Firstly thanks to those who offered advice and Larry B for also shooting me out a PM for support.
I first tried this a month ago after reading the Wiki instructions, which sounded pretty simple. However, those didn't apply to a 2000.
I wanted to change it due to a small dent in the oil pan that was there when I bought it. Not because it affected anything, just wanted the NSX to be as perfect as possible. So bought the new pan and gasket from Tim P (thanks) last year and worked upt he courage to get at it.
I gave up on first attempt last month because it looked too complicated, however, with the help of a buddy I work with, and the hoist at work, we tackled it again.
In a nutshell, there are lots of steps in the repair sheets that assume an awful lot...like "remove oil pan"...pretty general statement, and lots to do that it never mentions...I guess to technicians, its just common sense what to do.
Basically, for my 2000 model, I had to remove the bracing that is like a big U shape near rear suspension. As well as some bracing that goes under gas tank and general area. Then remove bolts that hold on the cross beam on each side near rear wheels, then take out the motor mount bolt that is in the middle of the cross beam. There are several little cable clips and lines to get unhooked and out of the way. I couldn't actually remove the crossbeam altogether, as the tranny lines were in the way, but I could move it enough out of the way to work on unbolting the front header. Which is what has to be done to allow the oil pan to come off.
Toughest part was a heat shield which is bolted to the header ...the two bolts are basically heat rusted or something and brittle. Then once out, the heat shield itself is a B**tch to get out..a small tinny piece but wedged in that takes some patience and muscle to get free out of the way.
Once this is out, you unbolt the header , as well as where it bolts to the exhaust system on the other end. Once it is out, the oil pan just unbolts and comes right off.....(drain oil first )
Cleaned up the bottom of the engine, and reattached the new oil pan with gasket on it...(there are some spots to put some gasket adhesive as per the service manual) Then , put everything up in reverse order..including wrestling with that heat shield again, torque to specs, add the Amsoil and new filter, and your'e good to go. Two of us spent about 90 minutes start to finish doing this...but most of that was the figuring out which extension or tool needed to be used to work on a given bolt (motor mount for example)
Now that I see it done, I could do it again, but it is a bit intimidating to just look at it all for the first time and figure out how to get at everything.
That dent in the old oil pan is really small, and this weekend I will take it to a body shop and see if they can tap it out, and I will see if anyone wants to buy it on the for sale section.
Thanks again for the support....car continues to run like a champ...however, the ride home last night from work was probably the last of the season...best of all no drips on the floor this morning....nice!
I first tried this a month ago after reading the Wiki instructions, which sounded pretty simple. However, those didn't apply to a 2000.
I wanted to change it due to a small dent in the oil pan that was there when I bought it. Not because it affected anything, just wanted the NSX to be as perfect as possible. So bought the new pan and gasket from Tim P (thanks) last year and worked upt he courage to get at it.
I gave up on first attempt last month because it looked too complicated, however, with the help of a buddy I work with, and the hoist at work, we tackled it again.
In a nutshell, there are lots of steps in the repair sheets that assume an awful lot...like "remove oil pan"...pretty general statement, and lots to do that it never mentions...I guess to technicians, its just common sense what to do.
Basically, for my 2000 model, I had to remove the bracing that is like a big U shape near rear suspension. As well as some bracing that goes under gas tank and general area. Then remove bolts that hold on the cross beam on each side near rear wheels, then take out the motor mount bolt that is in the middle of the cross beam. There are several little cable clips and lines to get unhooked and out of the way. I couldn't actually remove the crossbeam altogether, as the tranny lines were in the way, but I could move it enough out of the way to work on unbolting the front header. Which is what has to be done to allow the oil pan to come off.
Toughest part was a heat shield which is bolted to the header ...the two bolts are basically heat rusted or something and brittle. Then once out, the heat shield itself is a B**tch to get out..a small tinny piece but wedged in that takes some patience and muscle to get free out of the way.
Once this is out, you unbolt the header , as well as where it bolts to the exhaust system on the other end. Once it is out, the oil pan just unbolts and comes right off.....(drain oil first )
Cleaned up the bottom of the engine, and reattached the new oil pan with gasket on it...(there are some spots to put some gasket adhesive as per the service manual) Then , put everything up in reverse order..including wrestling with that heat shield again, torque to specs, add the Amsoil and new filter, and your'e good to go. Two of us spent about 90 minutes start to finish doing this...but most of that was the figuring out which extension or tool needed to be used to work on a given bolt (motor mount for example)
Now that I see it done, I could do it again, but it is a bit intimidating to just look at it all for the first time and figure out how to get at everything.
That dent in the old oil pan is really small, and this weekend I will take it to a body shop and see if they can tap it out, and I will see if anyone wants to buy it on the for sale section.
Thanks again for the support....car continues to run like a champ...however, the ride home last night from work was probably the last of the season...best of all no drips on the floor this morning....nice!
