Oil pan replacement

[Crazy_pilot]

I'm too lazy to jack up the car and check for myself.

How much of a pain is it to change the oil pan? I switched to synthetic this weekend and the oil's doing that thing synthetic does and finding leaks. Now I know it's time to change the big tub on the bottom of the engine.

[svxpert]

are you going to reseal the oil pan or put a new one on? either way, you have to drop the exhaust, unbolt the engine mounts and trans dogbone and jack the engine up.

[Crazy_pilot]

fack, that's what I was afraid of. It needs a complete new pan.

Edit: I just stuck my head under the car. I can see the rear-most bolts are not nice, since they're behind the subframe, but why do I need to drop the exhaust?

[svxpert]

<< I can see the rear-most bolts are not nice, since they're behind the subframe, but why do I need to drop the exhaust?>>

well, i mean you have to disconnect it from the engine so when you lift the engine you have room

[Crazy_pilot]

Oooooohhh, gotcha. Not a problem, I re-did my exhaust with fancy flexible hoses that wiggle when I go over bumps and make squeaky noises. They should move enough to lift the motor.

[Crazy_pilot]

Huzzah, oil pan replaced.

Turned out to be quite a bit easier than I thought. I didn't have to lift the engine at all. All you need is a 1/4" drive ratchet, long-ish extension, universal flex joint, and short 10mm socket. That will allow you to get to the rear bolts behind the cross member without moving the engine. The trickiest part is getting those rear bolts started when putting everything back together.

[NikFu S.]

How does the clearance look on the inside? Mine still has a massive dent in the bottom that seems to get bigger over time.

[Crazy_pilot]

Originally Posted by NikFu S.

How does the clearance look on the inside? Mine still has a massive dent in the bottom that seems to get bigger over time.

Clearance to engine parts you mean? The oil pump pickup goes quiet far down, centered in the pan. Other than that there isn't much close.

[NikFu S.]

My dent is about an inch and a half deep, covering about the entire width.

[Crazy_pilot]

Looking at my old pan, there is an imprinted groove that runs down the sides of the pan and around the bottom. It doesn't show up in the subaruparts.com diagram, so I drew it in in red:



The pickup looks to be behind this groove. If your dent goes past the groove I'd say you're getting dangerously close. A new pan isn't very much (~$100), plus a tube of high temp silicone. The work took me about 4 hours, but I could do it much faster now that I know what I'm doing (and don't have to run out to buy more tools.)