gadget Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Folks, Another job on my list of never ending jobs is to sort out the diff pan on my front axle. It's got a small hole right at the lower edge of the pan. A question for the weldists amongst you. Bearing in mind that i've only got an old 120A arc welder and i'm an absolute beginner with welding, should I be able to weld up the hole without blowing an even bigger hole? Any tricks of the trade I should know about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyC Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 No need to weld. Buy a small tube of metal PUTTY...clean the area with brake cleaner or white spiriit and push in..sets as hard as you'll ever need...only a fiver from Halfrauds :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Idris Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Above sounds the best. You could chase the hole for ages with weld. And risk getting splatter on the crown wheel. Either than or get a HD cover fitted, bearing in mind the OE are too thin anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadget Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 I've got some JBWeld somewhere, is that the kind of metal putty you had in mind? I'll drain the axle and clean up the pan and see what kind of hole is underneath all the carp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Cut your losses and buy a repalcement pan. You can get them to act as a diff guard too from the likes of Gwyn Lewis or Gigglepin I think. Then just chop the old pan off and weld on the new one.If you have a small hole you can be certain the metal around the hole is wafer thin and will blow the minute you look at it. Then you will have oil contamination to deal with and a bigger hole to repair! I did this on my old 90 after the front diff guard (QT bolt on) lost a fight with a hidden tree stump (repeatedly!! . I too am a novice welder but I managed to make it oil tight. Best best is to take the axle off the car and put it on the bench. Makes it so much easier and it doesn't actually take that long to take it off the vehicle - I did it on my own too. Once you have welded it on, fill the pan with diesel first to check for any leaks - it will find them better and faster than EP90! If you are worried that your welder hasn't got the umph then preheat the assembly with a gas torch to help it along. Sounds like a lot of work, but you can do it comfortably in a day, half that if you have a handy helper on the spanners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadget Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 I don't think I have sufficient skill to weld a new pan on. What thickness is the original pan, 3mm-ish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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