Any tips or pics/diagrams on how to reseal an oil pan on a 2000 Civic VP? I have a very small leak and I'm pretty sure its the pan seal.

 

its pretty easy but i don't have the diagram. drain your oil, remove all of the nuts/bolts on the oil pan (and drop the lower half of the header if necessary), remove the pan, remove the old gasket (and scrape off any remaining gasket stuck to the flange), install new gasket, apply liquid gasket to the curved portions of the pan, finger tighten the bolts at the corners and the middle of the pan to get it in place, make sure the gasket is straight and tighten all nuts/bolts starting at the center going clockwise for a total of about three passes until you get each of them to 8.7lb-ft. don't over-tighten them because that will cause leakage.

 

Before you start, wash off all the oil and watch carefully to confirm that's really where it leaks out.

If it's a steel pan it may have been bent around the bolt holes by someone overtightening the bolts before. Try to pound it back flat, or replace the pan.

 

Download the 96-00 Civic manual from site 1 or 2 in my signature. Then go to pages 7-27 and 7-28.

 

Thanks everyone! What would a mechanic charge to do this? With three little kids at home, my time is very very limited. I might try it myself....I need to see.

 

Do it yourself. Don't worry. This sounds harder than it actually is. Drain the oil, remove exhaust pipe A, the engine stiffener, the flywheel cover plate, and then the oil pan. Getting the oil pan off may require vigorous pounding with a large rubber mallet to break it loose. Don't be afraid to give it some hard whacks. Scrape old sealant and clean oil from the mating surfaces. Install New gasket on pan and then spread some red RTV silicone sealant on the curved surfaces. First install the nuts to hold the pan onto the block and then TORQUE the nuts and bolts in the recommended sequence in several passes.

 

On oil pans for my cars, Hondas and various hotrods I have worked on, I did not use a pan gasket. They always leak, especially the cork ones. I made sure the pan and the block surfaces were clean and applied black urethane sealer on the pan. Put the pan in place with all the bolts and let it set for several hours and refill with oil. I have never had a pan leak when I do this.

 

I have not downloaded the manual you recommended to me yet (I'll do it at work tomorrow), but I did talk to a Honda mechanic today and he said just to use Honda bond sealant. He did not mention a gasket. Should I use both or just some RTV (Honda bond)?

Does the flywheel cover plate and stiffener have to come off in order to take the pan off? Do they block some bolts on the pan?

 

If you use a new rubber gasket, as you should, then you only need to apply a silicone sealant at the oil pan corners.

Removing the stiffener and cover gives you the needed access to oil pan bolts near the transmission.

 

I'm a rookie at fixing things like this so excuse my ignorance. My car is an automatic so will I have a flywheel cover? When I unbolt the engine stiffener and flywheel cover, will I have engine oil or tranny oil leak out?

Thank you! I'll probably tackle this on Saturday. I'll let ya know how I do.