bent oil pan -- problem??

[aggiedave98]

I tried to replace my engine mounts on my '89 suburban, but could not get the engine to line up for one of them... so I had to reluctantly take it to a shop to replace that one (I put the old one back on...). Well, the got the new on one, but when I was changing the oil yesterday, I noticed the bent the crap out of my oil pan!!!

I saw them doing the work and they had the truck on the lift and used a really tall "jack stand" type thing that's adjustable to push up the engine... You can see the mark where it indented the oil pan. I imagine that because I had a problem aligning the engine, they pushed too hard on it with that support.

The pan seems to be pushed in about 1/2"??? It's hard to describe, but it's pushed-in in an irregular pattern. Is that a problem. The manual says not to support the engine by the pan because it can push into the oil pan.

**Also, do I have any recourse with the shop?? How do I "prove" they did this?? Is there anything I can do??

[Tx Firefighter]

Lots of pans are creased, crushed, or bent. Sorry to hear yours joined the ranks.

It's not technically right, but as long as it's not leaking, impeding with the drain plug, or smashed up against the pickup tube, it should be fine. Technically, it's wrong, but I'd estimate 25% of the oil pans in these trucks are beat up.

When you have it off someday, beat it back into shape with a piece of wood and a hammer.

And, don't take it back to that shop again. Think about it this way, would you want to risk them replacing your oil pan under warranty if they damaged it doing a simple motor mount swap? Who knows what other, possily larger, problems they'd create.

[piecesparts]

If the bent up part of the pan is on the lower half where the pan is well below the crank, then the only fear would be if it is dented up to thepoint that it is blocking off the oil pickup tube. If the dent is truly a 1/2 inch, then there is probably no problem at all. As Tx Firefighter stated, there a lot of dented oill pans in the world. As for going back to the shop; you can tell them that their work was completed, but you are not satisfied with the denting of your oil pan while doing the work. This will be a consideration when you make a decision on who gets to do work for you in the future. They can never improve, unless they know that they screwed up. Don't let them work on it again, is my suggestion. If they challenge you on the dented pan, you were just under there yourself and who should know more about your truck than you.

[aggiedave98]

Thanks guys. Yeah, it sounds pretty minor compared to what you guys are saying.... It's mostly dented near the drain plug.

Yeah, I'll say something to them but probably won't be able to do much about it. Thanks!