Well, I was just going to install my new oil pump after cleaning up the front cover, and noticed this...





I already know the answer to this, but there's no way to repair this, right? I'm stuck buying a new front cover, aren't I?

 

Pretty sure I have a stripped down bare front cover from a 99-02 D2 in my shop (no oil pump, or front seal). I won't be able to verify that until the inbound Hurricane Laura does it's thing.

 

Thanks. I believe the '03-'04 uses a different cover than prior years. Some '02's might fit depending on VIN, but it seems there was a small change. Stay safe and let me know after the storm passes, including the VIN if you have that info.

 

99-02 has the guts/valves for an oil cooler vs the 03-04 which does not. The actual front cover casing or main body is the same. Only other difference is the second drilled out hole above the oil pressure sending unit. On the 99-02 it's not drilled out (silver plug above the sending unit in your pic). Since it's just a 100% bare unit just transfer over all your hardware and you should be good to go. Besides that zero differences in them.

 

Best4x4 - Cant tell you how much I appreciate that information, and this forum in general! Off to the junkyard now to see if one is intact on a vehicle they have there.

 

No problem at all!

 

Hard to tell from picture, but are you sure that's a crack? I'd spray it with some brake clean and see if it transfers through to the other side of housing. Looks more like a small defect in manufactoring of front cover to me, especially the ones in a sun burst pattern, l assume your showing us, in the entire cover pictures. Aluminum can have some pretty weird looking imperfections during the molding method, and they can appear to be cracks...when in reality...they are not. You will see tons of similar imperfections, if you disassemble a transmission housing. Spray it down and see.

 

The Deputy - Thanks for the advice and comment. Unfortunately, it's definitely cracked. On the positive side, after Best4x4's comments I spent yesterday at a local junkyard disassembling a Disco they had, and managed to come away with a replacement:



Now to degrease, clean up, and hope it's in working order. I did manage to take the oil pump cover plate off, and the oil pump has no cracks and seems to be in good shape. Unknown mileage on the donor Disco, so I'm not sure if I should plan on using this oil pump, or if I should replace it? Anyone have any advice on signs of wear, or ideas on how to visually inspect to know you should replace it? Thanks.

 

I'd install new oil pump gears & pick the oil pump cover with the less amount of wear.