Ok, I took my car to the dealer today to have the oil changed. When they got done they said I had a small oil leak coming from somewhere. I went to look at it and talk to the mechanic. He said that its definately coming from the oil pan. Actually the oil pan gasket on the back side near the tranny. Its very slow and actually hasnt been leaking enough to drip a noticeable spot under my parking spot. He said he looked at the rear main seal area, and everything ther looked dry. So its definately the gasket. He said that it would take around 8-9 hours of labor to put a new gasket on. He said they have to lift the engine up a little. I thought they had to take the K member out to get to the oil pan. Is this something that could damage my motor, or affect the oil pressure or anything like that?

My oil pressure gauge says its ok but I dont trust the stock gauges. The tech guy said it would be ok, but I just wanna hear more opinions. He also said that leaking oil pans are common with the 4.6 motors. Itll be awhile before I can get up the money to have this done. Im already about to order a new K member for the car in a couple of weeks, so I may do it all at one time. Would it be worth it to put on a Canton oil pan also?

Also, will the Granatelli K member work with stock A arms?

 

do it yerself...

its not serious... wont do any harm...

I think you could fix it by running a thicker motor oil... idk though

 

If you want long tubes now is the time. You dod have to drop your K member to get to it I would know I dented my oil pan and it had to be replaced

 

You will over pay if you get any work done at a dealership. I know Granatelli makes ****ty control arms, so I wouldnt get their k. I HIGHLY recommend PA Racing. You can use stock a arms with that k member.

 

I am keeping the stock headers on. The K member is the first piece I need to start a turbo kit. The Granatelli is an exact copy of the Maximum Motorsports K member and its half the price. I dont know yet what control arms I want, so I need one that bolts up to the factory. Does the PA K member work with the Hellion kit?

What about a Canton oil pan? Is it worth it?

 

"I dont know yet what control arms I want, so I need one that bolts up to the factory." What do you mean by that?

I dont know if the PA k will work with that turbo.

Canton pans are known to leak. Id look into the MMR pan. Whether its worth it or not is debatable. If you have the extra cash then I say go for it. It can hurt.

 

He wants to do his set up like mine, Tubular K member but with stock A arms. I have QA1 and i just had to ask them to throw in the adapters so i can use my stock A arms.

the small oil leak i no biggy 4 now

 

avoid granatelli K-members like the plague... in fact avoid GMS alltogether. too many catastsrophic self disassemblies, they rip off designs of good companies, and their own "designs" are crap. You get what you pay for in suspension. it's a pricey lesson.

buy a griggs or Maximum Motorsports K-member and a-arms. They're expensive and worth every penny.

FWIW... I doubt you have an oil leak of any substance. The gaskets on modulars are composite/rubber. they almost never leak, go bad, squish, etc... It just don't happen all that often at all.

Extra oil capacity is never bad in a car that gets raced. Canton are nice.

 

You can use stock a arms with the PA Racing k's.

 

I may just end up dropping the coin for a Maximum Motorsports K member ordered straight from Hellion. On their website the advertise an "MM Hellion K Member"......Whats the difference from that and a normal MM K member? So I have to buy A arms with this?

So where do you think the oil coiuld have come from if its not leaking through the seals?

 

ya know what they say...

If ya can't duc it... FUC IT!

wrap some duct tape round that son r bitch... thats the quick easy fix!

 

do the MM k-member if they offer it as an option. Make sure it's a real deal Maximum Motorsports made in the USA piece otherwise it's a fake. I'd get MM coil overs, A-arms and hypercoil springs too (MM usually has the best price on the Hypercoil coil over springs).

The difference between a real MM or Griggs k-member and a GMS or similar charlatans is the difference between a well made product you'd be glad to own and a potential disaster. I'll never trust a GMS product. ever.

I *think* some oil got splashed on the bottom of your motor (like directly under the oil filter) during an oil change and it wasn't ever properly cleaned and it migrated back with the first breeze then formed sludgy drops and sat behind the oil pan out of the bulk of the undercar air stream where it gathered and began to drip on the ground. But that's 100% pure conjecture. You might have an oil pan gasket leak. I just totally doubt it.

Clean around the oil pan gasket all the way around with some Dawn & water and paper towels. Clean all the oil off and then drive around. Get back under after say 2-3 weeks and check again. If there's oil coming out of the oil pan gasket I'll paypal you a tall frosty beer on me (up to $3).

 

Ok looks like the MM k member will only work along with a full coil over setup. I was really wanting to install the K memebr now and add the coilovers and A arms later, but thats not going to work. I may be able to save some money by just going with the whole Maximum Motorsports "K member Package". Its alot of money though, so this will take a little longer but it may be worth it. The package costs $1700 without struts. I think struts will cost me $400 more for some real nice ones. So all said and done this front suspension is going to cost around $2100 before labor. I may install it myself, well just have to see how things turn out. Does anyone think that this whole package is worth $2100?

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/st...roducts_id=376

 

hellz yeah. worth every friggin penny and more. With bilsteins even moreso.

there are maybe 1 or 2 K-member designs that will accept stock a-arms but I don't like those for a lot of reasons... mostly street durability and relocated suspension pick-up points.

i can't be too big a zealot for MM... their parts and people are so killer that I can't see ever going anywhere else. Not to mention that they race and win with their own parts, parts you and I can buy right off their shelves.

 

8-9 hrs is a bunch of crap. if you are a determined half azz mech. with access to tools it can be done in no more than 3-4. he just wants to get PAID.

 

He said that it would take around 8-9 hours of labor to put a new gasket on.

That's Nuckin Futs! Heres what I'd do jack it up, put your jackstands under it and, snug up the back four bolts. Wipe it clean and check for leaks. I'm sure it's pretty minor but check your oil level for awhile and keep an eye on the gauge. You should be fine.

If your Dealers going to try and take you for something like that imagine what else they may try and pull. I'd run from that dealer and find a nice independent shop if you don't want do the work on your car. Good Luck

 

yeah jack it up, find the suspected area, wipe it down/clean, and put some RTV on it, don't put half the tube on it though, that's the quick temp fix...

Did you see about re TQing the pan bolts just to make sure they were not loose? If you TQ the sh*t out of them, i can see a oil leak or a bolt snapping.

 

Yea I will have to try and tighten the bolts. I thought those kinds of bolts dont really back out though right?

R3dn3ck,
do you have the whole MM Grip Box on your car? What kinds of cars ca you outhandle with the whole MM grip box? Are we talking C6 ZO6 handling here?

 

everything except the k-member right now (torque arm is temporarily back off again in preparation for a new differential). I have the forward offset a-arms so I'm waiting till I put the 5.4 in before I put the K-member in, then I'll have a bit of fender modding to do so it won't rub.

I know I out handle M3's and boxters (I hand their azzes to them regularly on a local mountain back-road) on the street and I've seen enough track results to say it's capable of doing it on the track. Corvettes are within my handling window near as I can tell (from the few I've raced up that same road) but they wax me on power bad so it's not a fair comparison yet.

It turns violently and precisely without being loose. There's no way to describe it well. It's so crisp and sure that I do things as a matter of course that would land any stock stang in the wrecking yard. I've completely changed my driving style because of the new found grip and improved balance. It's also hard to keep my foot off the firewall.

Just slapping on the Max Grip box will make your car stick to the ground better than stock but, that said, it's a system that'll need some tuning (and lots of seat time to learn how to drive it) for each track or your paticular driving style if you're a picky driver like I am. Once you do have it dialed in, it's serviceable on nearly any course or road any ol' time.

I should tell you that you MUST re-learn your car after installation. It's so different from stock that it can't be driven like a stock stang. It's a very predictable system at the limit and once you learn how to control it while the car is temporarily "out of control" (it's always under control... just sometimes not yours) you'll learn that it's unforgiving to foolishness and rewarding of high skill and determined action.