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I've done something stupid AGAIN!!

jarredsoon

jarredsoon

Gold Member
I was installing my trans/converter when I noticed an oil pan bolt missing. So I removed the bolt next to it and went to the store and bought another. I then installed the two bolts and found several others very loose. So I went ahead and tightened them all up without even thinking.....

So I finished up and started the car to top up my trans fluid. I look under the car to check for a trans oil leak and I find engine oil hemorrhaging like a jugular.

So now I am wondering if I squished the gasket too much or maybe I warped the pan itself??

I did some reading on pan gasket change and ppl say to jack up the motor. Where do you put the jack to jack up the motor?? Would it be better to use an engine lift??

I think I am going to call RJC and ask his advice since it's his pan I have and I need his gasket, and maybe a new pan.

I never had an oil leak until now... I am pretty sure it is the pan/gasket and not the rear main seal since this motor is pretty new.

Good thing I have these TTA's cause otherwise I'd have nothing to do all the time......:(
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Jarred,Jarred...the winters are too long up there in Canada. You have too much time on your hands to break things.:)

What I did when I changed the rear main seal was to pull the motor mount bolts, jack the engine up, by the oil pan(use a piece of wood on the jack pad) and got it high enough to slip a small 2X4 piece between engine side and the frame side of the mounts. that gave me enough room to slip the oil pan out. You may have to rotate the crank a little to clear any crank counter wieght that is low and in the way.

Next it is straight forward repair, but what has worked for me is to use blue Loctite on the oil pan bolts and torque them to spec, which is pretty light if I recall, something like 7 ft lbs or a bit more. And no tighter.

Gasket choice is personal preference. I've used and had good luck with the rubber Fel pro and others have used and had good luck with cork. So whatever will probably be good.
Corteco makes a good cork gasket that Northern auto parts "had" in stock up to a few months ago. And Cometic has a Kevlar hybrid one that Summit racing sells that I'd like to try.

But in the end I think the secret is not to over tighten the pan bolts and squish the gasket out.....G/L
 
Ya it's the rjc pan, the whole pan should come off with the motor raised I hope.
I'm concerned about the turbo and down pipe flexing when I lift or jack the motor up. Is it necessary to remove the turbo from the DP? I just don't wanna break anything else in the process....

I'm gonna call rjc tomorrow and get a cork gasket or two, just incase the first one gets wrecked.
 
Alright! Tell me how long it really took you guys to change the oil pan gasket. So far I'm all afternoon getting the stupid motor up high enough for the pan to clear. Geez what a job, I'd rather pull the turbo off.

I removed cross pipe
Removed intercooler
Removed motor mount bolts
Lifted motor
Placed bolts between mounts to hold motor up
Not high enough
Lifted motor as high as possible and jammed wood in there to hold it up

I think it was the extended oil pick up with this deep pan the needed more clearance. I thought the crank might be longer as being stroker but it didn't seem to get in the way.

Anyways got the gasket on after I cleaned the oil off the pan and block. Now I can't get the bolt holes on the motor mounts to line up.... Up,down,up,down and still won't line up.

And of course I broke something as per usual with any project. Don't ask me how but I broke the tv cable tab..... Ugh!!!
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Sorry, but I didn't even know you owned a TV or had Cable to break? lol Glad you got it replaced, but I had to jab you with the TV Cable thing. :)
 
Ok I got the motor in, finally. The rubber grommets kept squishing out when I would bring the mounts together. I finally figured it was because the female mount was smaller than it was originally most likely due to over tightening the bolt when I installed the motor. I ended up prying them open with a pickle fork, then the holes wouldn't line up. Had to get Maeghan to push the motor to one side with a bar between the frame and the motor.

Seemed a lot easier when I was installing the motor and had to line up the mounts and the trans dowell pins.

I hope it doesn't leak.
 
Jarred, You can always install you a LS1 with a turbo in your RX like this guy did. He parked beside me last Saturday nite.
He said it had a Percision 74 or something turbo.:burnrubber:

Didn't mean to be off the topic!!
 
Last edited:
TTA984 said:
Jarred, You can always install you a LS1 with a turbo in your RX like this guy did. He parked beside me last Saturday nite.
He said it had a Percision 74 or something turbo.:burnrubber:

Didn't mean to be off the topic!!
Click to expand...

Well I sold my 74 mm turbo, and my rx8 still has warranty so I'm not messin with it for a while.... Some guys get them pretty fast with a turbo!
 
smiley said:
the bottom of your motor looks pretty with the pan off ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks!!
The bottom of my garage floor looks better now too! I replaced the gasket with a cork RJC and GENTLY torqued the pan bolts as evenly as I could. My wrench doesn't go lower than 20 and there is no way I'd get that big torque wrench to fit under there anyway. Lifting the motor sure was a pita. I don't wanna do that again.
 
jarredsoon said:
I don't wanna do that again.
Click to expand...

But I'm afraid you will be.....as tempting as it is...one should NEVER use a torques wrench for accurate torquing at the ends of it's range.

You'd have been better off buying a cheap 1/4 drive torque wrench and used some blue loc-tite and torqued them lighter. 20 ft/lbs is too tight for that gasket.
 
Rich I didn't use the torque wrench. I was sayin wrench is so big it never would have not fit under there. Too much stuff in the way., and it doesn't go lower than 20, so I didn't use it. I indeed used a 1/4 inch ratchet and gently torqued the bolts on. 7 ft/lbs is the desired torque on this pan and gasket according to rjc.
 
jarredsoon said:
Alright! Tell me how long it really took you guys to change the oil pan gasket. So far I'm all afternoon getting the stupid motor up high enough for the pan to clear. Geez what a job, I'd rather pull the turbo off.

I removed cross pipe
Removed intercooler
Removed motor mount bolts
Lifted motor
Placed bolts between mounts to hold motor up
Not high enough
Lifted motor as high as possible and jammed wood in there to hold it up

I think it was the extended oil pick up with this deep pan the needed more clearance. I thought the crank might be longer as being stroker but it didn't seem to get in the way.

Anyways got the gasket on after I cleaned the oil off the pan and block. Now I can't get the bolt holes on the motor mounts to line up.... Up,down,up,down and still won't line up.

And of course I broke something as per usual with any project. Don't ask me how but I broke the tv cable tab..... Ugh!!!
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3759468f.jpg
Click to expand...
looks like a stock 3.8 ???:thumbup:
 
It's supposed to be a stoker crank if it's not I'll be pissed cause that's what I paid for!!! How do you tell from the pic? I sure as hall ain't dropping the pan again. Car sounds like a stroker, well I mean it sounds different then my other stock 3.8's.
 
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