I use a thin brass putty knife to get pans off. Just tap it in with a hammer.

https://hydetools.com/product/1-5-16...l-putty-knife/

 

Gonna try that today!

Thanks, arrives tomorrow via Amazon!

 

Brass putty knife is a solid idea. I hate pulling the pan but seems to be my new favorite pastime these days. I've found that going across the front with a utility knife helps a good bit. Then I just do the tappidy tap with a few flathead screwdrivers. The front corner(teblt side) is a good spot to pry but of course you have to be very careful as the pan is only stamped steel. At some point you sorta gotta go for it but carefully as hanging weight from it will not get it to budge. You really need something to wedge in there which will initiate the release. Once its starts you're golden but getting it to the loose tooth stage can be tricky.

 

I first tried the fishing line, but it was extremely difficult to apply it anywhere and the spot I tried it did not seem to do anything.

I then took the thin brass putty knife and tried to find a spot to start it. I ended up pulling the radiator, lower IC pipe, and wastegate dump tubes, which gave me access to most of the front side of the pan. Getting a hammer on the end of the knife was not easy due to space so I screwed around with it for 10 minutes before I realized a gift my mother gave me ~10 years ago, which was a Craftsman Hammerhead AutoHammer.


I had the front of the pan freed up in about 10 minutes and it made my life much easier. Only thing I should have done is chop down the handle on the putty knife by a few inches so I had more room to work. Once the front of the pan was free just along the front edge, I put a pry bar between the AC compressor bracket and the front sump wing and applied very light pressure so the pan wasn't distorted. I could hear is breaking free so I just applied very light pressure and after about 30 seconds it had released.


Most of the block had a thin layer of Nissan bond still on the block, but some spots the bond seems to have come off so I suspect that was the location of the leak. Gonna investigate the best way to prep the metal this time before reassembling. The pan on my 2L and the initial pan on my 2.15L never leaked a drop so frustrating to have to deal with this especially on my car with a custom pan and external oil pressure regulator.

Thanks again for the stellar advice and any recommendations for sealing this up and prepping the block are welcome!

 

After scouring the internet and talking with a few companies, I decided to go with a little known company called 14point7. I saw several reviews on various forums about this unit and they all seemed to be positive. It was either this unit or the PLX, but as was mentioned the PLX gauge is quirky and the reviews were overall negative in terms of the gauge portion of the PLX.
https://www.14point7.com/products/sp...a-controller-2

I spoke with the owner of the company and explained my situation with the LC-2 and he said my sensor was likely still in perfect working order, which is also what I suspect. Too many people post about the LC-2 flashing a code for a dead sensor and having to change them every few months, which is just not a realistic scenario for a Bosch LSU4.9 sensor. Anyway, this is no frills unit and has both the 0-1V narrow band output for the front O2 sensor, which I use along with the 0-5V output for datalogging purposes. Because I have the AeroForce Tech gauges I can just tie in the 0-5V output to the gauge as well and hopefully I will not have the same issue that I had with the LC-2 with it changing the 0-1V signal function.

 

That 14point7 product looks perfect for people who don't need gauges.

The weird thing is that Wideband controllers are relatively simple. Bosch makes a companion chip that does all of the hard work of controlling the sensor. Most wideband controllers on the market are built around that chip with some extra supporting circuitry. I'm not sure what Innovate is doing so wrong that's causing so many problems.

 

I'm not sure, but I suspect it has something to do with the auto calibration every time you turn on the unit because the LC-2 is looking for some type of response from the sensor it isn't seeing. The Bosch sensors use a calibration resistor from the factory that is determined by subjecting the sensor in a lab against two different gases and then the correct resistance resistor is chosen to get the senor calibrated. Therefore, when you do the free air calibration with the LC-2 it probably offsets the factory calibration of the sensor as performed by Bosch in a lab, which means it is no longer accurate.

The reason I run the 0-1V analogue from the wideband controller for the front O2 is because once I started making a lot of power I kept killing the front O2 sensor within 1 year and got tired of replacing it. Perhaps I should say Advanced Auto got tired of replacing it. I still have the factory front O2 plugged in and installed in the downpipe (completely dead sensor) otherwise it throws a code, but I just have the wideband 0-1V anologue output going to the front O2 sensor input of the ECU.

 

I got the pan back on so that was super exciting. To clean the block I used fresh razors to get as much of the Nissan Bond off as possible. Need to be super careful on the aluminum pump housing and rear seal housing so you don't gauge it with the razor. In the back of the block by the trans there is not a lot of room so I took my metal shear and cut a razor in half, which allows access to scrape the block. I then took 1" squares of green Scotch Brite and sprayed them down with Carb Cleaner and then scrubbed the block surface until it was completely shinny. Have to replace the Scotch Brite about every 6'-8" of cleaning since they get gunked up quick. The Carb Cleaner works better than brake cleaner for getting crap off the metal because it seems to be more caustic. Once that was complete I sprayed down the surface with brake cleaner and wiped it down several times. Finally, I wiped down the surface with acetone since it doesn't leave any residue on the surface.

I went with Ultra Black from Permatex instead of the NissanBond since it allows for a little more setup time. Did the tighten until it squeezes out and then let it sit for 1hr before going back and torquing the pan bolts to 100in-lbs. Gonna let it sit until the new wideband controller arrives and I get it setup so that should be another few days. I pray it doesn't leak again because I hate removing the damn pan.

 

So here is the update.

Ended up purchasing and installing the PLX Wideband instead of the one from 14Point7, which was ordered before Christmas and said to be in stock and would ship immediately. Unfortunately, I could not get them to ship so after 13 days I cancelled the order. A few comments about the PLX unit. It feels like a cheap plastic toy so definitely not impressed by that aspect of the unit. It is advertised as coming with a Bosch LSU 4.9 sensor, but the actual sensor is not a Bosch unit and appears to be an non identical knockoff with a PLX branding. It's been installed and working as it should so that is definitely great news. I tried to make it work with the Aeroforce gauge, but just like the LC-2, when the PLX 0-5v output is also tied to the gauge it causes it to malfunction so I don't have a gauge installed at this time.




While the car was on the lift I noticed the leak is still there and it made my heart sink. Because the leak is clearly between the engine and trans I decided to taste the fluid and it is not oil, but tranny fluid. I guess it gets that darker tint as it runs down the bellhousing and picks up the clutch dust. I'm going to pull the tranny soon and verify, but if it is a tranny leak I will go ahead and swap out my 4.11 final drive and EVO 8 5th gear I purchased several months ago.

 

Thats a bummer on the oil leak. I know pulling and resealing these pans is a chore. You will enjoy the 4.11/2.2 combo. It calms the tire spin down and drives well with the stroker.

If you have an evo 9 first gear, I would go with the shorter evo 8 first gear with the 4.11.

 

It appears to be a tranny leak and not an oil leak based on tasting the fluid. I debated the E8 first gear, but decided to just stay with the E9 gear. On some platforms like the Datsun Z, 4.11 is actually considered a very high (numerically) gear and most stick with 3.54 or 3.7 vs the usual 3.36. Maybe I will wish I had put in the E8, but I don't race the car so I think I will be happy. I will provide honest feedback once its done.

 

Maybe I have the RONA because it is definitely oil that's leaking. After removing the trans I can see the lower third of the real main seal is covered in oil so I am assuming the leak is from the rear main seal. Hard to imaging this leaking considering it was replaced with less than 20K miles on the engine. Pic is not that great so I'll try to take another, but oil is pooled in the crevice below the seal as well as coating the back of the engine and dispersed by the flywheel in the inside of the bell housing.

I'll have to search to see how common this is, but also need to decide if I just replace the seal or the housing as well. Replacing the housing means that I have to again drop the pan, which is my favorite thing to do and means I get the purchase another $60 in oil. If anyone has seen or experienced this let me know, but I guess I'll start by just pulling the seal and see if I notice anything on the housing. I don't believe it could sling inside of the housing if it was just a pan leak and considering I resealed the pan and it is still leaking, it must be the rear main seal.




The inside of the tranny is also coated so and no signs of a tranny leak.






And to add insult to injury, the ACT disk is worn to the rivets so it also needs to be replaced. The clutch works very well and has never had issues, but it does not like to be slipped and clearly doesn't last a long time at this power level as a daily driver.

 

Looks like it's time for a beefy Twinplate 👀​​​​

 

Indeed, been eyeing the new ACT Twin.

 

I also found the act 6 puck to be a good clutch until 450+WTQ , tall gearing and some launches quickly wore it out.

The ACT twin looks like a great clutch.