Assistance needed for Oil Pan removal

[sylcurt]

Ok, so I tried to do this on Saturday. My car when I bought it had a slight dent in the oil pan as per the Acura PPI I had done. They said only a slight cosmetic blemish, but I want to get it perfect, so I ordered a new one from Tim, and made plans to change it.

So I brought it to where I work, which has a full shop facility and hoist, tools etc. I also had with me the Wiki paper on oil pan change and the service manual on my laptop.

Everything seemed to make since and was accessible, other than the part in the Wiki where it said that I should be able to remove the curved piece of flexible exhaust since the car doesn't have headers. (although I always thought that as a 2000, my car did have some form of header right from the factory?) Anyway, I managed to get the exhaust bolts off and things like a small cover and brace, but the curved exhaust piece that comes vertically down from the engine area, curves right under the oil pan is the problem...it is NOT flexible, and I can not see where it attaches to unbolt. I had a technician here at work also look at it and he could not see how to get it out, so the oil pan would drop down. Thus, my question to the experts on Prime...I took a couple of pics while it was up on the hoist to clarify the part I am describing.

Fortunately I hadn't drained the oil yet, as it has almost brand new Amsoil in it, that would have been wasted. I put everything back together and deferred this repair for another day. Any assistance will be appreciated.

Curtis

 

[Fixit]

Found this.
#4
Roger59
Registered User
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: St Albert, Alberta
Posts: 76
Re: NA2 Oil Pan gasket replacement question (headers)???
I have replace my gasket on a 2000. Without taking the header off there is only about 2 inches of clearance. To remove the header you do have to remove the front beam. The tricky part of the front beam is removing the motor mount. It is easier to remove bolt of motor mount that goes through the front beam. Facing the fron of the car the bolt is loosened from the left as the right is a nut that is held in place by the beam. I used to 6 inch extension with a universal joint, it is awkward to get at. I also have access to a lift. Getting the bolt and nut together is also tricky. The header has pretty good acces once the beam is off.

 

[d.n]

The wiki probably refers to the 91-96 cast exhaust manifold which is a two piece "header".

Pictured here in post #6
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148352

What you have is the later model which is a 1 piece header. Pictured here:
http://nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149104

As mentioned above, you'll have to drop the front beam to get that guy out. Good luck!

 

[sylcurt]

The wiki probably refers to the 91-96 cast exhaust manifold which is a two piece "header".

As mentioned above, you'll have to drop the front beam to get that guy out. Good luck!

Front Beam? ...is there a page in the service manual that references this procedure...? Ok, so are we talking about a few bolts, get this beam out of the way and do the oil pan?...or is it like borderline major dismantling of "important stuff"...I'm no technician..thought I could handle an oil pan change but don't want to mess around with major components....car is running great, maybe time to just leave well enough alone....advice ?

 

[d.n]

IMO if you were comfortable enough to jump in and change the oil pan, you'll be just fine with the front beam / header removal. It's not hard, but it just adds quite a bit of time to the total time involved especially if you are like me and don't have access to air tools. The rough steps look to be detailed in the header removal instructions (starting at step 18)

http://www.nsxprime.com/wiki/Installing_Headers

You'll still want the service manual for detailed steps, diagrams and torque specs, but I think you know this already. Wasn't there another prime post somewhere with detailed header install instructions?

The only "tough" part is reaching up into the confined space to loosen/tighten the front mount bolts. I didn't find it to be as difficult as it was described by others at all. Taking off the shifter cables and removing the plastic covers helped immensely for this and made it fairly trivial, but I was already doing that for another job, so you'll need to figure out what is worth doing when you're down there.

I don't remember it being necessary to touch the A/C compressor, but I don't have a newer style exhaust manifold/header. I also don't get how these guys aren't needing to use a jack during reassembly to push the engine up so the bolt holes on the front mount align, but perhaps my motor mounts are just old and sagged when the front mount is removed.


David

 

[sylcurt]

Wow, this is getting much deeper than I originally thought. So if I end up having to remove that header, will I need a new gasket there as well? And I guess while I am asking, is there any other parts like gaskets or seals that I will need to replace when I put it all back together ? (other than the obvious oil pan gasket)

Thanks

 

[davidf]

IMO, leave it alone. Alot of work just for a dent you never see.

 

[Briank]

Un-bolt the pipe from the cat ?

 

[sylcurt]

Un-bolt the pipe from the cat ?

Yes, that I did with no problem, but it leaves the curved section of pipe going straight under the pan from the header (or possibly it is the end of the header?)...either way, its as solid as a rock up in there.

And yes, sounding like a lot of work for a dent, but I, like many of you, kind of fret at the thought of a dented or less than perfect part on my NSX. Crazy I know, but its just kind of important to me to fix it if I can.
As I said, the Acura dealer did tell me last year that it 99.9% is not going to ever be a problem...to the oil intake inside the pan, but I want to change those odds to 100% never...so I guess that is why I am pursuing this to at least within my means....but wow, what a lot of work for something that seems so close to being able to be fixed.

 

[d.n]

Tell me about it... But it could be worse. In a Miata, dropping the oil pan is an entire front sub frame drop or engine out exercise.

It's not too bad to get the front beam out. Really it just makes the job a lot more time consuming. If you're lucky you'll find that your front engine mount is in good shape

Normally I would say to reuse the exhaust manifold gasket, but because of the cost vs time to replace it if it doesn't seal, I would just pony up and replace the one between the head and the exhaust manifold. Reuse the one between the exhaust mani and cat since it's easy to replace if gets boogered and isn't sealing.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

1. Full header, has to come out

2. Reuse gasket, it is metal, no need to replace it

3. It you do not have a really good set of swivel extensions, get some. (12mm socket, deep or mid length a MUST, and PBBlaster on all hardware)

4. Remove the 02 sensor cold and dry, I do not use PB on these, JMO. Have a good 02 sensor socket, alternately you can disconnect the wiring, and leave it in place, but a little more hassle.

5. You do not need to remove the A/C compressor, but it will make remounting the header easier (passenger side, last lower bolt is tough with the A/C in place, not impossible, but you really need to right swivel, and extension length.

6. For the front mount you can either remove the three bolts and leave it on the beam, or you can remove the cross bolt and leave the mount bolted to the block/trans. Reinstalling the cross bolt is a little tricky, if you do it that way PM me and I will help you through that

Regards,
LarryB