kday

Oil pan before cleaning...
<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1556.jpg">


<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1560.jpg">

<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1578.jpg">
<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1579.jpg">
<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1581.jpg">


New upper gasket, ready for new oil pump gasket:
<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1561.jpg">


And some shots of the with-secondary-air-injection exhaust gasket and the conventional gasket. The difference is only about 1/8", it really looks like it should work...

<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1586.jpg">
<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1593.jpg">
<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1595.jpg">
<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1596.jpg">
<img src="http://www.boost-instruments.com/v6/DSCN1598.jpg">

austinado16

I hope you compared the old and new gaskets for the upper oil pan and oil pump. There are different versions and if you install the wrong version, she won't make oil pressure.

Guess how I learned this.......in car.

kday

Didn't think to look at the oil pump gasket though.

I bet that was a really crappy job from underneath!

wotseurba

I've been nursing an oil leak for over a year, which I believe to be the oil pan. It's time for a timing belt job. So, these pics are great knowledge, but I'm wondering if there's any (impossible) obstacle to removing both halves of the oil pan in-chassis. All suggestions are welcome.

austinado16

Do yourself a favor. Go to the car wash with the belly pan off and power wash the underside of the engine and trans. Hit it all with simple green first, then blast away.

Then come home, put it up on metal ramps, put down some cardboard (like an opened box from the local bike shop) and really clean good with carb cleaner those blue paper shop towels.

Once it's spotless, take the top plastic cover and serp belt cover off, remove the timing belt covers (and serp belt), fire it up and let it run in the driveway on the ramps for a half hour.

With the front plastics off, you can continue to carb clean, scrub with a tooth brush, wipe with towels, etc. Then start the car and watch for leaks while it runs.

Due diligence will pay off 10 fold in locating the actual source of the leaks.....trust me!

UrS4boy

well away from the crankshaft (less windage losses).

???

kday

The baffling looks good too. But it's still a wet sump...

austinado16

Very old school design. Mercedes has been doing it since the 50's.

wotseurba

Actually, I steam cleaned the underside, and front of the engine with all plastic removed. Started it up, put it up on the lift, and NO LEAK could be found. However take a test drive, and when returning there's oil blown all over without hope of determining where it is coming from. Funny thing is that if I put the oil level at full, I can loose 1/2 quart in one day, but then it stays there (pretty much). This is why I think it's the oil pan gasket. If it were somewhere under pressure, the leak would be constant. It's def. not valve cover-cam related, or crank seals. I guess I will buckle and take the bitch-and-a-half routine. PS: sorry to hijack the thread

austinado16

Steam cleaned, carb cleaned, yadda, yadda......could see that one of the leaks was the front crank seal, and another was the right valve cover and rear cam plug.

Once I had those fixed I was still getting oil blowing all over the alternator, back down the right side of the block, and all over the pan. Like you, I couldn't find it because oil was everywhere.

I finally found it by putting the car on ramps, taking off all the plastic and serp belt, and then holding the engine at about 2,000rpm, flash light and mechanic's mirror in hand, I started inspecting.

Finally located a leak from top right side of where the oil pump meets the block. At idle it wouldn't do much. At speed, oil came gurgling up out of the gasket area, ran down the seam and then was blown back over the alternator, and eventually got down around the lower pan.

When I took it apart I discovered the oil pump housing was slightly warped and a little wet sanding on a smooth surface straightened it out.

So that's my oil leak story.