I had to remove my oil pan rear grommets in order to degrease and remove a metric ton of build up from the rear area of the oil pan while changing out the oil pan gasket (old one had a tear in one of the corners and was leaking badly), but they appear to be "swollen" with age and are impossible to try to get back in place. I say "swollen" because they're easily 1/4"+ larger than the holes in the oil pan. One was slightly dislodged when I took them out to do the degreasing and cleaning - could have been from the PO?

Is there a trick to getting them back in place, because elbow grease and a little lubricant is not working. Do you just need to buy new ones that are not "swollen" with age? Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.

 

Just buy new ones. they are fairly cheap. Part number ERR7229.

 

Well that's a hell of a coincidence...

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...-front-101898/

I can't get mine back in for love or money.
I do enjoy how all attempts to get it back in involve crap falling directly into my eyes.
This is the right spot, yes?

 

JUKE179r - I figured that would be the easiest. I was simply trying to avoid the week wait for them to arrive. Oh, well.

Fallstaff - Absolutely. If your's are like mine, then there's little, to no chance of getting them back in. I even have the oil pan off the vehicle and can't get them back in.

 

Going to order this evening.
What are the risks of running without it in?
Obviously no wading...

 

No significant risk to running without it, mostly a solution for prevent mud and debris entering the area. Water would have no significant effect. That said, there is a trick for unswelling rubber swollen by oil. Does not work everytime, but works some time. Put it out in sun with lots of air circulation to evaporate the oil out of it. I put mine in a basket on top of my air conditioning unit for the house. It sits on the west side of the house in full sun, all day.

Good luck.

 

Like Extinct mentioned... no risk. I've had one missing since 2016 when I first bought it and I've been off-roading and green laying a quite a few times with no problems.
I recently got off my @ss and bought a grommet and installed it. Easy peasy...