I did something stupid. Halp.

[thegreatdivorce]

When I say stupid, I mean like, totally brain dead.

Was installing my Spidertrax, and as I went to jack the front up, my IQ had a sudden drop of about 150 points. I jacked the truck up by the oil pan, not the damn crossmember. I saw the hole in the skidplate and just derped it up. I'd never jacked the truck up, except on a lift. No excuses though.

How bad did I just **** myself? There doesn't appear to be a leak. Some oil sheen around the drain plug, but no drips or runs. No cracks that I can see, but a pretty sizable dent. I've been afraid to start the motor, though. Should I? Can I drive it? I was going to try to drive it to a shop / stealership and get a new oil pan put in. It's about due for an oil change anyway. Any guesses as to the $damage?

Wife was unimpressed by my skills. :sobbing:

 

[imboredeveryday]

ah if it aint leakin dont worry about it

 

[stevec5000]

ah if it aint leakin dont worry about it

Yeah I'd say if it isn't leaking leave it alone and don't do it again.

 

[03L4RUNNER]

I would be more concerned about the stress you just applied to the engine. The vehicle weighs about 5000lbs so you just put roughly 2500lbs of force on that small oil pan.

Think about the oil pan gasket, it could have compressed and will come loose or even crack. The dent you created will result in less pan capacity, might be a neglible amount but still.

If it were me, I would 100% replace the oil pan as cheap insurance. If it were designed to have a huge dent in it, then toyota would of taken a BFH to it in the first place.

But if you dont want to replace the pan, you can at least take it off and remove the dent. Rockauto has oil pan gaskets for less than $10.

I dont mean to come across as anal but just hate to see newer members being misled by others saying "sure leave it like that" or it "should work I guess" or "just run it and see"

 

[Toyotadude88]

I would recommend not starting the engine. The oil pump pickup my be damaged or unable to draw oil and cause oil starvation. This can cause serious engine damage.

The lower oil pan may be fairly easy to remove and repair or replace. Make sure to check the oil pickup while the pan is off and replace if necessary.

Here is a link to Village Toyota with a diagram of the pan and oil pickup.

ENGINE OVERHAUL GASKET KIT. Fits: 2006 TOYOTA 4Runner SR-5 4000CC 24-VALVE DOHC EFI, AUTOMATIC 5-SPEED | Village Toyota Parts

 

[Toyotadude88]

Heres another link to Village Toyota with a diagram of the engine and the lower oil pan.

CYLINDER BLOCK. Fits: 2006 TOYOTA 4Runner SR-5 4000CC 24-VALVE DOHC EFI, AUTOMATIC 5-SPEED | Village Toyota Parts

 

[inscarguy]

:iagree:

 

[Mellow77]

I definitely would drop the pan, assess the damage (hopefully nothing else is wrong) and replace with a new pan.

Accomplishes your neededoil change and it will give you a good piece of mind that you didn't do any permanent damage.

 

[Sungod]

I also agree with toyotadude. It may be a hassle, and you are probably ok, but for the peace of mind take a look. The risk is far to great not to do so.

 

[thegreatdivorce]

Thanks guys. I'm definitely planning on replacing the pan. My main concern was starting the motor to get it to a shop. Unless it's easy to drop the pan? At this point my confidence in my mechanical skills is not great. It looks fairly simple though.

If I could drive it 10-12 miles, I could get it into a shop.

If I take it out myself, is the process about like changing the oil? Drain the oil via the drain plug, drop the skids, drop the pan, assess damage?

 

[BCfish]

If your not sure just have it towed to the shop not worth causing costly damage to the engine. Cause from what I under stand you have to pretty much remove the engine if not at least lift it up to remove the oil pan I'm sure some one that has done it can confirm or deny if that's the case.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

I would think that once the skid plate was removed the pan could be easily removed but it is hard to tell from the picture. Once removed just pound the dent out with a block of wood and a big hammer and reinstall it.

 

[thegreatdivorce]

IIRC, the 2nd and 3rd gens required jacking up the engine, or removing the front diff, or something crazy, to drop the oil pan.

It LOOKS like this should come down and out easily just by removing the skids. There appears to be plenty of room. Anyone who's done this, or knows for sure?

 

[03_4x4Runner]

It looks like the pan is a very small pan, not like the big oil pans that cover the whole bottom of the engine like a small block chevy etc. The biggest part of the oil pan on the 4.0 is now the structural part of the engine with this small pan on the rear section. I would think it would easily come off.

I just looked under my 03 V8. The V8 uses a full size pan which would be hard to take off. The V6 uses a mini pan which would be easy. Do you have the V6 orV8?

 

[thegreatdivorce]

I have the V6, fortunately (in this case.) Just had a shop order the parts. Going in for a fix on Friday. $380 parts and labor. Figured I'd rather have them do it right. Thanks for looking! I appreciate the help.