so i have an oil leak and finally got an oil pan brace (HIGHLY REGRET NOT DOING IT THE FIRST AND SECOND TIME AROUND)... so im gonna go ahead and reseal it with the brace but im not 100% sure whats required to drop the subframe...

can someone just summerize this for me?
i know how to remove the subframe
i have the engine support bar to hold the engine up

is the point of this just to lower the subframe to provide clearance or to completely remove the subframe?
do i need to unbolt the steering rack?
LCA?

thanks
-benny

 

you could do it either way (remove it completely or just lower it) either way you will need to support the engine with your bar, and you'll need to pull both lower control arms to gain access to the big bolt in the rear. might as well go ahead and pull it out completely, you're already 90% of the way there, and it'll just make the job easier, and you could clean and paint your sub frame while its out. not that anyone will see your nice new paint job.

 

Just make sure the engine is safely supported, you'll be doing a lot of work underneath.

It's also a good idea to disconnect the intercooler pipes and intake pipes, since most times you end up moving the engine up or down during the process. This will let the engine move more freely.

I agree, go ahead and take the whole subframe out. The steering rack can stay, just undo the bolts that hold it to the subframe and let it hang. This way you can clean up the rack as it's probably caked with oil and grime from the leaky oil pan gasket.

Dale

 

It would be better to just seperate the engine & transmission, then pull the motor.

Also you don't have to worry about an alignment after.

+ you can do some cleaning while the engine is out.

These cars are so easy to pull the motor, I don't see the need deal with the subframe.

 

I don't know about the op but not everyone has a place to put a pulled engine or the tools to do so. I live in an apartment and there are certain things a person can't do in an apartment parking spot.

If I had the room, I'd certainly recommend just pulling it. That being said, I don't.


If you're set on dropping the frame at all, then I suppose the job would be of better quality if you just dropped it all together. Although make sure you've figured out how to get it back in there. I don't know if you have help but it might be tricky for 1 person to do.

 

I wouldn't do that on my car, as all the little accessories can be a pain, but Bubbles has none of that, so it might really be easier than just dropping the subframe if he's got the tools.

 

commone my subframe was painted 2 months ago!

thanks for the tip on the intakes/IC pipes... dale what would you do? pull the motor or just use the support bar

engines been cleaned a month ago.. but pulling it is tempting...

^^^ chuds right.. i have pretty much everything that i can delete, deleted.. now im contemplating pulling the motor or not....

how hard is it to align the motor with the tranny still in the car??

 

I resealed my oil pan gasket once by putting the car up on 4 jack stands, supporting the engine with one of these http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/En...r-p/ht1703.htm and dropping the subframe and letting the steering rack hang loose (get an alignment after reassembling everything). But I quickly discovered that was not the only leak I had. To stop all the oil leaks I had to replace the oil metering pump gasket, the turbo oil return line gaskets, the rear main seal, the rear stationary gear o-ring, the oil level sensor gasket, and probably a couple of other places that I forgot about. There are plenty of places a 15+ year old rx7 can leak from, but after addressing all of those issues 6 years ago there hasn't been a drop of oil on my garage floor since.

 

Some useful tips:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...easier+oil+pan

 

thanks dave, ive read that thread any your post a few times....

when people say pull the motor are they leaving the tanny in? i struggle from time to time lining up the tranny and the engine out of the car which shys me away from ever trying it while the tranny is still in the car....

and the only thing holding me back is refilling the coolant. its such a PITA for me... cuz no matter what tricks i try i always have air bubbles for days...

 

muibubbles,

I've done this job several times and typically do it this way:

1. Put the car up on jackstands
2. Disconnect the hoses to the airbox
3. Remove the undercarriage and undo the engine mount bolts
4. Lift the engine up until it starts lifting the car off the front jackstands (this can be done with an engine hoist or a jack under the transmission...) Make sure to support the engine once it's lifted.
5. Undo the power steering rack from the subframe
6. Undo the subframe bolts which will leave it hanging by not removed from the car


At this point, you should be able to pull the subframe down a few inches which will give you more than enough clearance to do the oil pan job. You'll have plenty of clearance to properly clean the engine surface and also to use studs instead of the oil pan bolts.

 

^^ thanks mahjik very helpful, and DEF doing the studs instead of the bolts.... last time i cleaned EVERYTHING, tap and died EVERYTHIGN and still the threads got messed up and had to use like 4 helicoils...

 

wow... just finished dropping the sub frame what a PITA. with it lowered i couldnt get a socket wrench in there and was scared to round the bolts out so i just dropped the subframe....

does anyone have tips on how to break the seal of the oil pan? i love how its seals so well that its a pain to break open yet it still leeaks.... =/

 

Work around the edge of the oilpan with a stiff spatula and a hammer. Don't pry the spatula too much otherwise you might bend the oil pan.

 

Dude just get a damn flat head screw driver and pry it off. Some guys like to make a project out of everything LOL

 

get a putty knife and start tapping it in on one of the irons, once its in there, just gently pull at it and work your way around and it'll come off.

 

thanks.. yeah i know im making a project out of it but this is one of the most annoying issues to be dealing with. its just so much work for such a stupid thing that should be easier!!! so here comes attempt #3.......

 

A heat gun on the gasket will soften it up. Then a stiff spackle knife will push through the gasket. I've never done a oil pan. Just separated alot of caulk joints with a heat gun.

 

^shouldn't need to heat it up at all, you will either have silicone gasket maker (when re-installing use "the right stuff" from permatex) or the oem mazda paper gasket (mazda no longer uses this, all factory reman engines now use silicone). a putty knife with a hammer will tap through it very easily and once its in, just some light prying and work your way arround the edge.

 

Smack it with a dead blow hammer, then putty knife it off as you pull it away from the bottom of the engine.

 

I agree with Mahjik. I used a block off wood and jacked the eninge up by the transmission until the top of the transmission hit the tranny tunnel. Then I put a jack stand on the tranny to hold it all in place. I'm pretty sure you will need another person to help you pull the subframe out, because for me, my friend and I had to pry it outwards once the bolts came out.

I'd also recommend replacing the oil pan while your there, it cost about $120 from Ray not too bad, that way you can pry the hell out of the current one to remove it.

 

dude my legs are P.O.W.'ed from the mosquitos that night LOL were you able to get the pan off?

 

pans off, need to clean it and begin putting it back together but gotta wait for my motor mounts from irp...

 

LOL!!!!!!!!! the same thing happened to me one night while I was in the garage doing some work, damn mosquitos!

 

I'm about to embark on this journey however I'm also doing the complete rear end including diff mounts. I'm wondering if the motor could be lifted higher if the diff is still dropped. I obviously would like to avoid dropping the subframe so I'm going to try the dropped diff idea. I figure maybe if the diff is dropped the motor can come up a little higher, or maybe if the rear of the motor is sagging too much, maybe lifting the diff higher than normal would give me space. Either way I'm willing to experiment for the better of everyones knowledge. Might help someone in the future.(Including me)

I'll let everyone know if this works, however if someone has tried it already and failed, please let me know.