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What is involved in replacing the engine Oil pan on a 98 Civic coupe EX. My daughter needs a new one and the dealer has quoted her 500.00 to replace it.

I know the part can't be that expensive. Any ideas? Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 235

its like 2.5 hours worth of labor and the pan is around 160 i think. if the shop labor rate is around 100 an hour then thats why its so expensive. if you are mechanically inclined its not that hard of a job to do.. just sucks to do in a driveway on your back..

 
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Thanks for the response. I let them do it, as they also fixed 2 other leaks as well. Overall it wasn't to bad.

I guess I need to bone up on imports so that when my son starts driving in 2 years I'll be able to help him when something breaks.

 
Rep Power: 245

Oh, just an FYI-the pan is so expensive on this model as it went from a stamped steel model to a sand-cast/machined aluminum one.

Another tidbit, the install is very straight forward but the 7 ft lbs on each (if memory serves) of the many small bolts mean business. Don't ever overtighten them or you will have to take it back apart and put a new gasket in.

 
Rep Power: 246

But there are other options other than using the cast aluminum pan. You can put the less expensive stamped steel pan from a DX/LX on the EX. You have to change over to a different tranny-to-block stiffener though or leave the siffener off. You could also use a D17A1 stamped steel pan as long as you change over to a D17 pickup/strainer. Some of these parts can be purchased on forums like this one or eBay for example for less than $100.

 
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True, it's definitely do-able. I'm just not sure how often you'd find such parts available used *shrug*.

 
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i dont understand why labor is so much. all you do is take the bolts off, drop the pan, clean up the old gasket, put new liquid gasket, and put the bolts on. then let it dry overnight. i cant see even myself taking more than an hour if i go slow. new oil pans on ebay are only $50-75.

 
Rep Power: 245

Gearbox: Most all shops have a minimum 1 hour charge. So that can be over $100 depending on your location. Plus ALL shops go by the book rate, a published amount of time needed to perform a job. Those times are always used but yes, someone quick can do them faster than the quoted times usually (not always).

A slight addition is you also need to remove the exhaust 'A' pipe and are supposed to replace the nuts/bolts and gaskets on either end as well (if you follow the factory Helms service manual). Plus cleanup-think of the constant dripping of oil, trying to get a dry surface to apply the Hondabond and the new seal. Hence the reason somebody above mentioned 'not fun to do on your back under the car'.

 
Rep Power: 812

oh yeah i didnt say it would be fun lol.