heartless Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 ...is it to replace the oil pan gasket on a 1990 EJ22??? while doing an oil change yesterday spent a little time inspecting the underside (ewww - very oily!) a couple of rags later it looks like I could really use a new pan gasket, as well as new front seals (timing belt area) and a couple of other items... a little back story here - when i got this car a couple of years ago a co-worker was looking for a car to work on in his auto repair class at the local tech school - huh, figured i would help the kid out with a good project for him & myself by getting new timing belt, pulleys, seals, waterpump, etc done for me...BIG, BIG mistake!!!! (lesson learned!) it wasnt but a couple of months after getting the car back that I had to completely redo the timing belt - it jumped and died on me in a bad spot on the road (no place to pull over!)... recently, the car has been going thru oil like crazy - darn near an oil change worth between regular changes (roughly 4000 miles) needless to say i check it VERY regularly... So now I am looking at doing the job i should have done myself anyway completely over again... Timing set, new front seals, reseal water pump (pump was replaced, but there is a very small leak in the area - assuming he fubarred the gasket, double check the screws on the oil pump backing plate, etc, etc,...and since the oil pan is pretty nasty along the gasket line, am wondering how hard it would be to replace that as well.... obviously i would have raise the engine a little, but how far would be enough to do this job?? and what - besides motor mounts - would i have to unbolt to raise it? we do have a nice cherry picker, so lifting from the top side is no problem... Sorry for the book, but, well... and thanks in advance!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 It's a pain to change it in the car. It can be one though. If you have other leaks and need to do other work, you might as well just pull the engine out, so you can do a neat job of it. You can get cheap complete gasket sets for EJ22's on ebay that work well. Erastick or something like that is the brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Its not a gasket on EJ22 oil pan. Its permatex ultra grey from the factory. usually need to remove the 2 bottom nuts for engine mounts from crossmember, and dogbone remove, and lift up some on the engine to get to back bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 The pan's don't leak a lot on the EJ's - make sure what you are seeing is not the cam seals leaking and running around the lip of the pan. The water pump leak is interesting. Definitely get yourself the dealer gasket for that - it's metal with a graphite coating and is WAY superior. The problem is that the pump sits in a reccess between the driver's side cam and rear belt cover, and the oil pump. When you do it, since you are removing the oil pump anyway - put the water pump back on FIRST. It's very fiddly even with the dealer gasket, but with the oil pump off it's easier. The aftermarket gaskets are cardboard and unless you are very careful with them and use a couple light dabs of RTV to hold them in place as well as carefully tighten the bolts evenly..... yeah pretty easy to screw up for a novice I would guess. As I mentioned in PM - I really don't trust aftermarket gaskets and seals. Even when I buy the ebay timing belt kits I just use the hard parts. It comes with a water pump seal but I very often will go to the dealer and spend the extra $3.50 for the metal seal. The oil-pump seal is $1.62.... etc. It's not worth the hassle of the cheap aftermarket seals for the difference in cost. Especially with the EJ's where there's really only a handful of seals that generally need replacement. I'm sure you already know - but when you do the job pull the radiator out. What I do is unbolt the thermostat housing from the water pump and drain the coolant directy into a bucket (love the Subaru engineer's for this change over the EA's ), and then disconnect the fan's electrical connections, remove the upper radiator hose completely and the trans cooler hoses if equipped. Then the whole assembly - fans and all - lifts right out. I leave the lower radiator hose attached to the thermostat housing as this keeps coolant from getting everywhere when you remove the radiator and move it around, etc. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineRaven Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 The sump doesnt leak, from what Ive seen with EJ22s over 500,000kms they dont leak, it has to be a leak somewhere else. Have you checked the rocker cover gaskets and cam seals? They're first places i would check first but wash the engine down with degreaser first. Cheers AP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 first - thanks for the replies guys. unfortunatly for us - the nearest dealer is several hours away, so just popping over for a few parts isnt really much of an option. (thus the ? to you, GD, about the gasket sets) GD - thank you for that VERY helpful piece of info on the water pump (and the pulling of the radiator) - i will be sure to follow your advice. Honestly - without some serious degreasing on the underside, it is really hard to say for sure where the oil is really coming from - I am pretty certain that the front cam seals are leaking some (clue: oil drips from the cover seam), but from pulling the outer covers to take a peek, it doesnt look too bad in there & the belt is dry at least. looking at the cam towers from the underside - passenger side is pretty clean considering - drivers side however is lookin pretty grimy... Looking at things from the top - have a gunky buildup near the pass side front of intake manifold gasket area :-\... the worst of the oil residue is at the back side of the pan & going towards the back of the car (covering the crossmember, steering rack, etc) yes there is some oily residue at the front, but not nearly as bad as back by the x-member & beyond...oh & drivers side of the pan is mostly bone dry... coolant leak has got to be very miniscule - i am a fanatic about checking fluids regularly and I rarely have to add any coolant (when i do it is only about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup) I just happened to notice a very small green spot... I have only had the car for a couple of years, & really have no idea if it's prior history - what I do know is it was abused by the p.o. - driving it around on blown air struts, tearing up the exhaust...there were a bunch of reciepts in the glovebox for various things done, including reasonably regular oil changes, a new radiator a year or so before i got it, and a few other minor things, but that is the extent of the 'known' history. oh yeah - another book! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 what they said - take care of the known leaks first before even thinking about the oil pan. i also doubt the pan is leaking. as for the oil at the rear of the engine, that could be the rear cam oring or valve cover gaskets. the cams...hmm...at least on later EJ22's, not sure about the first gen - also have an oring, be sure to replace that as well, not just the seal. this same oring is on the rear passengers side cam held in place by a cap with only 2 bolts - very simple to replace. yes the pan can be done in the car just fine following the directions above to lift it a few inches. your wetness at the front passengers side is probably power steering fluid. the reservoir leaks at the base where there's an oring. remove reservoir and replace oring for like 50 cents and you're probably done. and no i don't know the size nor is it listed anywhere that i know of - i just take one in and match it up. i should write the size down some time. +1 on the subaru seals being better than aftermarket as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 (edited) what they said - take care of the known leaks first before even thinking about the oil pan. i also doubt the pan is leaking. as for the oil at the rear of the engine, that could be the rear cam oring or valve cover gaskets. the cams...hmm...at least on later EJ22's, not sure about the first gen - also have an oring, be sure to replace that as well, not just the seal. this same oring is on the rear passengers side cam held in place by a cap with only 2 bolts - very simple to replace. yes the pan can be done in the car just fine following the directions above to lift it a few inches. your wetness at the front passengers side is probably power steering fluid. the reservoir leaks at the base where there's an oring. remove reservoir and replace oring for like 50 cents and you're probably done. and no i don't know the size nor is it listed anywhere that i know of - i just take one in and match it up. i should write the size down some time. +1 on the subaru seals being better than aftermarket as well. gary - thank you for the tidbit on the power steering o-ring - we have a couple of o-ring kits - both metric & sae so I am pretty sure i can find one to fit as long as it is smaller than about 1-1/4" in diameter... also appreciate the info about the rear cam o-ring - that would explain quite a bit of the oil leak if it does indeed have that... and again - thanks to GD for all the tips, and advice, both here and in pm. Thanks to all that have replied - It is greatly appreciated. I am off to see about ordering parts... Oh, and I am going to leave the oil pan alone for the time being...re-do the other stuff and see if it helps with the oil leakages... Edited December 9, 2009 by heartless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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