Had an oil leek for a while now, coming from sump, been quoted £100 without fitting for a new sump, seen some on eBay for £28 new!! Anyone know how hard tis to change sumps, all advise much appreciated.

I don’t think it’s too hard – they’re a common engine in kitcars (for those that can afford it). Worth doing a death on Locostbuilder for experience; not sure how accessible it is in your car though.

Are you sure the Sump itself is leaking, and not the Seal/gasket?

aye or the drain plug crush washer.

Just had this done on my 52 plate sump as it was rotten and holed. The sump replacement itself is not a big job, but getting to it is a PITA and takes some time. I paid my local mechanic to do it as I couldn’t be bothered, but he commented on what a PITA it was to do as basically the whole front of the exhaust needed to come off. Not a hard job to do, but sounds like you’ll have to allow a whole day to accounto for stubborn exhaust nuts and bolts.

but he commented on what a PITA it was to do as basically the whole front of the exhaust needed to come off.

The exhaust comes out the back of the engine in the focus and goes nowhere near the sump IIRC?

im not familiar with the underpan of a focus but its possible that you need to undo the sump and slide it backwards as infront will be the bumper and radiator.

going back will be the exhaust but removing that must be the easier option id have thought.

On mine (1.8 zetec) the exhaust comes out of the front of the cylinder head, into the cat at the front of the engine then it bends down underneath the car, under the sump to the rear of the car, so the exhaust from the cat to the section flange behind the sump, needed to come out.

It probably wont have a gasket so to speak, its usually a bead of sealant these days.
Getting them off is tricky, but there is usually a bit where you can hit it from above with a long bar / screwdriver. This is usually advised against, & the dealer has a “special” tool for prying them off. It doenst affect you though, as your binning the old one. Get the engine nice & hot before you drop the oil out & its should be easy enough. They usually take a bit of a wack though….
You’ll probably have to take off a pulley cover or guard or two before you get to it, & obviously any belly pan.

Be warned, its about as messy job as you can tackle. Leave un-sumped car to drip onto an old sheet for an hour before you crawl under. 🙂

Have you tried patching it ?
I got one to seal once. Drained the oil, wire-brushed & degreased & filled with Belzona. Went on for another few years.

If the sump is anything like mine then patching it up won’t help, the sump was rotten though and you’d only be patching against neighboring rotten metal. It’s not fun having a horrible patch of oil on your drive that is impossible to clean off, so best to fix it properly.

Cheers for the advise, Takisawa2 thanks and patching seems a good idea although think its got past that stage, seen them on eBay for £24 new!!! just looked underneath the car and nothing seems to be in the way, looks like I can get straight to the nuts, and looks like itll drop straight down?? There did used to be a tray or guard before but I remember it being ripped off! And it’s definitely the sump and not the sump screw or seals, infact I’m gomna have to get it sorted quick as its quite a major leak! 🙁

Word of advice, use the sealant sparringly you dont want it going inside the sump onto the oil strainer/pickup as it will cause more problems.

Yep cheers mate, I’ll take note.

More advice , do not get the engine hot before draining the oil and trying to take the sump off.
The oil will burn you and it will drip for ages out of the sumpless engine.
Drain it cold if you can , its not like you are hoping that the hot oil washes some of the gunk out of the sump – you are going to replace the whole thing.
There are anaerobic sealers used for some sumps – check whats needed and as above do not put loads on.
Also as in thread the sump pan can be stuck on so be prepared

as above with regards to temp – I know that getting it warm lowers the viscosity but running it just spreads it all round the engine and means you might burn yourself.

Put some plastic down and then cardboard on top of it. Leave the oil to drain out of the drain until it stops dripping.

I use a gasket remover spray along with a plastic scraper to help get the old sealant off. Make sure it is all nice and clean and degreased before you put the new sealant on. I just use some RTV silicone which is for such gasket jobs. Check the oil pump strainer is clear and there is no bits of engine in the sump and make sure the sealant seals on the inside of the bolt holes otherwise oil can drip down the bolts but don’t get it inside the bolt holes or you may never get it off again. Oh and pay attention to the bolt torque – it is normally pretty low so gradually tighten the bolts up going round the sump.

When I did it on one of the 306’s I had to whip the exhaust off which was no problem but the aircon pump got in the way so it was either aircon pump off or rear engine/driveshaft mount off. I went for the latter so I didn’t have to drain the aircon system which meant more work but it was still only a couple of hours doing it in the road. On a ramp it would be a lot quicker.

The draining it hot thing was so the gasket sealant is a bit warm, & easier to split.
But as said, once off (or split) let it drip dry for a few hours.

Are you speaking about mk2 2.0 zetec? Its pretty accesible but i have a diesel. Jack up the front (dont know if this is the right term) as you will be crawling downside. There is a hole in the plastic panel at the bottom of the engine. Find that bolt with a copper washer. I believe that is what youre looking for “sump plug” .. You will need replacement for your oil . Have it prepared together with the new sump plug.. I dont know if you will go as far as changing the oil filter as well while youre at it.. Highly recommend changing it when you can… Run the engine for a while to warm the oil so it will drain faster. Take out sump plug.. Then drain.. Replace new sump plug… Replace oil.. Mine took 4ish – 5liters . Job done. Do wear latex gloves its PITA to wash engine oil off your hand. Trust me you will get dirty. And dont forget to dump those used oils to your local skip. Take your time. Check youtube too.

Get it done properly. Oh and avoid speed bumps at speed or driving down rough lanes 😉

Cheers for the good advice! Who needs a Haynes Manuel nowadays when we have stw! 😆

wolfenstein – Member
Are you speaking about mk2 2.0 zetec? Its pretty accesible but i have a diesel. Jack up the front (dont know if this is the right term) as you will be crawling downside.

Yeah is the 51 plate and seems quite accessible, cheers all.

Some good advice there. All I can add is that you are meant to fit studs to the block before you apply the sealant – this stops the sealant filling the bolt holes. Get a length of threaded bar for this and cut it into sections. Cut slots in the studs so you can remove then as you replace them with the bolts.

Would I do it this way?

Mmmm. . . Nah I’d just be careful with the sealant.

Hth
Marko

51 plate? Its a focus mk1. Dont know if its the same under, but the procedure is the same, its important to warm up the engine and oil inside so as to allow sludge to liquify. Then drain.. And make sure the ground is level when youre doing it. .. Handbrake on and put bricks or any to car back tyres in case shit happens. Then jack up front.. Slacken the sump plug a bit… Position the drain container .. This is when your hands get dirty as oil will start to drain.. Assuming drain container is ok, take out the whole sum plug.. After full drain wipe clean drain hole..Change the copper washer.. This serves as a “seal”. Then put sump plug back wih new copper washer. Dont know the torque. Just google it. Then put oil back. Asda tesco halfords oil or any all the same. Assuming you dont change filter, this is all you need.

Oh and careful with those exhaust pipe down under touching your skin. Take your time. You cant go wrong.

loctite 518 Anaerobic if there is no gasket , the only reason to warm the engine in this case is as taki says – to help free off whatever is sealing the sump to the block.

It’ll be sealed using Silicone RTV, getting it warm or not to remove won’t make any difference, it will be a bitch to get off…. end of. Downside is if its warm you’ll burn yourself!

Changing the sump is an easy task, I done it on our focus in my lunch hour. Just check the sump plug fits the new sump, I got mine of e bay and they look cheep but do the job, use the sealant but becareful when refitting the bolts not to overtighten or cross thread them.

wolfenstein you seem to have described how to change the OIL not the SUMP PAN