Oil Pan Seal

While I was doing the oil cooler lines and oil filter o-rings, I figured I may as well drop the oil pan and redo it's seal. There is no gasket for the MR2's oil pan (actually there is one you can get at Pep Boys/Autozone, but the Toyota BGB recommends using RTV gasket maker).

Parts:

Tube of Permatex Ultra Copper, $3.
New oil & oil filter

Removal:

1) Jack up rear of car and support on jackstands.

2) Drain oil.

3) Remove the exhaust pipe from the catalytic converter, three 14mm bolts

4) Remove the three 14mm nuts that hold the downpipe to the exhaust manifold. These are most likely rusted on pretty good, so soak in your favorite lubricant for a few minutes.

Also remove the 19mm banjo bolt, that holds the oil cooler to the oil pan.

Just a pic of the removed exhaust piece:

5) Remove the flywheel cover, by removing the three 10mm bolts.

6) Remove the 20 million (actually 19) 10mm bolts and two 10mm nuts that hold the oil pan on. Dropping the pan may require breaking the seal loose by using a screwdriver or putty knife to work it between the baffle plate and the oil pan. Make sure you are aware that the oil pan and baffle plate cannot come off at the same time. So these need to be separated as well.

7) Remove the two 10mm bolts (green) that hold the legs of the pick-up tube to the block. Also remove the two 10mm nuts (red) that attach the pick-up tube to the oil pump.

8) Remove the baffle plate and you should see up into the engine block.

Installation:

9) Clean up everything real well, especially the strainer for the pick-up tube. Pay special attention to the mating surfaces of the block, baffle plate and oil pan.

10) Place RTV on the top ledge of the baffle plate:

11) Install the baffle plate, using a few bolts to temporarily hold it into place. The 2 circles indicate the studs in the block that align the baffle plate in place.

12) RTV the pick-up tube:

13) and install it, torque = 7ft-lbs.

14) RTV the oil pan (and no it's not gobbed on as much as it seems :P ):

15) Install the oil pan. The couple bolts you used to temporarily hold the baffle plate in place should now be able to be removed. The RTV should hold the plate in place long enough for you to install the oil pan. Torque the bolts to spec, 4ft-lbs. Make sure to follow this, or risk breaking the bolts off. It's also a good idea to put some rtv on the individual bolts. This is time consuming and is quite messy. You can see I did this from the below pic.

16) Install the flywheel cover (torque = 4ft-lbs), and the banjo bolt to the oil pan (torque = 18ft-lbs).

17) Reinstall the exhaust, opposite of removal.

18) Remove car from jack stands, refill with oil.

Wait a few hours before running car to give the RTV enough time to cure. Check for leaks over the next few days.

I'd say about 2 hours for this repair. Since you have to be so careful with the RTV, and having to torque all them bolts. Can also take longer if your exhaust bolts are welded on...

Submitted by xxx@******.com

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Article submitted on 26 Dec 2010
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