Quote:
Originally Posted by malgyver
I agree with those who suggest not doing the job.
I replaced my oil pan gasket when I did my turbo replacements. I have 20+ years of wrenching behind me, from replacing mirrors to rebuilding engines. I have resealed so many gaskets, and have a perfect record of those gaskets not leaking again. If I doubted my ability to properly seal an oil holding gasket, I probably would not have attempted it, simply because of the amount of time it takes to get to the offending gasket.
If you think you have good wrenching skills, and have the time and patience to have a potentially very frustrating experience, then by all means give it a try.
But this job is way more involved than a valve cover or intake valve cleaning. Proceed with caution and a healthy dose of optimism, frustration tolerance, and willingness to fail and then see it as a learning experience. It is not conceptually complex, but that doesn't make it an "easy" job.
And don't forget, the first step is to put the whole car up on jacks (you could just do the front), essentially disconnect the front suspension from the frame, and then get on your back underneath said car that is up on jacks. Thats probably enough to scare most people away!
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Wow, then I surely underestimate my wrenching abilities! I'm a software developer by profession and an avid DIY'er as a hobby. But I consider myself as an average or below home mechanic. I replaced the oil pan gasket while replacing the turbos, doing a complete suspension overhaul, fuel pump, fuel filter, HPFP, water pump, and valve cover gasket, all done in my garage on my back
And I thought that wasn't too difficult - just time consuming. And now I'm planning to do the valve stem seals on my X5. Man, I should go to an auto school and do some of this stuff on the side.