Ford 4600 (or any Ford 3 cyl) oil pan

[Andy4600]

Hi,

I need to replace my oil pan on a 4600 Ford Diesel due to some unfortunate encounters with some large brush when brushhogging, causing a leak. I ordered an aftermarket pan, and the thing is painted blue inside the pan...at least on the gasket surface and sidewalls. The bottom isn't painted, but has a brown varnish type coating.

Is the paint on the gasket surface normal? I am thinking of returning the pan, and just getting one from New Holland. At least that should be as designed, although over 3x the price of the aftermarket. My fear is the paint breaking loose over time and damaging the engine. Where the original pans painted like this? I haven't removed the old one yet, as the leak is very small (think drop per hour), and the tractor is still functional, so I don't know what the inside of my pan looks like.

Thanks.

 

[RickB]

How about removing the paint?

 

[Andy4600]

I have considered that. However, there are a few straight line imperfections (from inside to outside) on the gasket surface of the pan that I am not fond of. Granted an oil pan is a low pressure system, but I don't want to start out with a potential leak path. Once I remove the paint, the pan is mine...so I am gathering as much information as I can. I know there are a lot of these aftermarket pans out there, so I was wondering how others were dealing with them.