it's pretty easy. You must live somewhere where the highway department is well paid and very responsible. I've nearly done it two different times on railroad tracks. Around here they don't level things out.

When i cracked mine, it was on a thing that was advertised as a crosswalk on the yellow signs. Crosswalks to me are flat brick things laid into the pavement. Some fool built these... i'ts LITERALLY... take a sidewalk (standard concrete sidewalk) and stack another one on top of it... that tall. They put a narrow little slope up each side of it, and slap the whole thing down on a steep hill. Going up, the car nearly bottoms out on the stupid thing in the middle. Going down... well, we know what happens. I literally have to be under 5 mph to avoid repeating the experiment.

if you ask me there's no excuse for building something like that. I'll take a picture of the scrapes in the road right against that thing where other people have done the same thing I did.

If they had put up a yellow sign that said "car killing obstacle in road" or even "speed bump" i'd be happy... but they deliberately put up a crosswalk sign just like they have for the flat ones, with no extra notification.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Drove down and swapped the oil pan on the street today. Piece of cake except the new one didn't quite want to align there and required some whacking to match the holes.

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'81 M-B 240D 4-speed 132Kmi
'98 BMW 528i 5-speed/sport 125Kmi
'93 VW Eurovan GL 5-speed 166Kmi
'00 Hon RC51
'04 Suz SV650 track dog
'89 Yam FZR250R

"I don't understand how people crack the oil pans in these cars."

It is very easy.

Just drive in a Western state without storm sewers. Roads are very crowned to create drainage long the curb. Hit an intersection at the right speed and even with new shocks you can hit bottom coming over the crown and diving into the gutter on the other side. I can think of at least ten intersections around here that show dozens of oil-pan scrapes in the pavement.

I happened to me. I knew I hit bottom hard at the time, but the engine actually ran much smoother after the hit. Drove another mile to work with no trouble. A few hours later, someone came in and told me my car was leaking all over the parking lot. Why did it have to be 8 quarts?

The maintenance department had some putty that was like a jelly roll. You break the plastic between the grey and black putties, mix, and it works like a very thick J-B Weld. I used that to fix the leak until I could find a good oilpan.

I could only find one through the stealer for about $125. Since mine wasn't leaking, I forgot about it after about a week. A year later, I was getting a few drops of oil whenever I parked, so I went looking again for a used oilpan and got one for $20.

Lesson: Don't panic. You can do a good temporary repair if you drain all the oil and clean the area around the leak.

Lesson two: If the upcoming road has a one foot dip before a two foot crown, the other side in going to be a mother.

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1983 300SD "Guderian"
1987 MR2
2015 Camry
2015 Chevy Spark
2006 Hyundai Tucson

I got caught by surprise by a particularly nasty rail crossing in my fintail and hit the pan hard on landing. It crushed the metal enough that I couldn't get my drain plug out.

That was thirty five years ago.

I recently had to repair the pan on the 280e when it fell off the trailer and mashed in the pan a bit too.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

On my 240D there is a mount or cushion on the center of the pan that mounts to the crossmember. Is that really necessary to have? does my 300D turbo have it too? I've heard of people having the pan crack there too.

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1984 280SEL, 62,000 miles
Euro model in the USA
1983 300D (Totaled out 10/2004)
New Factory Mint Green paint
Palomino int
1982 240D (Steak dinner for two)

Hello All,

We have the crowned streets here too and also lots of hills. I SHATTERED the front of the pan on my 86 300 SDL, fortunately noticed it because of the oil level float switch. Bottoming out here is very common so I did not think much of it right away.

I had to hoist the engine off the mounts to remove it. Having my own welding shop allowed me to repair the pan and for good measure add about a quarter inch by one inch buildup of aluminum all along the leading edge of the pan.

Long story short, a year later it's leaking again, I look at the pan and all my reenforcement is ground away and there is a couple of pinhole leaks.

Removing and repairing and reinstalling the pan was a hideous pain in the @ss and I never want to do it again, so I was being very gentle with every curb cut, traffic calming device and street transition. Yet it is happening again. So I have to do it all again.

I tried to find one of those skid plates last year and had no luck. This time I am going to make one and would be willing to make more for others.

Does anyone have a picture of the original MB one? Otherwise I am just going to design my own.

Take Care,
Dan

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Dan

86 300 SDL
New odometer gears, new rubber fuel lines, removed and plated EGR, redone underhood vacuum system, BoostValve on the turbo, IPod only sound system, changed a couple of window motors, refinished the console wood, changed a couple of switches, removed welded and replaced my oilpan after I cracked it (driving like an idiot), new glowplugs, new/used glowplug relay, sunroof repaired, antique brass boost gauge on the hood.