760GLE 1988 Oil Pan Gasket

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 27 Oct 2009, 21:07

Hey everyone,

the steering is getting looked at in the auto garage at the moment, but I have more devious plans for when I get the car back. When I changed my oil about a week back, I noticed some considerable oily sludge indicative of an oil leak, that seemed to be forming around the oil pan. I'm going to try to re-torque the bolts to spec and see if it does anything to help, but should it not, the sway bar is under the oil pan. Is there a way to drop the pan and replace the gasket without removing the sway bar? It looks like there would be just enough room to get the pan off and out but I wanted to check before I come to find that there is a hose or something running into the sump that would prevent removal without removal of suspension components.

I want to try and fix the oil leaks in this engine (maybe not the rear main) but I'll try my best to eliminate most of them.

Thanks for the help
-Darrell

FCPEURO · Post by **FCPEURO** » 28 Oct 2009, 09:33

I don't even think you can remove the pan without removing the subframe, let alone the sway bar.

Post by **billofdurham** » 28 Oct 2009, 12:40

One of my various tomes gives this:

The sump (oil pan) can be removed with the engine installed, but this does not give access to any major componenets.
1. If the engine is in the vehicle, drain the oil. If it is on the bench, invert it.
2. Remove the 23 bolts and washers which secure the sump.
3. Remove the sump, tapping or levering it gently if need be to free it. Recover the gasket.
4. Refit by reversing the removal operations, using a new gasket. Tighten the sump bolts evenly.

No torque settings are given for the sump bolts in any of my books.

Bill.

DeRail · Post by **DeRail** » 29 Oct 2009, 22:06

All righty, thanks for the replies!

I have to do an engine coolant drain/fill so I'll take another look at the situation when I'm under the brick.

Think I'd have any luck with tightening up those bolts (I didn't check the tightness when I was under there) or would I be better off just replacing the gasket? Also, what's the best method to trace oil leaks, because now that I'm thinking of it, one of the hoses running by my PS reservoir was soaked with motor oil when I was checking my fluid. Are there any components around that vicinity that could be causing that? I'm just thinking that an oil pan leak couldn't cause something above it to get soaked, nevermind a rear main seal leak (which had been determined by the garage about a year ago, but I thought it may have been oil dripping down the engine, emulating a rear main seal leak).

Thank you!
Darrell

Post by **billofdurham** » 30 Oct 2009, 12:32

You may be lucky and fix things by tightening the bolts but I think it will only be a temporary solution, unless one is exceptionally loose. As stated in my previous post, there is no torque setting given just to tighten them evenly. A previous owner may have changed the gasket and got it wrong.

The only way to trace an oil leak is to clean off all the oil and check regularly to see where it is coming from. Once it starts to leak it spreads out making it practically impossible to pin point the source so the checks have to be done every time you have had the engine running. When I have been leak tracing in the past I started off with a steam clean of the engine bay.

The only two component I can think of that may put oil on the pipe would be a valve cover gasket or a timing gear gasket.

Bill.