Oil Pan Gasket Change

[swexlin]

I want to put a big "thank you" out there to my buddy Steve (Mopar Steve) for hosting my 03 in his garage today. He and I (well, mostly him!) dropped the oil pan, and changed out my gasket today. As I have posted here before, I've had a slight drip for a couple years (not the oil cooler lines, they were done) and we think it was the gasket, based on my symptoms, and those of others here.

Not a bad job, the hardest part was holding that sucker in place (really pushing and fighting gravity) while Steve bolted things back in. Fill with fresh oil, and we're good to go. I'll monitor it for a while, and see if that does it. After a few heat cycles (which with the amount I've been able to drive this recently will by August, LOL), we'll put her back on the lift, and have a look-see, and check and re-torque those bolts if any of them need it.

Total time was about 2 hours, and that was with us taking our time, and BSing with a couple of others in his garage. Trickiest part was getting the Viper the 25 miles to his house in freezing temps, with ICE all over the road. I took it easy, and only fishtailed once, which I pulled right out of. Give those PS2s credit, they weren't too bad.

Thanks again Steve!

 

[Dom426h]

Nice. If I was in town I would have stopped by. Roads still a bit crappy up in PA?

Upgraded my oilpan & gasket a couple years ago with higher capacity with trap-door baffles. She's still sealed up nice.

 

[St.Char]

Man.. wish I had a lift in garage. I need to find another Viper guy in our local club who is willing to share. Hopefully the fix took care of the drip

 

[swexlin]

Hope so as well. It's always been very minor, so I'll have to monitor it.

 

[Dan Cragin]

Mopar Steve is the guy.

Some trivia here, but if you compared the old gasket to the new gasket you can see a big change in the way is was designed. The new gasket has 4 areas where the aluminum gasket is cut and filled with a rubber elastomer that allows it to expand and contract with heat. The original gasket was solid and did not take in to account the expansion.

 

[swexlin]

Dan, Steve and I did notice that. There was rubber in the four corners.

 

[MoparMap]

Nice. If I was in town I would have stopped by. Roads still a bit crappy up in PA?

Upgraded my oilpan & gasket a couple years ago with higher capacity with trap-door baffles. She's still sealed up nice.

Do the trap doors do enough to solve the potential oil starvation in long sweepers or do you really still need the swining pickup? Seems like this might be a cheaper fix and something I was thinking about if I ever have to pull my pan for anything.

 

[swexlin]

Do the trap doors do enough to solve the potential oil starvation in long sweepers or do you really still need the swining pickup? Seems like this might be a cheaper fix and something I was thinking about if I ever have to pull my pan for anything.

Hey MoparMap, Dom has a Gen 2, and it is completely different.

 

[Mopar Steve]

Scott, it was great to see you. (Its been a while) hopefully spring weather will get here soon and we can all get our cars out.

It was good to spend some time under a Viper after working on the CTS and the Pontiac. Hopefully I will have the Pontiac in paint soon and can finish that restoration and get it out of the shop. (and get paid!).

I was surprised at how different the pans were on the gen 3 to gen 2 and the gasket configuration is comptetly different also. I have spent more time under a gen 2 than the gen 3.

Just a teaser....... Almost every spring I host an Oil Change Day here at my shop. This is free to anyone that wants to bring their Viper (or other toy, Vettes, Mustangs, Etc) I have two lifts, and every tool you could immagine so bring your car and prepare for the coming season. For those not comfortable with doing it yourself, I am glad to help and to show you how, and to check all your other fluids as well. This event is a bring your own filters and oil, I cannot supply that. Because of time limitations I am requesting that we leave the mini-van for another time. I will be posting an event schedule very soon and a reminder for theis event.

 

[MoparMap]

Hey MoparMap, Dom has a Gen 2, and it is completely different.

Ah, that would probably make a difference, lol. Along those lines though, what does the gen 3 pan look like internally? Is there a way baffles could be implemented to reduce the cost from a full swinging pickup conversion? $4k seems like an awful lot to swallow for a little added insurance.

 

[swexlin]

Ah, that would probably make a difference, lol. Along those lines though, what does the gen 3 pan look like internally? Is there a way baffles could be implemented to reduce the cost from a full swinging pickup conversion? $4k seems like an awful lot to swallow for a little added insurance.

Not sure, Steve could answer that better than me. I will say that the stock Gen 3 pan is a very nicely machined piece, so I can see why the upgraded pan and swinging pickup would be pricey.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Ah, that would probably make a difference, lol. Along those lines though, what does the gen 3 pan look like internally? Is there a way baffles could be implemented to reduce the cost from a full swinging pickup conversion? $4k seems like an awful lot to swallow for a little added insurance.

4K for a swing-arm pickup conversion? Thats about double what it actually costs...

And no, there is no good way to baffle a Gen-3 pan.

 

[MoparMap]

I might be thinking the comp coupe pan as well, been a while since I checked prices but that was the one that stuck in my mind. Is is really just a gen 4 pan bolt on or are they mods required to the pan to make it work on a gen 3?

 

[Viper Specialty]

I might be thinking the comp coupe pan as well, been a while since I checked prices but that was the one that stuck in my mind. Is is really just a gen 4 pan bolt on or are they mods required to the pan to make it work on a gen 3?

There are modifications required.

 

[Dan Cragin]

Dan is correct, the swing oil pan and pickup assembly is around $1895.00
http://www.specialtyperformanceteam.com/shop/pc/Oil-Pans-and-Kits-c114.htm

 

[Viper Specialty]

Dan is correct, the swing oil pan and pickup assembly is around $1895.00
http://www.specialtyperformanceteam.com/shop/pc/Oil-Pans-and-Kits-c114.htm

[Inside Joke] I didn't realize that I was such a good photographer!