Oil Pan Replacement Help

[Jonessoda27]

I purchased a new Dorman 264-400 Oil Pan and will be taking it to a garage mechanic sometime next week to get it fixed.

My old pan's thread literally broke on my last oil change and before this oil change I had already had been using a washer with rubber on it to stop a slow leak.

I am seeking advice from people that have already made this repair. Does a torque wrench have to be used? If so, is there any pattern in which to tighten all the bolts?

Anything else I should know about?

I'm sure you can tell why I am not doing this repair myself!

Thank you.

[88Accord-DX]

I would invest in OEM oil pan gasket, something about aftermarket gaskets don't seal up good. Been there done that.
Torque pattern is basically snug then up by finger tight & work your way from middle to outward & in small increments to get to the torque value in 3 passes. I don't know the torque value without looking at my book but about 25 inch pounds is good.

[doc]

Most likely your going to have to take off your flex pipe simple 3 nuts but tis simple you can do yourself then prop up pipe with some thing and take off oil pan...make sure you use new seal and he's right factory gasket is better for some reason I think its quality of rubber or gasket material.then slap on new pan get everthing snug then tighten down replace pipe don't forget there is little gasket on pipe so put it to the side when you take off pipe better just getting new one. After you you put back pipe...change oil filter put oil in and your done

[gtpilot]

Ditto the factory oil pan gasket - it has steel tubes in each of the bolt holes that keep you from crushing the gasket, which causes it to leak. The aftermarket gaskets don't have the steel tubes and you can over tighten them - if you are really careful not to over tighten them they can work, but you have to be patient.

As well, clean the old RTV out of the corners where the oil pump and the main crank seal meet the block at each end of the block (four little corners) and re-apply a small amount of RTV in those corners to keep them from leaking...if you see RTV ooze out then you probably used too much - remember, what oozes out, oozes in too!

Kirk

[Dr_Snooz]

It's 10 ft-lbs. for the bolts. They don't have to be done in any particular sequence, but I started from the middle and worked out. The bolts nearest the transmission can be somewhat difficult to get to and a u-joint is probably necessary for those. You can do it yourself, but you'll be flat on your back under the car with all the engine oil and crud falling on you and into your eyes.

[Jonessoda27]

Just got quoted for an OEM gasket. 40ish. Ouch. Seems like its worth it though.

Edit: I went to the service dept to pick it up and it did not have any of the steel supports as some of you were stating. I declined.

[AZmike]

I've never seen metal in any of the Honda oil pan gaskets I've installed on an A20.

[lostforawhile]

look closely at the pcv pickup on the doorman pan, and compare it to the factory one, someone else on here got a dorman pan, and had serious issues, I ended up sending them a factory pan, the dorman pan supposedly doesn't have the steel tab over it to stop splash into the pickup, and the hole was way undersize,causing pcv issues

[Jonessoda27]

look closely at the pcv pickup on the doorman pan, and compare it to the factory one, someone else on here got a dorman pan, and had serious issues, I ended up sending them a factory pan, the dorman pan supposedly doesn't have the steel tab over it to stop splash into the pickup, and the hole was way undersize,causing pcv issues

Damn... it seemed like the highest rated online and I got a good deal off of eBay. It is still in transit from UPS.

This is already becoming stressful and we haven't even attempted the repair yet...

[88Accord-DX]

Even though your going to have your mechanic do it. There is a little trick to keeping the gasket in place. One, don't use silicone on a rubber gasket & either use very little honda bond or some twisty ties in the middle & corners to hold the gasket to the pan.
Also, the downpipe will be need removed & the downpipe gasket might need replaced cause once it's broke off, it might not seal up right.