I have a '95 CX hatchback and my pan is leaking from the front and the back. Hopefully it's just the pan and not the main crank seals but that's another nightmare. Anyways, I was wondering if I have to remove or unbolt the exhaust to be able to get the pan out? This makes me extremely nervous because my car is stock and that section of the exhaust is rusted solid and I don't want to break something. Is it possible to do this job with the exhaust still in place? As I understand it the steps are as follows:

1. Drain oil
2. Remove transmission stiffener
3. Unbolt exhaust??????
4. Unbolt Pan

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

just follow the steps, for the rusted bolts, soak them down in pb blaster or something,
you probably just have a bad oil pan gasket, replacing a main crank seal isnt that bad,
for the front seal, just remove the belts, then rmove the underdrive pulley then the timing belt and the crank gear then pry the seal out and put new one in, i suggest if you do decide or need to replace the seal if you havent put a new timing belt on i suggest going ahead and doing it since you will already be there and a water pump.

 

You could try re-torquing the pan bolts first. Do not overtighten them as that will bend the pan, and then it will never seal properly even with a new gasket.

Clean all the oil off and watch for where it is actually coming out.