Well, the car is in the shop now. Apparently I blew up the rear sway bar somehow, and it needs shocks. This isn't a big deal beacuse i was going to do suspension sometime anyway, and now's my chance. But, also I'm leaking oil due to a bad oil pan gasket. The guy said it's a $15 piece, but $300 worth of labor to get to it. Is this true? Could I do it easily myself? I searched and read someone said to seal it, should I tell him to do that instead? What is involved with changing the gasket? Thanks guys.

~brian

 

you either have to drop the front suspension or lift the motor. it's really not that hard IF you have the tools.

 

what? the oil pan is EASY to get to. You just need to jack up the car and unbolt it after draining the oil. It certianly does not take 300 dollars worth of labor to do it. The main hassle is sealing the gasket. Just slide the pan forward after unbolting it.

Seriously, PIECE OF CAKE.

 

Agreed

Most mechanics just charge rediculous amounts of money for labor...
One mechanic quoted me 4 hours of labor for 250 USD. It took me 3 hours to fix it, and I did it without all the sophisticated tools they have.

FS

 

Thanks for the replies, so how much time would it take to do the replacement?

 

Have you tried simply tightening the bolts? Just use a little 10mm wrench and some elbow grease. Worked on my bro's GSL-SE and my REPU. Don't overtighten!

 

yea, mine was leaking a bit, then i tightened them. no more leak.....from the pan. hahaha. oil cooler what???

 

I snapped a few in my time, and I was puttin girlie torque on them! They are delicate flowers, dont overtighten them ***** for sure! I have temp fixed oil pan leaks by sealing around the outside of teh pan, but you gotta get it squeaky clean for the sealant to stick, its actually easier to drop teh pan and seal it. Unless its just from one spot.

 

I don't really know much about that stuff, and I don't wanna **** the car up. I guess I'll just pay him to do it. It's better to pay now and not have to worry about it later. Thx for the help guys.

 

but dude, that's alot OF MONEY!

 

do it your self you would save alot of bones$$$

 

yea man, i say doit yourself and spend the 300 buck son tools (if u dont have any) or other stuff for you car. then it will be justified!! :]

 

Working/sealing on an oil pan on a car is probably one of the more easier things that you can do. I also have an oil pan leak and i tightened the bolts, but haven't driven it since so i am not sure if it still leaks or not. If it still does i will just take it off and sand it all down and shine it up and then put this Napa stuff called "the right stuff" and it replaces the gasket with pretty much just gooey sealant. Says better than the OEM actual gaskets.

Zachstylez

 

Jack the car up, drain the oil, remove all the pan bolts (some are harder to get to than others but it can be done), slide the pan so you can remove it, scrape all the old gasket material off, clean the pan, put a little grease or vaseline on the pan, line up the new gasket onto the pan, slide it back up on there, put the bolts back in starting from the inside bolts of each side and crisscross your way around the pan. Tighten them by hand and then work around the pan tightening them to 5-7 ft lb's torque. Depending on the tools you have you may have to remove some steering components.

 

wow ok easiest job ever! this is what you do.
put a jack under the engine, probably back towards the trani. undo the 2 nuts that hold the engine mount down. real easy. then jack the jack up and watch the engine rise up but the car stay on the ground. undo your bolts, pull the pan out, clean it off put the new gasket on put the bolts on (gently, they break real easy), let the jack down, put the nuts back on and tighten them down. all done. takes maybe 2 hours if you don't do a lot of engine work. it could be done in an hour if you tried. i've done it before. grow some ***** and do your own dirty work.

 

yea unbolt the pan, with the car on ramps, and remove the oil pickup tube...clean install new gasket install on car... a few hours work at home.... just make sure you have a SMALL(short) 10mm ratchet i had a 1/4 drive set and a 3/8. and yes mechanics tend to *** rape the rotorheads... a local shop said 1800$ to replace a front cover gasket and they do TONS of rotor work. i said 600... it is a fd after all, but this also included a oil pan gasket and front mail seal and oil change

 

Amen... i hate being mean to people who don't do their own work either because they are a newb or just plain lazy because i am a semi-newb myself, but doing your own work on your car is about the most valuable thing you can do as far as car knowledge. This is a semi-time consuming, but very easy job that would be great to start a campaign of doing your own work.
Barely any mechanic will be able to help you anyways later on when you have a REAL problem.

Zachstylez