There's a shortcut that you might want to think about. Reseal the oil pan with epoxy and fiberglass tape the kind used for drywall. I've done it and it will last for many years the main difficulty is getting as much oil out of the pan as possible it will still see a lot but what can happen is you end up with a very small drip because some oil Works its way through the epoxy as it's setting. A trick you can use is remove a quart of oil then and a quart of paint thinner or kerosene or something like that start the motor and let it idle for a few minutes but don't drive it or put it under any load. Drain the oil put the plug back in and now pour a little bit of paint thinner or kerosene using a small funnel through the dipstick hole. To further than the oil down. You can also heat the panel little bit with a heat gun in the repair area also check TH-cam as I'm sure there's a lot of additional tricks. Also consider changing the two front struts complete with a new coil to stop the car from bottoming out
ugh... I have replaced my front main seal three times now with the last time also replacing the harmonic balancer. The leak has gotten better but still leaking. I assume the seat on the timing chain cover is fucked up from the grease monkeys yanking it on it off 3 times now. I think I will just go back to cheap conventional oil and stick with add half a quart or so every fill up and have wife park over roasting pan in the drive way.
I am sorry to hear about these troubles I know how frustrating it can be to end up with a leak and have to repeatedly change parts what I would have recommended instead of replacing the harmonic balancer is too buy or borrow a dial gauge which is actually easy to use and measure the run-out I can't see how the balancer would have gotten messed up. Regarding the timing cover it doesn't have a gasket every time you take it on and off you have to seal it with our TV and the surface has to be perfectly clean it's very time-consuming though I think in the aftermarket someone might make a rubber seal for it I can't remember.
@@pcofranc Likely what happened is when they replaced the main seal a year or so ago they didnt clean it well and it got a piece of grit in there that wore a groove in the mating/bearing surface. then when they went in to replace the seal again they reused same pulley, didnt fix the prob and now it is noticeably better with but still not leak free. I think it is time for me to find a new shop.
@@MrAwsomeshot definitely time to find a new shop it's also likely that they scratched it by using a seal puller or screwdriver to pry the old seal out there are procedures that can be taken when a surface like that is scratched like applying RTV sealant before putting the seal in place I've done that on CV axle seals cuz it can be hard to remove them without getting a small scratch on the side using a seal puller and it works well there's probably more specialized products which are even better also never use anything but the cheap Walmart oil that's all I've ever used in my Motors in great shape at a170K miles
@@MarkWoznak I had that same problem. It turned out. I had missed one screw and that’s why I recommend the counting method that’s where you count all of the screws that you have removed to be sure you have them all there is one in the center and there’s an arrow that points to it, once that last screw was out I was able to take the cover off so I recommend double check again. I think you have that one hidden screw still.
it's a big job and it's not easy and one of the most important pieces of advice I could offer is when you take the little 8mm bolts out of the cover count them and don't try to remove the cover until you have removed all of the bolts
@@pcofranc you mean the timing chain cover? I have the engine torn apart already lol. Head is off etc. Just don't see any videos of putting pan on and off and sealing lol
@@TheMadcowintucson Even though it's a station wagon it's actually manual I didn't get automatic because that option cost $1000 I bought the car new as a factory order
the Fel-Pro 1826 gasket you referenced is in fact the incorrect one for this oil pan. I ordered one trying to assure a better seal than using the chemical version and although it looks like it lines up it's actually way too big for this pan. Just a heads up to save others from doing the same thing.
I don't understand how you got the oil pan to fit into place. I've got a 01 Sl2 and the fly wheel is in the way. I read a service manual for my car and crazy enough you're supposed to grind down the pan 3 mm around the bolt eye holes to fit it. Still can't get it to fit in there despite this. (It's the manual 5 spd)
The first thing you might want to do is compare the part numbers for my oil pan versus yours I assume the two Motors are exactly the same and if that is the case what I had to do was Jack up the motor and put in support stands and that creates enough space to put the pan on without grinding anything down. I'm sorry to hear that you're stuck in this situation
Is this a manual or automatic and I am completely unable to remove the oil pan mines a manual. I am confused did you angle it down or rotate it in and out somehow? Mine is hung up on the flywheel it cannot pull down and cannot move forward I can only tilt it downward at the timing cover but the engine would have to be way up in the air to clear the subframe if that's even possible. Need help😬
Okay you are on the right track mine is Emmanuel so it's the same as yours now in order to get it out you have to drop down the side which is closest to the clutch but unless you have the engine raised high enough you will not have enough clearance what I did in the video is I jacked up the motor with the oil pen then put those little metal pieces into suspend the motor high enough that when I took the Jack away I had enough room to get the oil pan out other way to do it which is probably a better way is to use a cherry picker or engine hoist put it on the hook above lift the engine high enough to give you the room you need to get that oil pan out.
The problem with the basic design is that there isn't enough room to get that oil pan out unless the motor is lifted up about 4 in and once you go to take the pan out you either have to have the motor propped up on the little metal pieces which I did or use an engine hoist from above or rig up a come along and take the hood of the car off in order to lift the motor enough
@@pcofranc thanks, my engine is supported from above with an engine support bar and it's still either not high enough or something else is wrong. So are you saying that I angle the pan down at the timing cover end to get it in and out?
@@TheMadcowintucson it is not high enough you can support the engine but you need to raise that bar and there's different ways of doing it but you need probably at least two additional inches maybe three the more the better even the way I had it set up it's still pretty close and don't forget once you put the silicone sealer you need enough room that you can reliably and carefully put the pan back into place without bumping into things and knocking off some of the sealant which can cause a leak also remember it is very important to use a lot of sealant and don't worry about it getting in the motor once it sets up it's not going anywhere even if it squeezes inside the motor a little bit like a peanut butter sandwich
That's correct you don't need to remove the oil pan but in this video I wanted to reseal both the timing cover and the oil pan. It's been quite a while since I did it so I don't remember why I removed the water pump pulley Maybe just to gain more room.
I have worked all afternoon and I still can't get the cover off....all the bolts are out and it's loose but still very tight on the bottom behind the area near the waterpump.... I can't figure out what's going on...........
i got to take mine off becuase a hole rusted trough the pan
There's a shortcut that you might want to think about. Reseal the oil pan with epoxy and fiberglass tape the kind used for drywall. I've done it and it will last for many years the main difficulty is getting as much oil out of the pan as possible it will still see a lot but what can happen is you end up with a very small drip because some oil Works its way through the epoxy as it's setting. A trick you can use is remove a quart of oil then and a quart of paint thinner or kerosene or something like that start the motor and let it idle for a few minutes but don't drive it or put it under any load. Drain the oil put the plug back in and now pour a little bit of paint thinner or kerosene using a small funnel through the dipstick hole. To further than the oil down. You can also heat the panel little bit with a heat gun in the repair area also check TH-cam as I'm sure there's a lot of additional tricks. Also consider changing the two front struts complete with a new coil to stop the car from bottoming out
ugh... I have replaced my front main seal three times now with the last time also replacing the harmonic balancer. The leak has gotten better but still leaking. I assume the seat on the timing chain cover is fucked up from the grease monkeys yanking it on it off 3 times now.
I think I will just go back to cheap conventional oil and stick with add half a quart or so every fill up and have wife park over roasting pan in the drive way.
I am sorry to hear about these troubles I know how frustrating it can be to end up with a leak and have to repeatedly change parts what I would have recommended instead of replacing the harmonic balancer is too buy or borrow a dial gauge which is actually easy to use and measure the run-out I can't see how the balancer would have gotten messed up. Regarding the timing cover it doesn't have a gasket every time you take it on and off you have to seal it with our TV and the surface has to be perfectly clean it's very time-consuming though I think in the aftermarket someone might make a rubber seal for it I can't remember.
@@pcofranc Likely what happened is when they replaced the main seal a year or so ago they didnt clean it well and it got a piece of grit in there that wore a groove in the mating/bearing surface. then when they went in to replace the seal again they reused same pulley, didnt fix the prob and now it is noticeably better with but still not leak free. I think it is time for me to find a new shop.
@@MrAwsomeshot definitely time to find a new shop it's also likely that they scratched it by using a seal puller or screwdriver to pry the old seal out there are procedures that can be taken when a surface like that is scratched like applying RTV sealant before putting the seal in place I've done that on CV axle seals cuz it can be hard to remove them without getting a small scratch on the side using a seal puller and it works well there's probably more specialized products which are even better also never use anything but the cheap Walmart oil that's all I've ever used in my Motors in great shape at a170K miles
How did you get the timing cover free? I have all the bolts out but the RTV seal won't budge.
@@MarkWoznak I had that same problem. It turned out. I had missed one screw and that’s why I recommend the counting method that’s where you count all of the screws that you have removed to be sure you have them all there is one in the center and there’s an arrow that points to it, once that last screw was out I was able to take the cover off so I recommend double check again. I think you have that one hidden screw still.
@@pcofranc You were absolutely correct. That was my problem.
So glad you put this video up! I have to do this soon and I am very unsure about it.
it's a big job and it's not easy and one of the most important pieces of advice I could offer is when you take the little 8mm bolts out of the cover count them and don't try to remove the cover until you have removed all of the bolts
@@pcofranc you mean the timing chain cover? I have the engine torn apart already lol. Head is off etc. Just don't see any videos of putting pan on and off and sealing lol
Is your car a manual or automatic?
@@TheMadcowintucson Even though it's a station wagon it's actually manual I didn't get automatic because that option cost $1000 I bought the car new as a factory order
the Fel-Pro 1826 gasket you referenced is in fact the incorrect one for this oil pan. I ordered one trying to assure a better seal than using the chemical version and although it looks like it lines up it's actually way too big for this pan. Just a heads up to save others from doing the same thing.
Thanks for pointing that out.. I didn't use that part #. Instead for the valve cover gasket set I used Felpro VS50454R.
I don't understand how you got the oil pan to fit into place. I've got a 01 Sl2 and the fly wheel is in the way. I read a service manual for my car and crazy enough you're supposed to grind down the pan 3 mm around the bolt eye holes to fit it. Still can't get it to fit in there despite this. (It's the manual 5 spd)
The first thing you might want to do is compare the part numbers for my oil pan versus yours I assume the two Motors are exactly the same and if that is the case what I had to do was Jack up the motor and put in support stands and that creates enough space to put the pan on without grinding anything down. I'm sorry to hear that you're stuck in this situation
@@pcofranc I'll give that a try, thanks for the quick response
Is this a manual or automatic and I am completely unable to remove the oil pan mines a manual. I am confused did you angle it down or rotate it in and out somehow? Mine is hung up on the flywheel it cannot pull down and cannot move forward I can only tilt it downward at the timing cover but the engine would have to be way up in the air to clear the subframe if that's even possible. Need help😬
Okay you are on the right track mine is Emmanuel so it's the same as yours now in order to get it out you have to drop down the side which is closest to the clutch but unless you have the engine raised high enough you will not have enough clearance what I did in the video is I jacked up the motor with the oil pen then put those little metal pieces into suspend the motor high enough that when I took the Jack away I had enough room to get the oil pan out other way to do it which is probably a better way is to use a cherry picker or engine hoist put it on the hook above lift the engine high enough to give you the room you need to get that oil pan out.
The problem with the basic design is that there isn't enough room to get that oil pan out unless the motor is lifted up about 4 in and once you go to take the pan out you either have to have the motor propped up on the little metal pieces which I did or use an engine hoist from above or rig up a come along and take the hood of the car off in order to lift the motor enough
@@pcofranc thanks, my engine is supported from above with an engine support bar and it's still either not high enough or something else is wrong. So are you saying that I angle the pan down at the timing cover end to get it in and out?
@@pcofranc what do you mean drop down the pan side that is closest to the clutch?
@@TheMadcowintucson it is not high enough you can support the engine but you need to raise that bar and there's different ways of doing it but you need probably at least two additional inches maybe three the more the better even the way I had it set up it's still pretty close and don't forget once you put the silicone sealer you need enough room that you can reliably and carefully put the pan back into place without bumping into things and knocking off some of the sealant which can cause a leak also remember it is very important to use a lot of sealant and don't worry about it getting in the motor once it sets up it's not going anywhere even if it squeezes inside the motor a little bit like a peanut butter sandwich
I left the motor in the car never dropped the oil pan didn't remove water pump pulley and still removed cover no problem this being done on a sc2 1997
That's correct you don't need to remove the oil pan but in this video I wanted to reseal both the timing cover and the oil pan. It's been quite a while since I did it so I don't remember why I removed the water pump pulley Maybe just to gain more room.
I have worked all afternoon and I still can't get the cover off....all the bolts are out and it's loose but still very tight on the bottom behind the area near the waterpump.... I can't figure out what's going on...........
Having done this job, I must say you took the hardest possible route. I applaud your dedication.
How did you do it?
Do tell...