Take it to a mechanic or change it myself?

[xpinoyxmk]

Ok i found out that i had an oil pan gasket leak and a rear main seal leak. So should i take it to a mechanic to get it fixed or can i do it myself?

If i do it myself what tools do i need in order to do it?

Thanks,
-Marc

[Blacksilvy]

Need car and engine info to give an accurate answer to you question.
What year and what motor please

[xpinoyxmk]

93 240sx se, stock ka

[soreballz]

You'll have to drop the transmission. If you aren't comfortable doing that, you're gonna need to take it to a mechanic. It won't be cheap though.

[xpinoyxmk]

Heres the deal, i found out if i take it to a mechanic its going to cost around 3-400 to do it. My question is how much will i save if i do it myself?

I need to know what tools i would need to do it though and where to get the parts from?

[opponheimer]

lol... how much if you save if u do it yourself.... do you make $30+ an hour? if not, do it yourself.

[xxslidewaysxx]

done it once before without removing anything other than the pan. the only problem is that you can only lower the oil pan and you have about 2 inches or so to reach in there with a blade to clean up. you have to be careful not to drop silicon inside the oil pan. it wasn't easy but not really complicated. just took time and had to be careful.
take out the oil first, and you need a blade, a 10mm both socket & wrench, maybe a 12mm, (not sure it was too long ago) and silicon to reseal the oil pan. make sure you let it dry for a few hours to be safe then pour in the oil and start the car.

[JRas]

depends on if you feel comfortable doing it...if not either take it in to get fixed, or have somebody experienced help you.

[ms!3]

If your asking you should prob take it to a shop. Unless you have a buddy who can help you out and knows what he's doing.

[Slammed Assassin]

if you have the money take it to a mechanic.. but if you want to learn and save money grab a fsm and do it yourself...

[ka24delover]

its all up to you!!!!!!

[duffman1278]

Doesn't seem like you have much mechanical experience. I could be wrong, but I dunno. I would thus suggest taking it to the shop.

[ReDs13SiLvIa]

Hope you have a back up car,because if you do it yourself it's going to take longer then a mechanic w/all the right tools and lift...good luck...

[projectRDM]

If you ask a question like that it's proof you have no clue what you're up against. Take it somewhere.

[boske]

300-400 isn't a bad price, if they're doing your oil pan AND rear main. Just have them do it. If you have to ask, this isn't the job for you.

[revat619]

I'm over working on cars entirely now. Now that I'm on my second s14, I just pay people to do the "inconvenient" shit. Fuck it. lol

In your case though, laziness isn't the issue, just inexperience. If you can, do it yourself, but if it feels that daunting to you, pay some one.

[alkemyst]

lol... how much if you save if u do it yourself.... do you make $30+ an hour? if not, do it yourself.

Well without mechanical ability you may be costing yourself more than $30/hr :)

OP how do you know you have a rear main leak if the oil pan is also leaking?

If you are going to do the rear main and have a manual, you should really consider doing your clutch at that time if you have anywhere beyond 50k on it...just my thoughts. A shop that's a bit unscrupulous will say 'the clutch looks fine', but they will have no problem taking that same money again in a few months or year for what could have been just another $100 in parts.

[xpinoyxmk]

Ok, i really dont know much about the car yet, but would really like to get to know my car. So i might do this myself with some assistance from my friend whos a mechanic.

What tools do i need though?

[Dream240]

Ok, i really dont know much about the car yet, but would really like to get to know my car. So i might do this myself with some assistance from my friend whos a mechanic.

What tools do i need though?

Well you can do both jobs at the same time if you have an engine hoist. If not, the oil pan gasket will have to be first.

You will need the following.

For oil pan gasket:
1 ton jack
some 2"x4" wooden blocks (at least 3)
2 engine stands
1/4" socket wrench
10mm socket
1/4" extension (3 inch)
oil pan gasket
some BLACK RTV silicone
and alotta patience!!

For rear main seal:
1 ton jack
2 engine stands
3/4" socket wrench
12mm socket w/6" extension
14mm socket w/18" extension
3/4" swivel socket
14mm wrench
12mm wrench
Decent air compressor
1/2" impact gun
17mm impact socket (for flywheel and driveshaft retainer bolts)
2 1/2 qts of new 75w-90 gear oil (for tranny)
new shifter plate gasket

Here's some tips.

- You SHOULD replace your clutch when you do a rear main if you haven't already. Mainly because you're basically doing a clutch job when you do a rear main seal. You can get a new Exedy OEM clutch kit for 100 bucks on ebay. AND RESURFACE YOUR FLYWHEEL!!
- Also you should replace your tranny front bearing retainer gasket and tranny front seal. Also get the tranny rear seal replaced too. Since you have to pull the tranny, you want to do these things so you don't have to do them in 3 months cause you have some other new leak.
- Use the wood blocks in between your jack and engine. Helps to spread the load on the car.
- Don't jack the engine up by the crank pulley!!!
- USE JACK STANDS!!!
- I only ever jack up up the front of the car to give the car a good steep angle for pulling the tranny out once you have it off the car. Lower the car down a bit when re-installing the tranny. Makes it easier.
- Makes some new freinds that have muscles. Or pay your weight lifting neighbor to help you with the heavy lifting. Trust me it's worth it, you don't want to drop a 75 lb tranny on your head.
- Set aside at least a whole weekend. Maybe even 4 days, depending on what you end up breaking during the job that you need to order to replace.
- Refill the tranny oil through the shifter plate......MUCH faster. But make sure you have the drive shaft istalled before you do!!!
- removing the oil pan without a hoist can be tricky, but possible. You will need to jack up the car and use TWO jacks for engine maneuvering. I use one jack to lift up the engine and loosen the front crossmember bolts(4) then lower that down as far as it will go without the bolts coming out!!! REMEMBER, THAT X-MEMBER IS ALL THAT STANDS BETWEEN YOU AND GOD ALMIGHTY AT THIS POINT. So keep at least two threads of each bolt in. As you lower the pan, this will give you more room to maneuver it out from under the car. My personal method is to get in the oil pan and remove the 12mm bolt holding the pick up tub in place. This will practically let the oil pan fall out. The hard part is putting the bolt back in on the re-install.

I'm sure I've missed some things, so some one feel free to fill in the blanks.

Good luck! And happy learning curve!!

[DJ_Sunrise]

Like Russ said... If you need to ask, take it somewhere else. Those are two crucial areas a beginner shouldn't fuck with.

-Bart

[HyperTek]

if your confident and good at problem solving/hands on, go for it. Cars are real easy, alot of it is common sense when you learn how to work on them. This is how ive done things, as well as a few friends who learned on their own.. You will save a few bucks too.

Long as you have available down time to do it, in case things don't go smoothly *sometimes an expected easy job, and you might strip a bolt or too along the way, which requires more time to take care of it etc*

as a kid i played with legos, rc cars, bmx bikes etc... working on cars was an easy adaptation for me.. tho now im rather tired of working on cars and dont wanna go thru half the shit i did on my first car lol.

[g6civcx]

So should i take it to a mechanic to get it fixed or can i do it myself?

This question cannot be answered. Generally if you have to ask, you don't know how to do it. Whether you can learn how or not is entirely up to you.

If i do it myself what tools do i need in order to do it?

The same tools you would need to do a clutch replacement at best.

I personally prefer to remove the engine/gearbox assembled from the car and disassemble outside of the car.

[alkemyst]

if you don't have a complete standard metric mechanics set, you shouldn't attempt this type of job. Start with easy stuff like oil changes, plugs, etc...