I had a small oil leak and I thought it was the Oil Pump seal, but low and behold when I took everything apart, it was actually the Oil Pan Gasket. I took it off and put the new one on last night but Today on the way home from work I smelt oil burning so I was like ****. I got home and oil is everywhere! Looks like the gasket "blew out" on the front side, and on the rear of the motor there is a small area that is blown out. I don't get it, I torqued all the oil pan nuts, and bolts to 9ftlbs, and put RVT on both sides of the gasket. So I guess my question is there some sort of Honda Tech alternative, or better quality gasket I can buy? What really puts the icing on the cake is when I get home , my ST Sway Bar is on the front door. So now I can't go see how much of a difference it makes! Oh well. Any suggestions would be cool. I am gonna let the car cool down before I take anything apart.

 

bump

 

What kind of gasket did you use?

FYI:
Usually the OEM Honda ones have metal inserts
molded into the gasket to keep the gasket from crushing..

That said,Sometimes when you remove the old gasket,
the metal pieces will remain on the block
and that could cause problems if overlooked..

When using RTV on the gasket,be sure to give it some time
to "cure" or "set-up" or the gasket will slide out when the
fasteners are tightened as the sealent is still in liquid form.
Let the stuff harden,then tighten it down..

Use brake cleaner and lint-free towels to clean off
as much of the oil off as possible before attempting to reseal..

 

I have that same problem with my oil pan gasket. I need to fix mine sometime soon. I must have left some oil on the block and that made the gasket come out. I know I gave it enought time to set b/c I didn't run my car for a week or so since I had my engine apart.

 

Also, make sure you dont torque the **** out of it. It may seem like common sense but some people dont know and over tighten.

 

To add, make sure the pain does not have any dimples in it, or else when you re-tighten the gasket it will rip.

 

I thought when I had my pan off that there was dimples all the way around the pan. I thought there was one on each side of the whole where the screw goes threw on the pan?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by george34 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I thought when I had my pan off that there was dimples all the way around the pan. I thought there was one on each side of the whole where the screw goes threw on the pan?</TD></TR></TABLE>

If the pan was tighten to much then dimples can be formed, they can be formed even when tighten correctly. Bang them out with a piece of wood and hammer.

 

The pan does have protrusions all the way
around to help hold the gasket in place.
Those are supposed to be there.

Honda pans also have a flange welded on the outside
to prevent distortion of the metal so they aren't that bad about bending.

Something like a small block Chevy oil pan on the other hand is
thin gauge metal and more susceptible to this..

 

Metal rings left on from gasket would be my guess also, happened to me

 

Thanks a bunch, so I should clean the pan down like usual, and apply rtv to the pan and then put the gasket on the pan and let it sit. for about 30min. ?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 88DXCRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The pan does have protrusions all the way
around to help hold the gasket in place.
Those are supposed to be there.

Honda pans also have a flange welded on the outside
to prevent distortion of the metal so they aren't that bad about bending.

Something like a small block Chevy oil pan on the other hand is
thin gauge metal and more susceptible to this..
</TD></TR></TABLE>

You are right about the dimples, but a lot of times and I have seen this in the past with Honda oil pans, the person over tigthens the bolt and the pan around the bolt dimples with sharp edges around the dimple. I sometimes will even sand thoughs dimples down to ensure a good seal.