I did my search. I did my readings. Watched the youtube videos. I know what to do.

The thing that they mentioned is that if it's not done right, you could still have a leak. That's because if the old sealant gasket is not cleaned out, or the new one is uneven, then you would have to start over.

My question is this, how difficult is it to do it right? All it really involve is bolt on, and bolt off. It may be easy to clean and apply. But it is 10X more difficult because I'll have to use a jackstand and limited amount of space?

Or let the pro$ do it?

Your advice or suggestions.

 

all you have to do is is remove ALL old material and use brake cleaner to remove any oil residue and start in the inner bolts and go crisscross outwards to the corners...even if pan is warped...which I've never experienced in any car I've ever had(around 8 of them)..as well as for putting the rtv in the appointed spots, you can't go wrong

 

Everything holmesnmanny says is correct....

If u have to then might use a scraper that's meant for the job.

Don't know how much the pros charge, but, have a feeling it's a whole lot cheaper for u to do it urself.

Why are u replacing it....something happened to the other one???

 

Only thing to watch out for is making sure you don't over tighten the gasket. Don't worry so much about tq specs. Keep them in mind but just do it by gently. Watch the gasket and make sure it remains intact sealed between the block and pan snug. Once it starts pressing out it's too tight. To me it seems like common sense once I thought about. So it shouldn't be too difficult to understand. You can also use a very small amount of hondabond or permatext

 

Got a used car 2 months ago. Did oil change for the first time. The last owner did tell me that he is using a "thicker" oil than OEM. OK....everyone is different.

I've done many oil changes before, so I have a general feel. So I go tighten the bolt. And I can feel the threads are stripping. So I stop tightening it.

Oil is leaking now. Slow leak like a quarter size a night.

It's a steel pan. At this time, I don't know if it's the pan or bolt. I'm going to say pan.

I'm looking at options now.

1. A longer bolt. Maybe part of it will catch and hold tight.
2. Oversize bolt. But it's a steel pan (hard) not aluminum (soft), so I don't know if a larger bolt will self thread back in. And I don't know if the pan has the nut in the back, just metal with a hole type. (if this make sense). If anyone knows, please let me know how the back side (inside) of the oil pan generally looks like.
3. Oil pan replacement.

 

Just throwing this out there, but, could u rethread and use a new bolt and washer???

 

I don't get it. The bolts go through the hole in the pan and into the block. However there are four nuts(two on each side) that tighten the pan to the rear case(rear main seal plate) and front case(front main seal plate).

What exactly is stripping the bolts or the nuts ?

These bolts and nuts are only supposed to be tighten snug. This isn't really rocket science. If you tighten them too much yes they will strip however the block is a lot stronger than those bolts so hopefully it's just the bolts that stripped.

Go to the junkyard and pull a complete set of bolts/nuts and use those on your pan.

Just follow my instructions clearly this is really easy. Just make sure that you have no oil residue and old gasket material on the block and pan and you can't screw this up.

This is when you need to buy a set of razorblades and use the long straight end to remove the gasket material from the block and the pan and use brake cleaner after all the material is gone to completely clean the areas of oil.

When you first apply the pan to the block just hold the pan there and tighten two bolts in the middle of the oil pan to hold the pan there then gently snug all the rest. Then go back and starting in the middle and working your way out to the corners in a crisscross formation tighten them down slightly tight and that's it.

Oh, and one other thing, use a towel to wipe down the area just above the block so that in the time it takes you to lift the pan up to the block no oil slides down into the block and messes up your assembly.

 

I'll say it wasn't me. The car has 204,000 miles, and 4 (real) owners, but could be 7 according to carfax. Impact gun? Quick lube shops? The owner I got it from was a car guy, so I'll excuse him from it - except for maybe trying to hide it. But that's how you sell one's used car...right?.

If he would have said, yeah...it leaks just a tiny bit of oil, I would not have even looked at the car (and fell in love with it to buy it.).

Yes, I'm going for the bolt route first, but asking about pan replacement now, and gather knowledge, options, and how to, in case I have to deal with the worst situation.