Jon Petersen

95 Civic EX.
I'm due for an oil change real soon. I ordered an oil pan gasket and a valve cover gasket because I'm leaking oil. I'm not sure that it's either one, but they're both easy to do and the parts are cheap, so I might as well do them so that at worst, I can be sure it isn't them causing the leak.
My question is: is there any preventative maintenance that I should attend to while I have the oil pan off? I imagine there are some things I can check or change when it's exposed so I don't have to do the work again.
Thanks.

Turbo1983

iTrader: (1)

Unbolt oil pump pickup tube an clean the catch screen.

mk378

Oil running down from anywhere up above will look like it is the oil pan gasket. Don't replace that yet until you've taken care of other leaks.

The VTEC solenoid screen / gasket is an infamous leak point. In some cases it could leak only when VTEC is engaged, making it hard to find.

NVturbo

use Genuine Honda gasket and Honda Habit stud kit

Jon Petersen

Thanks for the response. However, the gasket is already shipping. Am I going to hurt anything by fixing it now as opposed to later? I can fix the VTEC gasket afterwards, regardless, right?

Jon Petersen

I'm using FEL-PRO gaskets from rock auto. Honda Habit stud kit for what, the bolts that hold the oil pan on?

NVturbo

YES

Jon Petersen

Will this work in conjunction with the FEL-PRO oil pan gasket?
And why are studs better than the stock bolts?

NVturbo

the HondaHabit stud kit will work with any brand gasket. I have used them before on my daughter's Integra as well as my Del Sol and works fine, no leaks or issues.

White_EG1

Jon Petersen

Do you mind telling some of them? I'm still not sure what the advantages are of the stud kit vs just putting the bolts back on.

Chance EG

Take the car to a wash, block off/cover the distributor and other electrical stuffs, and pressure wash the engine. That will make it easier to identify the leak once it starts again, you can see easier where it's starting from.

deschlong

iTrader: (8)

Another infamous leak spot is at the distributor seal. Très facile to replace. But not described in the shop manual so you'll need to check University of YouTube.

mk378

I'm of the "if it ain't broke" school on removing the oil pan at all.

If your pan is steel, they will bend from overtightening the bolts, then you never have a good seal unless you take it off and carefully bend the area around each bolt down flat again.

deschlong

iTrader: (8)

FYI, OP: There is an order to the bolt tightening as well as a recommended torque spec to minimize the risk of a bad seal and thereby exacerbating your existing oil leak problem! Check the shop manual for this.

Jon Petersen

That's not a bad idea actually. Thanks. I bought a can of engine degreaser a while ago, but the pressure wash would be much faster.

Jon Petersen

I'm going to purchase all the cheap gaskets (distributor o-ring, VTEC solenoid gasket, head cover gasket) and just replace the easy ones. Thanks for the input.

Jon Petersen

Yeah, the "if it ain't broke" school is making much more sense. Looks more complicated and risky than I thought at first. Still buying the exhaust manifold gasket in case it is the oil pan gasket.

Jon Petersen

I'm assuming I should mark the alignment of the distributor so that the spark timing stays the same as it was. Am I right in assuming that?

triple beam

yes

Jon Petersen

Well, I've gone and done it: took off the oil pan "cause I might as well, already have the gasket and everything." Stupid. The old gasket is so brittle and fused to the oil pan surface. I've been scraping away at it for a couple of hours. Same with the sparkplug gaskets on the head cover.
I came to ask for advice. I'm thinking to get it off, I can get an angle grinder with a wire wheel and grind those stupid gaskets off my car parts. Otherwise, I might have to just pay for a new head cover and oil pan cause man, that s**t's not coming off.

tj4fa

X3 on the studs and nuts - the nuts will distribute the tightened load over a greater surface area of the cover lip and also be easier to remove, re-install or snug down later.
Once you resolve your gasket scraping issue, (I normally use a window scraper with a razor blade) make sure you clean up the oil with some solvent
like throttle body cleaner, carburetor cleaner, brake cleaner,mineral spirits, etc., and put some RTV/Silicone sealer near the end flanges.

Jon Petersen

So some of my oil pan was held on by bolts, some by studs and nuts. I assume that's normal. I'm just gonna go ahead and replace the bolts with studs and hope it's good, cause it doesn't seem like the stock(?) studs are going to be removable.

Jon Petersen

Alright, everything is done (except the distributor o-ring, which I have put off for another day). Two casualties: 1. one stud would not tighten properly and was beginning to strip the threads on the bottom of the engine. Decided to leave it alone for now and just tightened it as much as it could take without stripping. 2. I put a quart and a half extra oil in the oil pan. I'll remedy this later, but I assume it's not the biggest problem in the world.
Now on to pressing every lower arm bushing in the entire car along with both lower ball joints! Oh joy!

tj4fa

Jon, as long as you don't run your car it's not a problem. But if you do, you can do some real damage your main bearings if they are immersed in the oil.
Check the comments of this thread out with some guy's truck being overfilled by some oil change place: Overfilling Oil