Oil Pan Removal/Installation

[sixfiveoh]

Cracked mine.

Coilovers + ninja railroad tracks = $250 tow back to my house from 27 miles away.

Where can I get a replacement? The crack is too big to JB weld...

[im sofa king]

Cheapest solution= have someone tig weld it. I do it all the time for customers. But for a replacement I think your best bet would be the classifieds if you want to save money.

[audiness]

oooh that sucks...

i guess try a junkyard... or the stealership

[biketsai]

Hey, IM me and ill see if I can find you one shipped out from Texas if youd like.

[.aye four.]

have fun with it replaced mine not to long ago hit a rock on the highway wasn't fun. I just got mine from the stealership.

[Burntaudi]

The pan isn't that expensive at the dealer. The problem is the subframe needs to be droped to swap it.

[Wizard-of-OD]

Cheapest solution= have someone tig weld it. I do it all the time for customers. But for a replacement I think your best bet would be the classifieds if you want to save money.

I do NOT recommend TIG welding your broken oil pan....

If you need a used one I can find them no problem as I have quite of few people who buy AEB's just to swap them into transverse vehicles (which means they cant use the AEB oil pan).

If you need one let me know.

[sixfiveoh]

PM'd you Issam.

How difficult of a job is it dropping the subframe and everything?

[im sofa king]

I do NOT recommend TIG welding your broken oil pan....

I'll only do it for hairline cracks, not if the things in 2 pieces or anything. And its usually on our race cars out at the track when no one can get their hands on an e30 m3 oil pan in between races.

[sixfiveoh]

Is it NECESSARY to raise the motor AND drop the subframe/crossmember to get to it? Or would I be fine with just dropping the subframe

[MattzWarsteiner]

I saw ECS has them for AWM engines with oil sensor for $175. This guy has one over at AF. Not sure of the year etc.

[sixfiveoh]

Thanks for looking out. They seem to be $125 on MJM...

Can anyone confirm whether or not I have to raise the engine, or if I can get this done just by lowering the crossmember?

[ExpLlclT]

scribe where it is now so you don't fuck up your front end alignment dunno boutthe engine i'd think just slower subframe but i got a 2.8 sorry

[AudiA4_20T]

Is it NECESSARY to raise the motor AND drop the subframe/crossmember to get to it? Or would I be fine with just dropping the subframe

just dropping the subframe should be fine

[sixfiveoh]

I don't suppose there's any kind of basic writeup floating around on here on how to drop the subframe eh?

[BLUEisFASTER]

there was a screen that i had replaced when i replaced my oil pan. not sure what its called but it recommended because of potential oil gunk up over time. anybody know what i'm talking about? i think its between the pan and the oil pump.

[317ssayzarc]

there was a screen that i had replaced when i replaced my oil pan. not sure what its called but it recommended because of potential oil gunk up over time. anybody know what i'm talking about? i think its between the pan and the oil pump.

the black plastic windage tray/ baffle?

[sixfiveoh]

Should I start by taking the sway bar off or is that not necessary? Do I take the bolts out of those mount looking things? Just a quick step by step little sentence on how to drop this thing would be peachy

[flyromeo3]

i cracked my oil pan too a few months ago. I used some expoxy on it to hold down the hairline cracks I received. Just like you Coilover + f"d up roads = that.
I do have to replace it anyway and i've seen them on ECS for about 160 or 170 it was.

[Nebone]

Should I start by taking the sway bar off or is that not necessary? Do I take the bolts out of those mount looking things? Just a quick step by step little sentence on how to drop this thing would be peachy

You will have to remove everything that is in your way to access the oil pan. Sway bar is the least of your worries. Important part here is that you set your subframe exactly as it was. Use some paint or parkers to mark it up and line it up afterwards or an alignment could cost ya hefty if they have to shift the subframe.

Onemoremile had some pictures and tips of dropping the pan if you need them.

[pinky]

there was a screen that i had replaced when i replaced my oil pan. not sure what its called but it recommended because of potential oil gunk up over time. anybody know what i'm talking about? i think its between the pan and the oil pump.

that's the pickup tube for the oil pump

[Militant-Grunt]

The oil pan swap is a complete pain in the ass, got to drop the frame to get access to the rear bolts.

[sixfiveoh]

well I thought I'd be able to get down to business today and get rid of the old oil pan while I wait for a new one, but I'm sitting in court at jury duty right now. awesome.

[Nebone]

Did you install the suspension by yourself? If you did that then you can probably tackle the oil pan.

I did 2 MK4 pans already, 2.0 and VR6, and they both use a sealant instead of a gasket. 2001 1.8T A4 could be either or. Research the gasket situation first.

[pinky]

a4 pan is a lot different than a mk4...

[Nebone]

a4 pan is a lot different than a mk4...

In shape, but its still aluminum and mounts to an iron block.

[.aye four.]

Cliffnotes.

1. Jack up car and place one jack stands.
2. Place car in service position (front end removed)
3. Attach engine hoist to engine and tighten to hold in place.
4. Remove front sway bar.
5. Remove Engine mount and transmission mount.
6. Unbolt Front of subframe and loosen rear bolts but do not remove.
7. Lift motor to where the transmission almost touches the firewall (I used a jackstand under the transmission for safety).
8. Use 2x4 to wedge sub frame down.
9. Remove bolts from oil pan (2 bolts hidden in flywheel housing).
10. Apply sealant to new pan and reattach.

Wow actually fit it into 10 *Easy* steps.

Have fun with it, just make sure you take your time.

[sixfiveoh]

I don't have access to an engine hoist, is this possible without lifting the motor? Maybe I can lift it by putting a 2x4 on a jack under the tranny? Is there a way to do this just by lowering the subframe?

[.aye four.]

You might be able to get away with just lowering the subframe and lifting from the tranny. But it was alot easier to get to the hidden bolts with the engine hoisted up a little. Maybe if you have some short extensions or wobble heads it might work.

[Toyotatech]

I didn't touch the subframe, I just used a jack on the bell housing.

Remove front end like your doing a timing belt, remove braces (you will know), remove nuts for the motor mounts, lossen tranny mount bolts ( completely removing bolts can cause alignment issues during reassembly), remove oil pan bolts (some need to be removed through the beel housing holes), jack motor up with jack under bell housing (carefull) slide pan twards driver side as you fight it out (it will come). I don't think I even loosened the bolts on the subframe but I may have, I didn't drop it though because I didn't want to affect the wheel alignment.

[sixfiveoh]

If I do drop the subframe, should I mark where it sits from side to side or forward to back? Or both?

[sixfiveoh]

Another question for you guys, this is the right pan for my car right?

http://www.mjmautohaus.com/catalog/p...oducts_id=1970

[pinky]

looks like the right one.

[Nebone]

Don't rush with this. Make sure to give the oil drain lots of time so most of it comes out or it will be a mess when you take the pan off as it will start falling off from the block walls.

When you see the oil pick up tube inside, spray some brake cleaner in there as it will dissolve the buildup so you can clean that passage if theres any gunk inside.

Maybe you can consider getting some stiffer engine mounts while at it as they will be disconnected anyways.

[onemoremile]

I lowered the subframe and lifted the engine. Getting the pan out required a lot more lifting since it is a really tight fit. The way the pan is shaped makes it harder to remove.

[sixfiveoh]

Do the 01s have gaskets or should I just get some gasket sealer?

http://www.mjmautohaus.com/catalog/p...oducts_id=2340

[Nebone]

Aluminum pans to iron blocks tend to use sealer over rubber gaskets. I have done 2 so far on MK4 jettas and both had aluminum pans and used OEM VW Sealant. Its $$$ Look at the pan and see if there is any white goo around where the mating surfaces are to see if it used sealant.

Your car is not unreliable, you just seem to break lots of ish on it. ;)

[sixfiveoh]

So looks like I'll be ordering the sealer listed above, this pan : http://www.mjmautohaus.com/catalog/p...oducts_id=1970 and an OEM oil filter.

Even with 3 day shipping it still comes out to less than the pan itself at the dealer. MJM FTW.

[biketsai]

Hope things work out dude

[Nebone]

Pans are madd money at the dealer. Tow truck busted my girls VR6 pan and I proved it. They agreed and were gonna find a used one but couldn't and I said I need the pan right now so they went out and blew over $300 on a new dealer one.