In the last few days My car has used about a quart every 30 miles, and is leaking oil like crazy. I finally parked it today, and It look like the leak is coming from the oil pan gasket. Previously the car would leak some oil through the old seals, but it wasn't very much. When i park the car at night a ton of oil is leaked out, and i started it and warmed it up a bit, and could see oil dripping from the splash pan.

Question.... is it possible to replace the oil pan gasket without removing the whole pan, just unbolting it and fitting the gasket in there? I think I heard that to remove the pan a crossmember had to be taken off, which sounds like a drag. I have never done this one before. I still haven't looked closely into this problem, but I'll let you know when i find the cause of the leak.

Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

Zack:

If you see oil dripping from the back of the belly pan or splash shield, I'd bet it's one of your front seals (camshaft, intermediate shaft or crankshaft) rather than the pan gasket. Not that difficult to replace. I'd expect oil leaked out around the pan gasket to drip off of the drain plug.

Could the front main seal really leak that much, and when the car wasn't running? I have these seals already, but just haven't replaced them yet. I also have to replace the waterpump, but i just recently did the timing belt.

Luckily the rear main seal was done last year when the clutch was done. Looks like im gonna have the car apart this week into the weekend.

Any specific tips for doing the front seals, and the oil pan seal (it also leaks so i might as well do it now). The engine is a B21FT.

Thanks,

Zack

Zack:

Well, if you just did the timing belt, you know how to get the crank pulley off. I've had good luck removing the other pulleys using a strap wrench like the one IPD sells. The front crank seal sits in its own housing which bolts to the front of the block (and two bolts to the pan) and has its own gasket; I'd recommend picking up one of these gaskets and removing the whole housing to make extracting the old crank seal (mine was so hard it had to be pressed out) and installing the new one a bit easier. The other two smaller seals aren't too tough, just make sure they're pre-lubed really well and they should slide in without too much difficulty.

Water pump is sort of fussy in that you need to ensure a good fit with the line from the heater core that comes along the passenger side of the engine block. Pre lube the rubber seal for this, and loosen the clamp that holds this line to the block to make the job easier. Then, pry up on the pump as you tighten the bolts to make sure that the "mushroom" seal to the head is well seated.

Good luck.

When i replaced the timing belt I only had to remove the pullies from the crank (6 small bolts), not the main bolt. The belt just slid under the main part. I've heard that it is hard to remove, but my dad can borrow an impact wrench from a friend, so it should make it easier. Looks like a pretty big job is ahead of me, so hopefully everything goes well.

Zack