1999 Toyota Corolla. It has a persistent oil leak, and my efforts to repair/kludge it haven’t worked.
I have a Haynes manual, and it seems to suggest that it’s as easy as putting the car on jackstands, draining the oil, and removing several nuts, then applying sealant and putting the new pan on. I am no great mechanic, I just want to know if I would be biting off more than I can chew. Thanks.
The devil’s usually in the details here. It’s not a terrible job if (and this an enormous “if”) you can get to all the bolts and you’ve got enough clearance to actually maneuver the pan out. Some cars require you to remove a lot of other stuff to get clearance and the Haynes manuals aren’t always the best about warning you when you have to (especially when it’s one that covers decades of model years).
Other than that, just make sure you remove all of the old gasket, make sure to use the right spec sealant (if any is called for) and don’t be in a hurry when you’re tightening the bolts. Buying or renting a good dial-type torque wrench would be a very good idea.
I haven’t done that particular car, but on 9/10ths of the cars I’ve worked on the sump is simply held on by 20 or so 10mm bolts, and may have a cork or rubber gasket, or high temperature silicone sealer on the joint. Your local auto parts shop should be able to advise you which you need.
On the other odd ones, mostly BMWs as I recall, the gearbox would have to be moved a couple of inches away from the engine to access the last couple of bolt heads, but I don’t remember coming across this on any front wheel drive cars.
I can see it being a bit of a pain if you do it on your back with the car on axle stands, since the sump is probably quite well adhered to the bottom of the engine block, and could take some levering to get it off. I’d much rather do it over a pit or on ramps but it’s doable on the floor, although you’ll want to have some sawdust handy to soak up the inevitable spills/splashes when you get it off.
Tools required are fairly limited, a small socket set, 1/4" drive with probably 100mm of extension bar; small crowbar, tyre lever or similar to (gently!) prise the joint apart; a small scraper and/or emery paper to remove the old seal; and obviously the new parts.
It would be worth checking the source of the leak before starting, but I assume you can see that’s where it’s coming from, and you’re sure it’s not running down from the rocker cover gasket, which is where most engines start leaking from.
Good luck!
Be super duper careful when you’re installing the pan. For some reason the bolt heads shear right off with what feels like a reasonable amount of torque. I’m a bit of a hick when it comes to using a torque wrench, but I wouldn’t do this particular job without one.
Why a dial type? I’ve always owned the click type. They’re so much easier to use.
I don’t recall anything blocking it last time I was under, but I will back out if it is going to be too much work. I checked the manual for another problem, and I was quite vindicated that I don’t want to mess with that one, but this one I’m not sure of. All your recommendations are very helpful.
The manual recommends a certain amount of torque, so I will be on the lookout for a wrench.
The leak is from the plug, the threads are stripped out. The usual methods of repair didn’t work so I have to resort to this.
Echoing the cautionary sentiments, the worst possible scenario would be to have remove all the bolts, destroy the gasket and then realize you can’t actually get the pan out of the chassis. I’d check a Corolla forum prior to attempting this project.
Err, yes-- that’s what I meant (you “dial” it to how much torque you need right? :smack:). Just so long as it’s not one of the cheapo beam ones.
This one may be a toughie. One of my estimators gives a time of 3.5, as compared to 1.0-1.6 for some other 4-cylinder engines. I have a repair manual that says that Toyota’s official instructions are to remove the engine to access the pan. While there’s some discrepancy between those two bits of information, they both suggest that it’s not a particularly easy job on this engine in this car. I’d look long and hard at what might have to be removed to access all the fasteners and drop the pan all the way out.
What Gary T said.
Also this is a very messy job. You will have oil dripping off the inside of the engine onto your head (and into your eyes if you don’t wear eye protection)
This is not even a fun job in a shop.
yet another reason for a tin foil hat
and it is only smart when working underneath anything especially like a vehicle to wear some eye protection with sides and tops, there is all kinds of dirt, rust and small bits of stuff which can travel and fly.
The main problems is that the quotes I have thus far are $400+, and I think that’s even without parts. The other problem I have, timing chain/tensioner issues, was quoted at $350, and that’s even in a more pricey locale. That seems to take a ridiculous amount of labor, all kinds of parts need to be removed on the way, yet is cheaper for some reason. I will check out a Corolla-specific forum and see what they say.
My estimator shows 4.1 for the timing chain labor, not much more than for the oil pan.
Here’s the bottom line: What it costs to replace your timing chain is irrelevant. What it costs to replace someone else’s oil pan is irrelevant. There’s no rule that says replacement of your oil pan has to somehow correspond to, or be easier than, these other items. Apparently oil pan replacement on that particular engine in that particular car is a major pain in the butt, and the quotes you’re getting reflect that. Sorry.
I’ve no experience removing oil pans from Toyotas. The last time I removed an oil pan from an installed engine was 1974. Two things to mention though.
There are often suspension components that prevent just pulling the oil pan stright down. You may have to remove the motor mounts in order to raise the engine enough to pull the pan loose. Mounts are usually hard to get to and it’s hard to reposition the engine just right to reattach them.
Light assemblies like valve covers and oil pans are very often torqued in INCH pounds, not the foot pounds that you commonly see on torque wrenches. If you snap off an oil pan bolt in a location that makes it inconvenient to remove the stub, you’ll provoke a larger leak than the one you’re trying to fix.
Torque wrenches are grossly inaccurate at the top and bottom 10% of their scales. Use one that has the necessary torque setting comfortably in the middle of the scale. Harbor Freight sells accurate torque wrenches at a fraction of the cost of a Sears wrench. Cheap enough to make them worth buying for one time use if you distrust Chinese tools.