knewblewkorvette

My 02's oil pan is apparently leaking some oil. My mechanic says its a bitch to replace the gasket. I did some research and it looks that way. Is it really that difficult? Like have to drop the motor hard?

Vetteman Jack

Moved to C5 Tech.

Smoken1

Has he tried to just re-torque the bolts and is he sure it is not the front crank seal?

C5inWV

I've got the lower batwing gasket for sale in case you decide to do it yourself. Save a couple of bucks. My car is a 1999 and just needed the upper pan gasket, and I had already bought both.
The motor was out of my car so I can't speak as to the difficulty when keeping the engine in the car.

knewblewkorvette

Front crank seal?

Smoken1

Yes, the front seal. Is the oil just blowing back to make it look like the pan gasket?

knewblewkorvette

Honestly, I don't know. I plan on getting under there and cleaning the oil off myself, right now there is so much oil on the pan it's impossible to see where it's coming from.

DetroitPlac

There's two main sources of oil leaks that can look just like the oil pan gasket. Front main seal, and oil pressure sensor.

Definitely worth cleaning and monitoring for where the oil is coming from. It's very likely one of these issues rather than the oil pan gasket.

Robrote

My OPS was leaking and made the bottom of the engine look like the Valdez spill. I would clean it all off and do a little investigating. I may be wrong, but I don't think the oil pan is a common issue other than retorquing the bolts.

knewblewkorvette

Thanks guys.
Is the oil pressure sensor next to the oil filter?
This maybe a stupid question but where is the front main seal?

DetroitPlac

Front main seal is behind the hub/balancer.

The oil pressure sensor is behind the intake manifold on the back of the engine. It's prone to failing and thus leaking, and oil runs down the back of the block and ultimately looks like the rear main seal or oil pan gasket leaking.

knewblewkorvette

Thanks
Duh on my part, I just replaced the oil pressure sensor on my 99 . I managed to do it without cutting hole or removing the intake manifold. I also did the relocation kit.
I guess the sensor I was thinking of was the oil temperature sensor

eagle316

sometimes the rubber gasket on oil plug shrinks up but still looks good but doesn't seal, made my pan and everything wet with oil.

Rick Manning

Been there............oil leak and burnt odor drove me nutz. Had pan gasket, front seal changed by others, changed oil pressure sensor and added remote but still had leak.

What I found was a vacuum hose leak in the PCV system behind the manifold. I guess it's a common issue with the "Y" portion of the hose melting over time. Purchased from Rock Auto, replaced and leak gone.

63Corvette

Does anyone know if a bad oil pressure sensor gasket, results in a continuous oil leak or an intermittent leak? Mine ONLY leaks (1 quart in 3 laps) in ON TRACK usage (1 quart in 3 laps). It never leaks in street usage, not a drop! Thanks!!!