how hard is it to change? what would i have to take off in order to do this beside the oil pan itself?

 

why do you want to change it to begin with? but yes all you have to do is take off the pan, scrape off the excess material on the block and on the pan, use some gasket sealer and put it all back together. but why?

 

Cobra, you forgot something. This changes it from easy to hard

-motor mount-

Unless you remove it, or lift it, etc, you aint gonna get the pan off...

 

i need to change it cuz its old and leaking from it.

 

WHY???!!! Maybe its one of the main oil leaks on all 2nd gens.

Ummm... yeah, from under the car, lossen the bolts just a bit. Then lift the motor from the tranny...ie jack the tranny up a bit to free the weight of the engine off the bolts from the mount. 21 small pan bolts. 3 Big bolts that attach the mount to the engine. One bolt under the mount (To remove the whole mount). When you put your gasket back on, make sure to apply a bead of gasket maker to the rim INSIDE the bolt holes. Then the gasket, then another bead. It will leak again if you tighten the small pan bolts too tight, I believe the torque specs are something like 7-10 lbs. I might be wrong, but I tightened mine with that screw driver tool that you can attach sockets to. The other 3 need to be tight, since they hold the engine.

 

Cant you just seal it with gasket maker? It's not exactly a high pressure area IIRC.

 

I'd use a gasket. Ive heard enough people say that even when using a gasket, its still a miracle if it doesnt leak. Besides its only $15 bucks.

 

its a little hard getting to the bolts on the oil pan thats facing the front of the car. how did you get it bigdv? i tried useing a open wrench but it seems like the oil pan had a lil bent in it that pervents the wrench to be on the bolt fully

 

I totally forgot about that. What I did was loosen the transmission mounts. I had to jack the engine and tranny up pretty high. The tranny was touching the firewall. Be patient, it took me a few minutes to get those front ones out, but I eventually did, as will you. Try to find a quarter inch rachet and a short 10mm socket. You might also try going in from the top with the wrench, but you might have to remove the fan shroud so try the bottom way first. Remember that once you get them loose, you can get em out by hand. Also remember to tighten back up the tranny mount.

 

We don't need no stinking pan gasket. An appropriate sized bead of silicone has treated me right twice so far. No leaks.

 

I still think using a gasket plus the sealent is the best choice.

I think the majority of leaks is caused by an 'untrue' oil pan mating surface with the block. If there are any warps or bends, its gonna leak. I would think that if you overtighten the bolts with the gasket on there, your gonna bend it ever so slightly and it will slowly seep out.

Personally if I have to change it, I'll be buying a new pan, gasket and torque it to exact specifications.

 

Excellent point. You've got to make sure the pan is straight.

I never torque anything close to that small. Who has a torque wrench that's accurate down there anyway?

 

Heh, well i'd certainly do my best to get one down there and torque it, if I want to avoid leaks.

 

Here's the problem with using a gaskett...... It settles...... The reasone that most of us don't use a gaskett is that the friggin cork ones will compress, and then you have to re-set all of the oil pan bolts or it will leak. If you get a rubber gaskett, you should be OK... If you have a cork one... don't even bother or it will leak again, real quick...

I've never had a problem just using a bead of the Grey RTV that comes with the engine kits!!!

 

I think the RB one is rubber.

At least it looks and feels like rubber, lol, i know its not cork.

 

Isn't that a yearly replacement though? I thought oil makes the rubber shrink after time..