Oil pan "mystery" bolt

[cmichaelo]

I just removed the oil pan. Had no trouble with any of the bolts. Soaked them plenty in blaster. I knew I had to remove 14 bolts, cause that's what's shown in the Helms manual. However.....

I had to remove one more bolt not shown in Helms, namely a bolt that secures the pan to the transmission housing. The bolt is a 10mm x 1.5 and about 1" long thread.

There are actually two holes in the pan. Thus probably two bolts are needed. But there was only one bolt on my car. (I'm speculating that the other bolt has been lost by accident or during dealer service when replacing the clutch.)

I'm curious about these two bolts. I can't find any reference to them in the Helms manual. And it's weird, since one can NOT remove the pan, nor the xmission housing, without removing these two bolts.

Do any of you know if these bolts go in before or after securing the pan to the cylinder block?

And do any of you know the torque specs for these bolts?

Michael

 

[DHMag]

I just removed the oil pan. Had no trouble with any of the bolts. Soaked them plenty in blaster. I knew I had to remove 14 bolts, cause that's what's shown in the Helms manual. However.....

I had to remove one more bolt not shown in Helms, namely a bolt that secures the pan to the transmission housing. The bolt is a 10mm x 1.5 and about 1" long thread.

There are actually two holes in the pan. Thus probably two bolts are needed. But there was only one bolt on my car. (I'm speculating that the other bolt has been lost by accident or during dealer service when replacing the clutch.)

I'm curious about these two bolts. I can't find any reference to them in the Helms manual. And it's weird, since one can NOT remove the pan, nor the xmission housing, without removing these two bolts.

Do any of you know if these bolts go in before or after securing the pan to the cylinder block?

And do any of you know the torque specs for these bolts?

Michael

after the pan bolts are torqued, the pan to trans case get torqued. these bolts serve 2 purposes. 1) flywheel dust cover, 2) added insurance pan stays against the block.

i normally torque these bolts at 10 ft lbs. be careful though, you are fine threading into aluminum, the tendency to strip the bolt hole is very likely if over torqued. on numerous occasions, ive found these bolt holes to already be stripped..and they arent only on SHOs.

 

[cmichaelo]

DH,

Thanks.

Just checking, but the dust cover you referred to is the odd-shaped aluminum gasket between the pan and the xmission case, right?

I noticed that the way this gasket is mounted doesn't prevent liquids from entering the clutch "compartment". I believe this to be true since the gasket can be reached with a long thin screw driver in between the starter and the pan. And when pushing on the gasket (just lightly, of course) it gives way which means it's not mechanically secured.

I guess it is supposed to be this way. But isn't it risky for the clutch, or is it totally unlikely that fluids can make their way "up there" between the starter, xmission and pan?

Michael

 

[DHMag]

DH,

Thanks.

Just checking, but the dust cover you referred to is the odd-shaped aluminum gasket between the pan and the xmission case, right?

I noticed that the way this gasket is mounted doesn't prevent liquids from entering the clutch "compartment". I believe this to be true since the gasket can be reached with a long thin screw driver in between the starter and the pan. And when pushing on the gasket (just lightly, of course) it gives way which means it's not mechanically secured.

I guess it is supposed to be this way. But isn't it risky for the clutch, or is it totally unlikely that fluids can make their way "up there" between the starter, xmission and pan?

Michael

its a dust cover. there is a vent on top of the case. allows the accumulated dust to go somewhere rather than cake inside the case.

 

[SonicRiot]

Fluids and leaks can get in there, if that's what you're asking. The bellhousing is not sealed.

 

[cmichaelo]

Fluids and leaks can get in there, if that's what you're asking. The bellhousing is not sealed.

Yeah, exactly my concern.

So I guess I shouldn't worry about this, since it's by design?

Or can I do something to minimize the risk of fluids getting in there? I'm particularly concerned with water.

Michael

 

[cmichaelo]

OK. Here are more bolts that I don't know the torque specs of. Namely the bolts securing the baffle and the nuts securing the pickup tube to the oil pump.

I tried "estimating" the torque of these bolts and nuts while removing them and came up with the following.

Baffle bolts: ~10-15 lbft

Pickup tube nuts: ~5 lbft.

Particularly the pickup tube nuts where frightingly easy to loosen. This supposed to be so?

Michael

 

[SonicRiot]

Helms is better than Chiltons, but it still sucks. You would be better off using the internet to look for specs and breakdown/assembly directions. For something like an oilpan that uses a gasket, it is not wise to "guesstimate" the specs. An experienced tech might know off the top of his head, but if you've never done it before, it can lead to leaky gaskets.

Also, all bellhousings have the potential to get wet inside. I wouldn't worry about it unless you are offroading the car or driving into two-foot deep puddles on a daily basis. Wich I hope you are doing neither in your SHO...

 

[AutoSHO]

I would not recommend using a torque wrench on the oil pickup tube. Those studs break very easily. I do them by hand with a 1/4" drive ratchet.

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

torque everything....The 5 ft/lb of torque on the pickup tube is 60 inch/pound....they dont list the torque values for giggles, it is because it is so hard to "feel"

I just did my rod bearings and the 60 inch/pounds on the pick up tube was very light and scary, but thats what it is.