front cover oil pump assembly

[240TweakerNewbee]

I did a search but didn’t find any information on how one of these is installed. I was wondering if someone could tell me if the head needs to come off in order to install one of these.

Mine has a small oil leak near where the power steering pump meets the oil pump assembly, and I was thinking of swapping it out just to be safe that it isn’t the front oil seal or loosing oil pressure because of the leak.

[240TweakerNewbee]

someone? anyone?.. give me at least an idea?

[2_Liter_Turbo]

You can get away with replacing it without taking the head off. It is a pain if the @ss though. The two top mounted bolts are very hard to get to (unless you take the cams out, but I just used a .25" swivel socket). You must take the Upper and Lower pans off though. No way getting around it.

[ILikeMy240sx]

Short answer: No, you dont have to take the head off.

Long answer: No, however there are two bolts right underneath the cam gears that you need to unscrew in order to remove the front cover assembly. Also, trying to put the front cover on when the headgasket and the head is already installed is a very difficult job as the stock headgasket material is very filmsy and likes to be a little bent. Where the top of the front cover meets the head is tight fit so trying to squeeze that headgasket materail inbetween is a big *****. My friend actually bent the chit ouf of his cometic HG trying to do this. However, it is certainly possible as when I took the front cover off for the first time, I did it without taking the head off.

[240TweakerNewbee]

thank you for the reply. I was afraid of that. After further inspection it does look like Im going to need a butload of gaskets, I may need to rethink how bad that oil leak is. What a pain!

[240TweakerNewbee]

So I should think about a metal head gasket and ARP studs, rocker arm stoppers, greddy oil pan, and all the other fun gaskets ...etc, before I get into the oil pump. Gotta love the $20k number getting closer and closer on this project

Should have just bought a new Honda Civic Si; maybe not the same performance but would have been new and the same price, just not on credit cards.

[ILikeMy240sx]

yeah... changing out the front cover is not fun at all. I remember when I took my upper oil pan off....... wow... It is something that I NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER

did I say never? again....

[ILikeMy240sx]

Yes, changing to a metal HG would be a VERY good idea. Go with Apexi... I have one and I mustve torqued it, uninstall then torque it again about 4~5 times and its still holding strong. Try that with a stock HG.

1st rebuild... installed and ran for 2000 milesHead Fed up... installed another head.... decided to change to another head... rod knock so 2nd rebuild... all this but one Apexi HG

Oh and stock head bolts are pain to install and need to replace them if out of spec. ARP head studs are so much better to install and much stronger. No torque to yield bullchit.

[240TweakerNewbee]

yeah... changing out the front cover is not fun at all. I remember when I took my upper oil pan off....... wow... It is something that I NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER

did I say never? again....

What was so bad about the upper oil pan?Besides the location and the mess? Seems like it would be easier to get to and deal with than something like trying to replace the turbo. I could go on for ever about how much that sucks, especially with a long tube bottom mount header. I’ve had to mess with turbo lines, gaskets, locknuts.. I’ve even gone so far as to weld studs in that manifold since it like coming apart just for fun

[240TweakerNewbee]

Thanks again for all the info. This forum has saved me tons of time and money. U guys are great!

[ILikeMy240sx]

You cannot completely remove the upper oil pan unless you drop the subframe.

I tried this with just taking the stock mounts off and raising the engine a bit (about an inch or two or so) but still.. the back of the upper oil pan was keep hitting the power steering lines and refused to come out.

As I did not want to drop the entire subframe, I continued this with upper oil pan detached but still haning beneath the engine... Trying to take that old gasket material off and putting on new RTV.... now I dont think ive ever cursed that much in my life.

[2_Liter_Turbo]

I replace the the oil pump, rear main seal, put in a greddy oil pan, all before I even put in the motor. It was super easy. I know when I took off the oil pan on the KA, I dropped the subframe tot he last threads on the supporting bolts, and wiggled it out. It is a huge pain. It would almost be easier to just pull the engine all together, and then do as much work as possible, then re-install it.

[ILikeMy240sx]

Yup doing all that with the engin outside of the car is MUCH MUCH easier....

[240TweakerNewbee]

Ill keep all this in mind if I ever decide to rebuild the motor with forged internals for some real HP. Otherwise I think its going to continue to have a small leak, Ill try to keep it clean and patch it up somehow.

It’s really hard to tell exactly where the oil is coming from because the power steering pump is in the way, and it may be a combination of the power steering fluid leaking down from the reservoir and oil from the oil pump assembly.

I bought some degreaser and some engine bright, so Ill figure out the mess this weekend. I’ve also got a new water pump, lightweight greddy pulleys , nismo thermostat, and belts to go on as well.

[oneslow240se]

i did this about 2 months ago...... i cannot imagine trying to do this with the engine in!... my engine was out so i replaced it but even so it was a ***** ... my biggest mistake was not dropping the top part of the oil pan... next mistake was oil pick up had to be unbolted and the two top bolts under the cams sux like everyone said.. crank pulley was a ***** too.... had to wiggle, jiggle that sucker for a while before it started moving..... once you take it out and try to put the new one in good luck trying to put it in without bending or crushing the gasket......... i bent and crushed mine got fed up so i just cut that piece off..... not sure whats gonna happen but we'll see if it leaks....

good luck if you're replacing it.... it can be done but will take some time...