So, every once and a while you just seem to get lucky. In the right place, the right time... happen to notice a bolt missing from your oil pan. :eek:

Seriously, not good! I was changing my belts and t-stat this afternoon at work and just happened to notice a bolt missing from the oil pan. Called my boss over because I've never seen that happen before and notice the the two bolts next to the missing one were backing out. So, I dropped the rear underpanel off and decided to go around and tighten all of them. Almost every single bolt was loose! And I thought I just needed a new oil pan gasket! I found 2 other bolts that were missing as I went around the pan as well. So... guess I'll be doing the oil pan sooner rather than later just to be sure.

Glad I decided to do the belts today!

damn, who got ahold of your engine?? sounds like its been ham handed. good eye.

What is the torque setting for the oil pan bolts?

Damn, that's lucky. 99.9% of every other car owner wouldn't notice it until they had no oil!

What is the torque setting for the oil pan bolts?

Not much. I didn't check the specs since I was going to be taking it off soon to replace the gasket. But, it's a lot lighter than one would assume. Lots of small bolts so they don't require much.

Damn, that's lucky. 99.9% of every other car owner wouldn't notice it until they had no oil!

Seriously. People (that aren't car nuts) fail to see the importance of routine car maint. or at least having the car checked out by a good shop. Case in point here! Amazingly enough, the leak hasn't been too bad. It drips a few drops on my garage floor each night, but doesn't lose a noticable amount between oil changes. My power steering leak... that's a different story. ;)

My e34 535im was the same, 4+ bolts missing and almost all the rest were loose, its one of the first things I check with an 'oil burner'....

For those that dont know there are around 15 or more bolts down there.

Wow, I'm going to have to check that out on my 535im. It loses a small amount of oil somewhere, but I don't get blue smoke out of my exhaust and I don't see any real heavy leakage around the valve gasket or otherwise, and both my coolant and oil are clean. I'll try to get around to it this weekend.

damn, who got ahold of your engine?? sounds like its been ham handed. good eye.

Did someone call my name?

:eyecrazy

Seth, be sure and put a dab of Loctite on each bolt (after spraying them clean with aerosol Break Clean) to avoid this in the future.You'll still be able to crack them loose later in the event you need too.
This will take the worry out you later !:)
regards..........Vinny

Yup yup! I'm going to toss in a new oil pump while I'm in there. Uuhhhggg. Didn't want to spend money on that. But, my oil light stays on a few seconds longer than anyone would be comfortable with (yes, always done it). Oh well!