Oil pan replacement

So I have been noticing small drips on the bottom of my oil pan and it looks to be oil (WOO HOO!)

 

It does have a slight ding in it and that is where the drip always shows up. Not sure if that is the cause or not. I checked the drain bolt it is tight but I have never replaced the crush washer.

 

So I was going to get a new oil and gasket. Also where do I get the crush washers or do they only come with Subaru OEM oil filters?

 

Is it pretty much just drop pan and replace?

Standard oilpan procedure for 2nd-gen involves "goo", not gasket. I used Dirko grey sealant on the oil pump, oil separator plate, and oil pan while I had the engine out:

http://legacygt.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=796&pictureid=4374

 

From the manual, it sounds like a PITA to R&R the oil pan with the engine in the car.

Great.

lol

I don't see how it would be so hard to remove with the engine still in. It looks like it has something attached to it and a bunch of screws.

BTW, I wasn't laughing at you, just your deadpan reaction.

 

What I found was that my oil pan was bonded on to the block pretty good. I really had to carefully chew through the sealant with a small utility knife (use caution so as not to gouge your block). In my case, the dealer had resealed the pan for the original owner several years ago, and it didn't look to me like they had done a great job of cleaning up the old sealant. Maybe mine was worst-case scenario, with gobs of old sealant on top of older sealant.

 

Anyway, if you do this with the engine in the car, the back end of the oil pan would be somewhat obstructed by the engine crossmember. If a cutting instrument is necessary, you may have a hard time maneuvering the tool because IIRC the headers are kinda in the way. After removal, you'll need to clean up the mating surface of block pretty well (more hassle without easy access).

Also - what I did several year back on my Scirocco 16V would have been nice in this situation: I removed the cheap one-use oilpan gasket, and slipped in a crankshaft windage tray with integrated, reusable, neoprene oilpan seal.

when i replaced mine about a month ago i used a air ratchet with a wire brush atachement took all the old seleant off the pan and the block really easy and didnt damage anything took 10 min. they also sent me a gasket with the replacement but you dont have to use it seleant works fine

the oil pan is a real pain, how much oil are you losing.?

 

there are lots of places these engines leak that i would check before i removed the pan. and i would be damn sure the leak was due to the ding. clean it off and wait for it to come back to be sure. do they have leak detector stuff for oil like they do for coolant?

 

how about a jb-weld repair? or the like.

I used JBweld for a quick fix repair on an oil pan once and it was still like that when I sold the car. Clean well and scuff up with rough sandpaper so it bonds. Again clean well, I think I used some carb cleaner when I did it.

 

If you drop the pan be sure and straight edge the pan and straighten the lip. Make sure the holes aren't pooched in towards the block. If it had a thick gasket the holes can get pooched in when it gets tighten an just makes it that much harder to seal. I use a punch (put it in the hole) and push the hole back out if that is the case

I am not one for "hack job" repairs. I am already at my wits end with this car. Pretty sure it will be for sale if I keep finding more and more things wrong. I may just run it till it blows. Then part out the stuff on it and move on.

 

Thanks guys.

If you're not losing alot of oil from it, I would put it off till the weather gets warmer. The bottom of my engine has always been wet with oil, but I maybe put in a quarter of a quart every month or so. It looks so much worse than it actually is. This summer I'll have more time to tear it apart to look into it...I already did the oil pan, so I'm afraid of internal seals being the culprit

 

Mine had a cork gasket to it though, no goo. If you could get a shot of the pan for us, that'd be great too.

Took it to someone local to me to have them look at where the oil is coming from. Says I have a pin hole in the bottom of the oil pan and that it should be replaced because of the ding.

 

Also Valve Cover gaskets. I already knew this one.

 

So it seems...I attempt to do it with it in the car.

 

Also says I have a headgasket leaking?

Oil pans are cheap, but a b*tch to replace. jb, as ghetto as it is, will be the best fix until you can pull your motor. I know with the ej25 you have to jack the motor up 4ish inches to reach all of the bolts.

 

Did you torque down you valve covers when you removed them? Torque specs are 7.6ft/lbs I believe. What gaskets did you use to reseal them.

 

A headgasket leaking could be why you have low compression in one cylinder.

 

Hate to give bad news lol.

How much is the car worth?

 

174k

Recon Title

A/T

According to kbb it is worth $2500-3000 without a recon title. Probably closer to 2k with the recon title.

And with all the issues?

ok, so it is not the most valuable car on the road. repair is still way cheaper than replace. especially if it runs well.

 

IMHO, patch what you got and run the car. next time you have any excuse to pull the engine address the leak and ''oil pan gasket''.

 

as far as the head gasket goes, why do they think it is leaking? the 96 EJ25 does not have external head gasket leaks. if this one does it is very very unusual. so i would discount that assessment.ignor it and fix what you can.

 

correct the valve cover leaks, patch the oil pan and re-assess. if you need a perfect engine then have at it. but if what you need is a good engine to get you to your destination, drive on. when the engine has issues enough to pull it, fix everything.

I have the option to have a 97 EJ22 installed for 600 instead of 900. It is just the long block without all the accessories he will swap everything over from my current engine. Such as the intake manifold and what not. I am going to have the Timing belt replaced on the engine before it goes it since I do know it is an interference engine

 

It put 185 compression on all cylinders and has 114k on it. So I may go with that. Since this is INSTALLED. Will save me some time. And I can sell my current long block to recoup some of the money or use it to understand the engine some more.

 

Does this sound like a good deal?

$600 installed for a 114k engine? Sounds pretty good to me man. Dooooo ittt!

He is a guy I found on CL he said he has been doing swaps for awhile and knows Subaru engines fairly well. Seems very knowledgeable as well. He sounds legit to me.

 

I am going to take some steps to cover my ass though just in case.

My friend just bought a 115k miled EJ22 from a guy on craigslist who sounds similar to what you're explaining. He delived the engine, and I'm putting it in the car for him. But he got it for like $400? Pretty decent.

 

What steps are you going to be taking?

This must be the same guy. He is going to be delivering it to me as well and installing it for me.

 

Going to record video of the old engine running and a quick drive around to show that the car ran fine before in case I have any issues with the engine and he refuses to fix it. And paperwork of course.

 

He has a 1 year warranty and I am going to say that your friend is going to just be getting a long block? Thats the price I was quoted from him.

I think it is just the long block. I'm not 100% sure however. I'm going to check it out in an hour to make sure its all good to go. Its odd that the same guy does Oregon deliveries as well.

Yeah that is what I would be getting. He's an older guy and says he has a "Mobile Van" to do these swaps and what not.