Our '05 has had a slow oil leak for a while now. You get underneath and filter is wet, starter is wet, bell housing wet etc. I did the typical stuff first...oil block off plate gasket, check filter tightness. I changed the oil pan gasket in Feb of 2022 mainly because I wanted to change the pump o ring, which was a good worthwhile project to do, had great PSI afterwards. But the pan has never really been wet to begin with. Last November I decided to shoot some pics of behind the manifold. Of course you have to do this blindly since there is no room against firewall. Horribly messy back there. I went ahead and changed oil pressure sensor (which I had done just a few years ago), no change. Still dripped oil. So a few months ago I decided it was probably the valley pan gasket. Pretty sure I was right. Today I did valley pan gasket, new knock sensors, coolant bypass gaskets, and intake manifold gaskets (I went with the Felpro aluminum ones. They're more expensive, but very visibly superior to the OEM plastic ones.
Our valley pan had 4 bolts not even finger tight. They were loose. You could flick them and they would turn, no kidding. I recall seeing someone, maybe a YT video of someone saying their valley pan also had super loose valley pan bolts. So, there is no doubt we were leaking from there. And, the project really wasn't bad at all. The biggest PITA is the normal stuff....electrical clips (God I hate electrical clips, especially the injector ones, hose clamps..that type of stuff. But not a hard project at all. Anyway, just thoguht I'd post this so maybe it'll help someone chasing an oil leak at backside of motor, but can't figure out what it is.
Our valley pan had 4 bolts not even finger tight. They were loose. You could flick them and they would turn, no kidding. I recall seeing someone, maybe a YT video of someone saying their valley pan also had super loose valley pan bolts. So, there is no doubt we were leaking from there. And, the project really wasn't bad at all. The biggest PITA is the normal stuff....electrical clips (God I hate electrical clips, especially the injector ones, hose clamps..that type of stuff. But not a hard project at all. Anyway, just thoguht I'd post this so maybe it'll help someone chasing an oil leak at backside of motor, but can't figure out what it is.
