O4 Alero 2.2 Busted trans pan

General Discussion
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1

Following behind a box truck on the interstate and its drive shaft fell off, I had no choice but to run over it. It busted up the trans pan pretty good and even got the cat a little too.

My concern is the mounting surface on the trans where the pan gasket seals, it has a small gash where one of the pan bolts got sheared off. I’ve already removed the pan and filter and extracted the 2 sheared pan bolts.

My plan is to sand down the damaged surface area and apply a special transfercase gasket maker sealant in hope that it won’t leak.

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2

Why is this car not in a shop being fixed on the box trucks insurance ?

If his drive line fell out, it’s not like he didn’t stop.

You both had to get towed away from the scene.

3

With 300k miles the cars not worth much. I don’t mind doing the repair for $100, it gives me something to do.
There where a dozen or more other vehicles that got disabled behind me that hit it too. I’m sure there insurance will pay dearly.

4

A little extra RTV on that spot will fix that right up.

2 Likes
5

You should still file a claim (if it’s not too late) and get paid for your time.

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6

Dude, did you also take a grinder to that spot where the bolt sheared off . . . ?!

Or was all that damage from the box van’s drive shaft . . . ?!

Good on your for drilling and extracting :+1:

A LOT of guys mess that up and wind up digging themselves an even bigger hole

According to my source(s) . . . the original pan gasket is reusable. So unless it got lost over the years, I’d reuse that, versus the cheapo gaskets that usually come in the filter kit

Where are you getting a new pan . . . ?

Rockauto?

junkyard?

7

No I didn’t grind it, that’s damage from the drive shaft. The pan gasket is to damage to be reused.

I ordered a new Acdelco pan online.

I think what made things worse was I had just picked up 400 lbs of plate weights for my home gym and was squatting quite a bit.

8

I would just clean up any high spots with a disc sander and use RTV. No sense making it smooth, the RTV will work better with some structure to grab onto anyway. Just be sure the metal is clean from oil residue, apply the RTV in the damaged area before installing the pan and new gasket.

9

So here is the damaged area all cleaned up. Parts should be in today.

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1 Like
10

Did you order a reusable style gasket . . . ?

A little more expensive, but well worth it, in my opinion

It doesn’t look that catastrophic in the 2nd picture . . . I wonder if the new gasket might take up those imperfections without additional sealer

Good job drilling and extracting that bolt . . . did you order a trans pan bolt, or are you just using something else that will thread in?

11

Nah I got a cheap gasket with the filter kit.

I found some bolts at O’Reilly’s that work perfect.
I did apply some sealant to the damaged area.

I’m going to let it sit and cure for 24 hours before adding the fluid back.

Thanks, got to punch center of the bolt before drilling it out. Don’t waste your money on the cheap drill bits they won’t last two seconds on those hard grade bolts.

4 Likes
12

You ever try left-handed drill bits . . . ?

Sometimes the broken bolts come out with the drill in reverse without even busting out the extractor

I think your Alero is literally the last of the line, as I think 2004 was the last model year for Oldsmobile

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13

It seems that you dodged a bullet, if an insurance company were to get involved you would now have a salvage vehicle.

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14

Right, the car is old with lots of miles, it would have sit in a shop forever waiting on repairs.

Just put 60 miles on it and the gasket seems to be holding up nicely, no sign of any leaks.

Towing cost 75 Parts cost 110
ATF cost $40

Total cost for running over a drive shaft $225

1 Like
15

Right on . . . !

:+1:

16

Hopefully you will get money back from the truck driver.