G2IC: Teg Tips

The Generation 2 Integra Club and those posting these tips stress that performing these tips/tricks are at your own risk.
No one will be held liable for error / injury but yourself.

Changing Oil Pan Gasket

You will need:
New Oil Pan Gasket. ~$20
Degreaser.
Rags.
Brake Cleaner Spray. ~$3
WD-40 or other bolt-loosener.
2 Jack Stands.~$10
Honda Bond or Liquid Gasket
Anti-Seize Compound
4 Quarts of your favorite oil and oil filter (OPTIONAL, read last step for details)

This task was done on a 1991 Integra LS automatic. Some pictures may look different than from what's under your car.

1. As you would in a regular oil change, drain all the oil into a container. Cover the container to make sure no other contaminants fall into it. You may/may not want to use it later for checking for leaks.
Jack up the front of the car, and secure the rear wheels. Jack stands are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Raise the car to a comfortable level.

2. Remove the longitudinal brace. These are held in with 3 bolts in the front, and 2 more at the other end of the brace. They're 17mm.

3. Disassemble lower exhaust piping: The part you'll be removing after the header and before the catalytic converter. There are 3 bolts that hold the pipe onto the header. Use deep sockets. I believe they are 14mm. These will be very tight, you may need to spray some WD-40 on there and let it soak in for a couple of minutes before attempting to remove them again. Loosen the nuts, but keep them on the bolts, this aids in removing the other bolts and prevents the pipe from unexpectedly falling on you.

4. At the other end of the pipe, you'll see two spring-loaded bolts (only one is shown in the picture, the other is on the other side of the pipe). These are also very tight. To remove, you'll need to hold the nut to prevent it from moving, and loosen the spring-loaded bolt at the other end. The pipe my suddenly fall detach from the catalytic converter so be ready. You can remove the bolt-spring-nut assembly, but put them back together and in a safe place so that you don't loose them.

5. There's also a suspension piece that come down from above. Remove these two bolts. Now remove the 3 bolts that you loosened from the header and remove the entire pipe.
(The pictures show a vice grip holding onto the joining pipes. This isn't necessary to remove the bolts, but it helps a LOT for re-assembly. You'd wish you had 3 hands when you try to install those spring-loaded bolts again. The vice grips hold the pieces of pipe together and you can more easily push onto the spring and tighten.)

6. You're now ready to remove the many many oil pan bolts. They're 10mm. Remove them from opposite ends and work your way around. The picture shows two bolts (red lines) that may be difficult to reach. To get better access to these, remove the flex plate cover (remember this was done on an automatic) by loosening the bolts that are circled in yellow.

7. Remove the oil pan. The thing that you see sticking out from the engine is the oil strainer. Check inside it's lower opening for pieces of gasket or other debris. Just fish it out. Clean the oil pan using degreaser. You might also find a lot of debris in there too. Clean the mating surfaces where the oil pan gasket goes, both on the engine side and the oil pan. If liquid gasket was used before, some of it might have caked into the "bumps" on the oil pan. These also need to be removed otherwise the gasket will not fit securely.

8. I found it easier to put the new gasket on the oil pan first and then carefully and slowly line it up with the bolts that stick out from the engine. Use a dab of HondaBond or Liquid gasket every 3 inches on the oil pan to keep the gasket from moving when you're installing it. By the way, the rubber gasket goes on only ONE CORRECT WAY. The indented side joins the bumps on the oil pan and the flat side mates with the engine. It's a no-brainer, you'll figure it out. When screwing the oil pan bolts back in, you MUST do so from opposite ends and work your way around. They should be torqued to spec, but I didn't have a torque wrench. I believe the Helm's says to do so at 9 lb-ft, and that doesn't require much effort. If you notice the gasket bulging out as you're tightening, it's probably too tight!

9. Installation is the reverse of removal. When installing the exhaust bolts back onto the header, use anti-seize compound.

10. Since I didn't want to waste any of the oil I used should there be a leak, I poured the oil that I removed, back into the engine through the oil filler cap. (You may or may not want to do this, this oil I removed was still relatively new, about 1000 miles on it.) No matter if you use new oil (change your filter as well) or the used oil, wait several hours to allow it to collect back into the oil pan. Check the oil level (it should be between holes). Drive the car around for 10-15 minutes. If after the drive you notice a foul smell or smoke, you're leaking some oil somewhere so check around all your seals. Check back again tomorrow (long after the engine is cooled) for any oil puddles that have accumulated. If not, you're good to go.

N FUL FX