alright.. is there something i should know about the oilpan and valve cover bolts on these ea81's? the engine i put in the lifted hatch had loose bolts (not even fingertight) every bolt on the oil pan and both valve cover bolts were this way..

 

now on my new to me 89' ea81 hatch.. it was the same way.. i figured this out while changing the oil and noticing the puddles it was leaving everywhere, and the smoke/smell at stoplights..

 

every bolt on the oil pan was so loose i had to turn it 2 times with my fingers before it was snug.. i tightened these..

 

both valve cover bolts were the same way.. so i tightened them too..

 

are all ea81's this way? am i going to be tightening bolts everytime i crawl under it to change the oil? or is there something i don't know about? lol

What usually happens is the bolts get set when the gasket is new. Then peope forget about them. Over time the gasket shrinks and the bolts are no longer tight. Vibrations and such cause them to loosen. It may be an indication that you should change those particular gaskets even.

they are more prone to loosening because the torque specs are only like 4 ft lbs maybe. (at least on the oil pan ones.) because the gasket is usually just cork, it will rip if they are tightened too much. the VC bolts if you tighten 'em too far, they willcave in the cover... but you definitely don't want to lose a VC bolt while driving! Ask ShawnW about that one

hehe they have all been tightened now, and it doesn't seem to be leaking and smokin like it was.. i normally just tighten the oil pan bolts just a little past snug.. seems to work well.. but i do need to go through the motor maybe pull it out and reseal it..

 

the only thing i can physically see with wet oil on it now is the oil pump.. my guess is the gaskets are gone and its just leaky..

but the parts stores here won't sell just a gasket (they don't even have a listing for it) they wanna sell me the hole friggin pump for like $90.. i'm going online shoippin for this one when it warms up..

 

glad i'm not totally missing some part of a puzzle with this, lol..

don't keep tightning the bolts yes it may have slow down but it will make leak worse because the gasket has soak up alot of oil and is going to seperate and split so i'd plan on replacing those gasket soon

Meeky get a hold of an Oil pump rebuild kit thru Advance Auto. Its the only parts store around here I could get one to come up on the computer at.

 

18026196 is $5.99 and has the o ring and gasket and a few little things.