to steal it or something. I thought you were gonna do an S50 swap or something. Small world...

Nope, your GF's name does not ring a bell, somewhat surprisingly. I also knew a number of AT/Sport Sciences ladies too. Who knows.

[aaron_silva]

Yeah, very small world. Yes, M50 swap. Still in the works but moving very slow.

Aaron

[silverblades181]

Alrighty, an OEM skidplate has been ordered up & should be arriving by 8/15. Whee. From what I understand, it does not simply bolt up...it requires some drilling & crush-fasteners. The hell with that. I am buying some grage 12.9 bolts, cutting the heads off and welding them to the crossmember/front frame.

How much for an OEM skidplate? Was it available from the dealer? If not where did you get it?

[bmwman91]

I got it from Pelican Parts. $240 shipped.

Beware, installation is NOT simple. It requires drilling out some existing holes and drilling a couple new ones in the chassis. You will need rivet-nuts to secure this thing as there is NO way to get fasteners up in these places. To get the rivet nuts to crush in place, you will need either a special $40 tool from wherever sells the nuts (I used McMaster Carr online...some knurled M10x1 ones). I opted to make my own tooling...but I have a machine shop at my disposal and a MIG welder. Actually I just got it in like an hour ago. I will put a writeup in the suspension section. Cheers!

[nickmpower]

damn, you should have just made one like mine!

[bmwman91]

Oh trust me I though about doing that quite seriously.

I figured that, in the end, I was gonna try & copy the factory design. I would be needing special flat bar with a channel formed in the middle like the members in the OEM unit, and something like that would be hard to find, and likely pricey. I also would have tried to find a spring-alloy to make it from to take abuse. $$$.

So, I figured I would save myself the headache & just drop some $ on one. I had my reservations about using solid plate like yours as I was thinking it MIGHT inhibit oil cooling. The oil pan is an important part of cooling the oil via convection, and I did not want to have a solid lip in front of it blocking air flow. You had any problems? OK, no more discussion of it in here...I must save it for the thread I am going to make!!!