Alright. I'm changing my oil pan this weekend and Had a few question. I have a greddy header on it, should I take the down pipe off too change the pan or can I leave it on? Also what kind of sealant do you guys recommend to go on the gasket. Oh and any tips from guys who've done it already. I'm sure it wont be too hard but It's my first time so I'm just checkin.

Thanks.

To make it easy, you can take off the downpipe, and the crossmember, but some have done it without doing that. I would take it off, just makes it tons easier. As for sealant, the pan gasket is designed to use NO sealant on it. BUT you need to use a small dab of blue or black RTV where the oil pump housing meets the block. On the passenger side of the block, by the crank pulley, thats the oil pump. You should be able to see where the pump housing makes up the end of the block, and you can see where the two pieces meet up. Just put a dab on those split lines on the bottom of the block, then put the new gasket on, then bolt up the pan. Dont hammer down on the pan bolts, they only need like 10 ft lbs of torque. I suggest using a good torque wrench when putting them on, so as not to warp the pan, an that should be good for creating a nice, tight seal. Over tightening those bolts is usually what causes oil leaks out that gasket.

Thanks for the info. very helpfull.

I'm just real curious - why are you changing the pan?

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Yes officer, the windows are mirrored.

1999 GS Special Edition

so we shouldn't put sealant all the way aound the gasket? i was going put a bead of aluminum sealant on each side of the gasket.

you really should not have to use any kind of sealant on the oil pan gasket, except where i mentioned above. If your pan gasket leaks, and still leaks after a new one, then there are a few things that can cause that: 1-distorted/warped/damaged oil pan 2- overtightend bolts 3-no sealant on the oil pump to block location on the bottom of the block surface. If you look at the gasket, it has 2 small ridges in it, that seal the pan when tight. If oil is leaking past these two places, then something else isnt right. I've never used RTV on the entire gasket, and mine has never leaked. I suppose you could if you really wanted to though. It will be a PITA to replace when it comes next time to pull the pan..lots of scraping and cleaning..

mine doesn't leak or anything now, i just thought it would help insure a good seal, but maybe i'll just use it on the oil pump area. just to make sure though... i just bought a new gasket today, adn the box says it's for a 83-94, but when i saw it i asked them to check the part # again, and that was the # listed for our cars. the gasket is a flexible wine-cork type of material. it's a felpro. does anyone have the felpr p/n for our gasket? i don't remember any ridge on it, like you described, but i didn't look at it very closely.

Dont use anything BUT the stock OEM gasket. Once you see it, you will see what i mean. Its a metal reinforced, double sided rubber gasket. I've reused one of those gaskets many times without any leaking. I despise cork gaskets hehe..

hmmm, well i guess i'll return it then, hehe, or can i just reuse my old one? crap, i hate buyin' stuff from the dealership. :)

>I'm just real curious - why are you changing the pan?
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>Yes officer, the windows are mirrored.
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>1999 GS Special Edition

Well the owner before me seemed to have bottomed out the car and dented up the pan pretty good. It leaks a little by the plug but it hasnt ever ben bad enough to immediatly get it replaced. I found a spare pan for 30 bucks so I thought I'd just go ahead and change it.

Factory gaskets, belts, and lots of other things are always the best. The fit, finish, and quality are always superior, as they don't need to reverse engineer a gasket, as the aftermarket does.
-=B-=

yeah mine is leaking too and dont think it has ever been changed so How do I reuse the old factory gasket. It is leaking the whole way around.

That's def a good reason.

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Yes officer, the windows are mirrored.

1999 GS Special Edition

another thing is see the bolts that hold you oil pan on the far end where the crank pulley is. all the ones where the oil pump are on only torque it ONCE at 9 ft/lbs because I tried torquing everything twice (you know just to make sure) and guess what I stripped a damn thread, I stuck a longer bolt in there but it didn't hold it to torque, hope it don't leak now :P I installed one of those crank scrapper too :)

felpro sucks!!! they are cheap, not low cost, but cheap as in quality... i've replaced the valve cover gasket on my old buick 3 times so far, each time felpro. guess what... still leaking!!!

cork SUCKS