I did a super clean install. Followed the directions word for word. Hondabond on the four corners, TQ sequence at 9ft lbs,Dry over night before filling with oil. New Studs and nuts all around. And it's leaking a small amount of oil around some of the nuts and collecting in the middle of the oil pan and dripping on the header. I didn't have a leak before with the stock 100k gasket before i decided to build this b18c.

Any idea's? I was thinking of going around and hitting all the nuts again with 9ft lbs. Or maybe even 10ft lbs. Any advice from you engine building gurus would be very helpful.

 

What band of gasket did you use?

 

It's a myHondaHabit gasket.
One of these
myHondaHabit Oil Pan Gasket: B-series

 

I always had good luck with oem gaskets on my Honda.
Did the bolts are nuts loosen up or are they staying torqued down?

Years ago, I battled a leaking oil pan gasket. Tried just about everything. An external crankcase breather setup eventually fixed mine. I didn't really think I had a crankcase pressure issue until after it was added. Felt like it freed up a little power as well.

 

I'm going to move this to the Misc section as it's really superficial on the assembly side.

One thing to note is if you didn't actually check your pan for levelness then quite likely it won't seal properly.

Another member made a significant post about this process and how to fix it.

It's not likely the gasket as much as the pan mating surface is no longer level/evenly flat.

 

Lack of oil pan squareness is the number one cause of oil pan leaks on any make or model. Overtightening would be a close second. Blowby would be a distance third, and age would be a close 4th.

As PyroProblem mentioned, if you make alterations to the PCV system, you alter crankcase pressures, and can induce oil leaks of of any engine seal or gasket. The oil pan, crank, and rear main and the most common seals to leak in excessive blowby situations.

 

I have 4 oil pans and 3 of them had blown out bolt holes.
people tighten them too much and it distorts the gasket surface

even the myhondahabit gasket wont help if the oil pan is crooked

it helps but up to a point.
I never had luck with oem especially felpro oil pan gaskets.
but I used 5 myhondahabit gaskets and it came out a lot better. not 100% leak free but better. my oil pans are far from straight.

people see an oil pan leak so natural reaction is to tighten the bolts every single fn time they see an oil leak... eventually they create dips around bolts.
new oil pan is about 40-50 bucks on ebay.

and the crankcase pressure was up there as well. once pcv system was fixed my oil leak almost disappeared even with crooked oil pan

 

put a 10mm bolt in the hole backwards and put the pan on top of a vice or other flat surface with an opening around bolt hole. and lightly hammed it until the surface around the bolt is straight(er) than it was before.

 

I have the myHondaHabit gasket. Here's the deal. When having a leak, it's easy to blame the gasket, but I will tell you this: the gasket is flat, it's thick, and it's dense. I doesn't magically change once installed. So, as others have surmised, the gasket is probably the least likely culprit. There are so many factors that go into a leak from the oil pan it is best to check these first. The oil pan is usually the culprit. It is so stinkin' flimsy that it cannot be torqued over 9 lbs. But, that doesn't stop people from doing it and then they need a new pan. I don't even try and straighten the flange any more. Also, many overlook the PCV system. When you run the engine at higher speeds (rpm) than factory, or a larger bore or stroke, you have significantly altered the PCV load. If you can't balance that load, you are going to blow oil past seals, including your oil pan seal and others.

My advice is to consider the simplicity of the gasket and the complexity of the install. If you have a leak, it is probably not the gasket.

Best of luck to all who struggle with this! I know I have, but when I came into the myHondaHabit gasket, my leak problem was solved.

 

Some vehicles are more prone to this type of leak by design, and it is very important that this is considered. For example, the 99-00 Civic D16Y8 engine uses a molded rubber "o-ring" style design for the oil pan. This design is very robust because it eliminates over-compression at any bolt torque (except not fully driven fasteners of course!). The only real service failure modes on this style of oil pan are pinching the o-ring during install, or having metal damage on the surface of the block or oil pan that would allow the gasket to "itch" back and forth or not seal correctly (cannot expand into the imperfection), which can damage the rubber, and cause a leak.

Most rubber/cork oil pan gaskets that use a through-hole design are prone to leaks because as you torque the gasket, the gasket displaces, and causes the bolt holes that were molded in the gasket to widen as torque load is increased. In the Honda B16/B18/D16Y7, and older engines, there are torque-stops incorporated into the oil pan flange that will help resist over-torque leaks. Installing a thicker gasket on these pans and then torquing to the torque-stop may induce a leak because the gasket will displace too much before the torque stop is reached. This allows oil to transfer from the interior pan to exterior by way of the bolt hole openings in the gasket.

Again, from a design point of view, Chrysler started using edge-molded alumino-rubber gaskets in the mid-to-late 90's, which is essentially an aluminum gasket with a rubber edge. The aluminum carrier prevents over-torque because it will not "compress" (compress is relative because aluminum will displace under high torque, but usually not with an M6 fastener). These types of gaskets are reusable because they have a metal structure that resists over-torque. A lot of domestic transmission oil pan gaskets also use a variation of this design.