Hello, I am new to this forum so I would like to say hi to everyone. I would appreciate your opinions on this one....

Okay I have a oil leak problem that seems to be getting progressively worse as I daily drive the car and the thing that is bothering me the most is that the oil is leaking onto the catalytic converters at highway speeds. So it's smoking a lot. I looked underneath the car and it appears to be the upper oil pan gasket that is leaking and I also took it to a trusted mechanic and he also said it is the upper oil pan gasket. I changed the oil pressure sending unit thinking that was the culprit but that didn't change anything and there was no signs of oil running down the block.

So my question to you is, would I be able to change out this gasket without any special tools? I read somewhere that you have to drop the whole engine cradle and front suspension to get to it. And that you need to have a tool to compress the front springs? I am not 100% sure on how hard this task is and if you can do it on your own, on jackstands.

Or should I wait to replace it till I have enough funds to cam the car and have a professional shop do the whole engine build including the upper oil pan gasket?

Car is a M6 2000 Corvette Coupe.

 

If you have a 2000,, you have a two piece oil pan. The oil pan gasket that out C5 uses is an ALUMINUM frame with a embossed rubber inset gasket. It is the LAST thing that I would say failed...

That being said,, have you tried to check the torque on the upper pan bolts to make sure that they are not loose???

If it were me,,,,,, thats what I would do.

The upper pan bolts are accessable but its a pain to get to them. Its still doable.

The lower pan bolts and upoper pan bolts have DIFFERENT torques!

DO NOT strip out the lower pan bolts as it easy to do if you use the incorrect torque.

I helped a friend change out his connecting rod beraings and had to drop the pan. Put the car on FOUR stands, Support the engine fron under the car. Drop the cradle. NO SPECIAL TOOLS needed.

The brake lines and powersteering lines are a PITA

SOMETHING TO CHECK before you get too deep into the oil pan........

The front timing chain cover harmonic damper seal can leak and look like the oil pan is leaking. It happened to me. I had OIL from the pan to differential!

The damper seal damaged the damper sealing sealing surface and leaked oil like a seave.

STOCK DAMPER


Damaged sealing area:




Replaced it with a Powerbond dampener

 

Sorry for the late reply, been really busy but thank you. I will check up on those things first before I really get myself into that much of a task lol. I will check the torque on the bolts and hopefully it's that simple of a fix.