honestly, i think my oil pan is leaking from some of the surface rust on the part that the exhaust goes under. it seems to be pooling up in the small rust bubbles and i cant really trace it dripping down the pan from anywhere else.



is this really possible it rusted itself thin enough to weep throught? anyone ever heard of them rusting this bad?

 

Wow Never heard or seen of this but I don't doubt that anything is possible. The metal oil pan is made out of is pretty thick so I would make sure before I bought a new pan. You could replace the gasket and while it is off clean it really really well . Put about one quart of iol in the bottom of the pan while it is off the car and see if it seeps through.

 

Do you get smoke from the engine bay if the car sits idling for a while? Is your oil level low when you check the dip stick? It seems doubtful that the pan would rust through enough to leak badly enough for either of those two conditions to exist. Since the pan is the lowest point on the engine, it is more likely that the leak originates from the valve cover, timing chain/belt cover, or some other gasketed area higher up. But as previously posted,oil seeping from the pan itself is remotely possible.

 

If the oil pan is leaking from the rust spot you my have hit or ran over something to puncture it. But it's not hard to replace. Get you a new gasket, blue glue and a knife . Go to the junkyard and get you another oil pan. Scrape all the goop off from around the pan from junk yard. Oil pans rarely spring a leak just like that. And put it on. Save the cost of a new one.

 

i just built the motor, it has 520 miles on it. all gaskets and seals are new. ive ruled out coming from somewhere higher up on the motor, as i stuck my finger along the block up there and its dry until i get down to the bottom of the oil pan. i also had the car running up on jackstands and got under it for like 5 minutes and didnt see it dripping from anywhere.


im not really loosing oil off the dipstick, and the puddle it leaves behind is very thin and about the size of the palm of your hand at most

 

don't forget the honda bond!

 

blue glue is evil Hondabond is the truth

 

Wait, what's so complicated here?
Your oil pan is leaking.... replace the ****.

I mean..... right?

 

i wasnt sure if it was leaking from the rusty spots or just collecting there.


anyway, it was leaking from the rust. today i took it off and went to pick off the rust and it popped a hole into the pan. tried to weld a patch on and that whole part of the pan was so thinned out it burned through. i got a new pan and swapped them over, problem fixed.


lesson learned people, beware the surface rust on your oil pans, i know many of them have it and it can leak.

 

^Thanks for the advice.... I'm gonna need some replacing to do.