Disadvantage to living in the snow belt. Snow = salt on roads = rust = big problems. The oil pan has rusted thru and is leaking oil. I isolated the exact source of the leak. Just to the right and above the drain plug. The pan is soft and I can push in that area and drops of oil come out. I looked at the possibility of dropping the pan and installing a new one. The front diff has to drop. There are two members on each side of the block that have to come off in order to gain access to the pan bolts. In order to remove the left member the pre-heat cat has to come out. Given the rust and corrosion in there after 8 years I can guarantee that you'll destroy the cat trying to pull it out.

I'm not willing to sink this amount of time/money into it. So I'm looking at another possibility. Anyone chime in if you think I'm nuts or this won't work....

Drain the oil. Install drain plug. Then wire brush as much of the pan as possible down to bare metal. Clean it with solvent. Patch all suspicious areas with JB Weld. Let it sit for several days. Then spray paint with a heavy duty epoxy paint. Let dry then refill with oil and hope for the best.

Luckily the Sportage isn't a daily driver so I can afford to not drive it.

it sounds feesable, just how big is the rust spot? you said you could push a finger through it(sounds bad). i've used JB Weld on my gas tank and it held for about 3 days. of course a gas tank has more pressure than an oil pan. if it were me, i'd give it a try. if it doesn't work, then you know your other option. the only thing i would worry about is the rust on the inside of the pan. it could do some serious damage to the internal parts.

JB weld seems to respond better to oil than gasoline. I have a Yamaha 550 dirt bike that we managed to break a 5" chunk of the crank case off!
I cleaned it thoroughly and JB'd it. Clamped it together tightly and let it dry for a week.
That was 5 years ago, it's still not leaking oil and it gets lots of heat and abuse trail riding.

it looks like you have my sporty. I didn't have any problems dropping my oil pan at all. what I did aweak ago was suggested by a friend. I wire brushed the pan clean and painted a rust eater chemical on it left it overnight the next day I sanded it clean again (600 grit wet paper) dried it than used a body fiberglass repair kit to thicken up the week side. 2 coats body primmer paint 3 coats black paint. put it the oven 100 degrees 30 minutes.the next day put back on. ps my WIFE is still mad at me for useing her oven

When I changed my oilpan couple of years ago (that yea size rock) it was a tight fit but I didn't have to drop the front diff. is it posible that the pan shape changed over the years?
I bought my OEM oilpan from KIA for $52, but that was a couple of years ago.

edit:: just looked up. gone up $10 in price.

What about loosening the motor mounts and jacking the motor up a couple inches away from the diff, then if more space is needed undoing the 3 big mount bolts for the front diff and dropping it another inch or so?

The easy way to do it would be drain the oil out of the old pan and then cut hack pull and pry it out w/o doing anything.

Source another pan from a jy and then move stuff as you have to in order to get the new pan in.

There are a couple sportages at the local jy if you need a pan sourced (given they still have motors and intact pans).

Solder a patch over the area, this is an old fashoned fix but it works great.

I would vote for this solution....

Yes, sounds like a great excuse to add a cool looking "skid plate" to the bottom of the pan.
Would it be ill advised to weld on the pan while it's still on the motor?....< not a expierenced welder?

Years ago I put a rock through an old Holden Ute [ GM pickup to you on the other side of the world ] and got my father to patch it up with an oxy torch and some welding skills.Same situation, couldn't drop the sump because of the cross member. It involved using a patch over the hole as it was quite large. If you have the equipment, make it out of metal and you won't have to worry about it falling off over time. It did smoke a bit with the remaining oil but I never looked back after that episode, just drove confidently knwoing it was as good as gold. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />