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I'm convinced my car has been built by 4-year-olds, because there's not enough space at several spots for the larger hands of any older person. And whoever wrote the service manual on several tasks has forgotten that they also built the car around the motor...

Now, it seems I have a leakage in the sealant of the oil pan, and I wanted to renew the sealant. Since my car doesn't have a gasket, just sealant, the oil pan doesn't come off when you just remove the bolts. I would pull a blade through the sealant, which already is hard to impossible, since the gap is really thin. But the gap mostly isn't accessible. Flywheel, the axles and the exhaust already make it hard to remove the bolt, but there's absolutely no space for a knife or similar.

So, how can the oil pan be removed?

I fear brute-force could warp the pan, so it can't be re-used. May be a torch?

Edit: The car is a Kia Picanto '04 with 1086ccm petrol engine (Epsilon iRDE). The same is used in Hyundai Getz and an improved one in the newer Picanto and Hyundai i10. The motor block is cast iron, the pan is iron, and the sealant is this silicone stuff. Lifting the motor a little isn't enough, one side is next to the flywheel, and a cover of the flywheel has to be removed to be able to remove the bolts of the pan. Parts of the exhaust could be removed, but the axes... please not!!!

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  • No way, don't even think about to put anything between the gap, because you will ruin the mating surfaces and then you will have bigger problems. A torch also might deform the pan because most of the times are made of light metals like aluminum alloys... What make, year and model is your car?
    – Alimba
    Sep 16, 2016 at 22:12
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    Need the make, model, engine of the car, bro.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Sep 16, 2016 at 23:50
  • You might have one of those models that requires you to undo the motor mounts and jack the engine up a bit to get the pan out.
    – DucatiKiller
    Sep 17, 2016 at 0:09
  • What is the material of the pan and the surface it seals to? Aluminum, steel, magnesium, etc?
    – Eric Urban
    Sep 17, 2016 at 0:56
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    Is the sealant gooey/sticky or hard and dry? If it's the latter, you may be able to whack on the belly edge (lower part) of the pan to break loose the bond. I would use a dead blow hammer, and if you can't hit any of the right spots, use a thick wooden dowel to transfer the energy from the deadblow. You might distort a thin steel pan slightly, but this will be far away from the sealing surface and have no detrimental effect.
    – SteveRacer
    Sep 17, 2016 at 1:32

1 Answer 1

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1. Possibility: Dirko

There exists a special product "dirko" from the German company Elring. According to the manufacturer it is able to seal without disassembling. Perhaps not the perfect solution, however I guess it would be worth a try.

  • clean the sealing groove and the surroundings thoroughly with break cleaner
  • apply a thick line over the gasket groove (Yes: with mounted oil-pan).
  • Use nitrile gloves and stroke over the line with a finger, thereby pushing it into the groove.
  • Let it cure and test it

2. Possibility: plastic levers

Use some plastic levers to gently pry out the oil-pan. Since the levers are made of plastic they are unlikely to damage the mating surface.

enter image description here

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  • For luck, I'm from Germany and already had bought "dirko" to renew the sealant :-) I've also read that it can fix leaks without disassembling, though I think this is only a temporary solution. But I gave it a try when I gave up to disassemble my pan, and can share my experience soon. This tools look interesting!
    – sweber
    Sep 17, 2016 at 23:09
  • Those tools are wonderful. Perfect for removing interiors
    – Martin
    Sep 18, 2016 at 5:50
  • @sweber How did it hold, the "dirko" ? Martin: I'd give it a go; which one are you talking about, the gray 036.161, the red 705.705, something else ?
    – kellogs
    Feb 9, 2022 at 0:09
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    @kellogs until now I wasn't aware that there are different types of dirko. I used "dirko HT". I cannot find those numbers in their catalogue, so those could be old products, now out of production. Just use some variant of Dirko (705.707 ought to be good). The "HT" just indicates that it is suited for higher temperatures (300°C instead of 180°C)
    – Martin
    Feb 10, 2022 at 8:43
  • Yep, that's what I figured. Will be patching my oil pan tomorrow and add a comment here in a few more days.
    – kellogs
    Feb 10, 2022 at 12:51

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