MANIACman

This is actually part of another thread where I found oil leaking from one of the lines going to the drivers side intercooler (A crack) The main source of oil dripping after a short drive was around the oil pan. I've really been in slow motion since I bought the car due to unrelated issues. Anyhow, once I got all the sticky cola steamed out of every square inch of the interiour (UGH) and found that I was driving around with a trunk that had become a swimming pool (#@#@!&ing Idiot previous owner) and got the tail lights so they didn't fill up with water when it rained and figured out why the power steering went "off" when the coolent tank dripped (Design flaws) and fixed the clutch safety problem (A tolerance issue) I decided to tackle the somewhat scary issue of jacking up the car and crawling around under it. *I know... I'm a total wimp but I've gotten better. So... I decided to dump the oil and remove the pan. Easier said then done although I do have to say that once you get it lifted in one area the rest does peel off easily. Some of the tools I use to pry open cell phones (But are too hard on them) worked perfectly. So I get the pan off which is rusted so one project is to get a wire brush and get the rust off and paint it with some high temp spray paint. I was thinking of that rust to whatever converter stuff you paint on but I have zero idea what happens if you use it on something that gets hot. So to my question. The glop that genius owner before me used looks like a miserable job and more important this doesn't look like a pan that is meant to use "glop" *No channel just flat mostly. So. I asked the local MacParts store to order an oil pan gasket and they said "There is none" so... I frankly don't believe them. Has anyone taken the pan off an RX8 and seen a gasket being used? Or is glop the right stuff to use and if so... Any tricks I can learn to make it seal better then this screen door that I had? Perhapes torq the bolts in a back and forth rotation like when you put a tire back on? And maybe use an actual torq wrench? Is there any suggested torq for such a thing or can someone who works on cars regularly suggest what to use? I am PURELY an amateur and this is the first time in decades that I've been in love with a car enough to even want to do this stuff. Also... I've had a couple bolts that had the heads busted off and I've gotten them out ok but for replacements I've decided to use stainless bolts (nuts etc) everywhere. I know this is more costly and maybe overkill but is there any technical reason that I shouldn't do this? I just hate rusty bolts and even more hate drilling out broken bolts.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

FIPG silicone is the correct gasket material. I think Mazda has their own formulation, but any brand will be fine as long as you follow instructions and maybe some internet guides about where to apply it. Apply a bead all around, let sit 10 minutes, mount. Once you press the pan to the block, do not allow it to detach. Do it right or do it twice

Can't comment on stainless bolts but sounds like a good idea. Yes, you should use a torque wrench.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Don't overthink it......it's an oil pan.

Clean it up very clean......clean the bottom ot the engine very clean. Make sure the bolt holes in the block are cleaned out well too.

Put a layer of Grey RTV gasket maker on...let it sit a bit to gel and then start the bolts...tighten them just enough to get the pan just seated a bit then carefully tighten in a criss cross pattern until they are tight. Don't overtighten them...

Wait until the RTV sets and then clean it up.. it should just peel off easily then

MANIACman

Overthinking what I do on my car is truly my main problem. Before I got married I was into two seaters and was "ok" working on things. I once did an engine swap (And it worked) but since I got married its been "family-mo-biles" that I honestly couldn't care less about and other then changing oil every 3k and keeping them clean driving / cars have been low to no on my interest list. Then I saw this car with suicide doors with an amazing low weight to power rotary engine. Sheesh! It's like the heroin of cars for me. Its a 2 seater with places for 4 people to sit. It drives like a racecar. It looks like a racecar. Wait it IS a racecar. I obsessed on where to jack the car up from. Where exactly to put the stands. I could go on an on but in an effort to do everything right I spend 20x the amount of time I need to. SIGH... Anyway I appreciate the feedback (Hand holding) I'm trying so hard not to screw anything up that I'm just doing that "sit and spin" thing. *ok, so if I get what your saying you run a bead and let it set up a little bit them use that as the gasket? I'm pretty sure the goon who put this on just squished it flat so that there wasn't any bead to act as a gasket. Plus this insane bit of having some screws tightened so loosely that I could take them out with my fingers (Almost) and others I thought would need to be drilled out. I got a good tip on cleaning the gunk out of the screw holes. Take a bolt and with a dremil cut a notch along the side of the bolt and run it in and out which collects the loose goo. Again - Thanks for the help. I know there are so many people that have questions about Rotary and is this even a good idea but... Check it out. There is this ubber cool do it yourself airplane guy who wanted to make an airplane that freaking beats heat (Fast like 200mph +++) and uses an engine from an RX8 Cozy This is kind of the middle of a very cool series of blogs about building an airplane around the engine and how weight per horse its a hell of a great engine. I enjoyed the part where he is having problems and a non airplane guy with this "RX8 Car" drives over to explain what he thinks the problem is. Anyway if your ever feeling like you want to go back to the darkside of piston engines check out the link and get a recharge. Plus there is a whole community of Airplane folks who live Rotary engines and have a lot of great technical info on ECM, Turbo, Supercharging having things like a A/B computer for the engine etc. It makes my geekufication factor peg the cool-o-meter. Oh! Its not an exact quote but when the blog writer is asking the control tower for permission to go to 10,000 ft they ask him if he is going to do that straight up vertical? *Joking about the rocket like power of his RX8 like Aircraft. He refers to piston powered aircraft as "spam cans" which I think is how I'm going to picture all non rotary cars from now on.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

holymother wall of text

I admit, I did not read it.

MANIACman

That using a dremil to cut partly in / down the side of a bolt makes a good gasket goo remover. I got the pan all wire brused and put some rust converter on it a couple days ago and painted it today.