Sealing an oil pan

[siteunseen]

What do you guys do?  I'm thinking of RTV on the pan then a cork gasket then another thin skim on the block.  Overkill?  Just the cork gasket?  Just the RTV?

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Cliff

[Mark Maras]

If you don't anticipate removing the pan soon, I'd use both.

[AZ-240z]

Something that is probably obvious to everyone, but occasionally overlooked is, when you have the oil pan in hand, make sure that

the mounting flange is as flat as possible.  I have been guilty of over-tightening the oil pan mounting screws in the past which will

definitely deform that flange and make leaks highly probable.

 

Just my two cents.

 

Dan

[SteveJ]

If you aren't EXTREMELY careful with the RTV, you could get it coming off on the inner side of the bead and plugging up an oil passage.

[rossiz]

sealant is only required to fill in voids, which would be the result of damage to the block surface or a distorted pan (usually the pan). the gaskets, whether cork or synthetic, are designed to be compressed slightly, but not crushed into place (which usually comes from over tightening)

i've had good luck with two oil pans using the following method:

- use a piece of 1/4" aluminum flat bar clamped in a vice as an anvil to get up inside the flange, then go around the perimeter tapping out all the distortions to get the gasket surface dead flat. it's about patience, not force - the sheet metal deforms very easy so you can use a small hammer.

- put in all the fasteners finger tight before torquing any, then go around and tighten them evenly, a little at a time until you get them all to spec (which is not very tight).

- re torque after a day or so, as the gaskets squish a bit. use the same method of going around the pan a little at a time.

the key is not to over tighten, as this will dimple the pan and then it will leak for sure. and if it does leak, you can bet you over tightened...

[Chickenman]

Permatex and Felpro recommend that you do NOT use RTV and gaskets together. Use one or the other. Using RTV on a gasket can cause movement or " Fretting " between the mounting surfaces. The RTV will accomadate this movement, but the gasket will not. The result being that the gasket will split or tear from vibrational movement..

 

Pernatex Aviation Form a gasket ( Brush on style non-hardening) is very good for sealing paper, composite and cork gaskets.

 

Newer cars that are designed with dedicated RTV sealing also have channels machined in the surfacesto allow a bead of RTV to be deposited. Older cars don't have these channels so the RTV can be squezzzed out of the joint and may not seal as well as intended.

[Chickenman]

What do you guys do?  I'm thinking of RTV on the pan then a cork gasket then another thin skim on the block.  Overkill?  Just the cork gasket?  Just the RTV?

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Cliff

See comment above. Not a good idea, IMHO. Cork gaskets and RTV = Splitsville.

 

Been a long time since I've looked at one, but I'm pretty sure that the Factory Nissan oil pan gaskets are a thick fiber composite material ( Not cork ). The factory composite materials are much stronger than cork. Similar material to the factory Nissan  VC gaskets which are a thick composite fiber material.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Chickenman

[darom]

I removed the oil pan 3 times trying to fix oil leaks. The oil pan mating surface was straight. Bolt torque tightening technique was followed.

 

Tried it dry with cork and rubber gaskets, then just RTV alone. The last time I got so frustrated that I used the rubber gasket sandwiched between the grey Permatex RTV layers. That finally did it. That was 2 years ago. No leaks so far. I realize this is a wrong method of sealing the oil pan, but it worked for me :-)

[siteunseen]

I've read too much negative stuff on cork.  Actually it's just a reddish color and I've called it cork?  It came with some parts I bought a few years ago.  Anyway, Nissan has one coming Monday morning for me at $13.  I'll lightly skim both sides with Permatex Ultra Black, the oil resistant stuff I need for the rear main cap, hopefully I'll never have to take the pan off anyway. 

 

Thank you all for your sharing your experiences.

 

Cliff 

[Patcon]

Let us know if that does the trick...

[Jeff G 78]

I'm struggling with this too.  I rebuilt my race engine a few years ago and used a ITM gasket set.  The pan leaked like crazy even with properly torqued bolts and a flat flange.  I pulled the engine to fix a leaky header and redo the oil pan gasket.  This time I used a FelPro gasket and again made sure everything was flat and properly sequenced and torqued.  Better, but it still leaks a bit.  I probably need to pull the engine again since it has some issues from the last race.  I'm curious to hear what everybody does for gaskets that stops the leaks once and for good.

[Captain Obvious]

I'm in the same camp as darom. I know you're really not supposed to need it, but if I really don't want it to leak and I don't expect to need to be in there often, I use a small amount of RTV on both sides of the gasket.

 

Success for me is in the prep... The metal surfaces should be surgically clean and dry. Clean them with acetone about two 220 times. 221 if necessary. Very small bead of RTV on both sides. (I'm loony, but I use a syringe for application.) Assemble, but do not put into service for at least a day. In other words, I wouldn't put oil into the engine for at least 24 hours. And if wasn't summer, I would put an incandescent lamp under the pan to warm it for those 24 hours.

 

It's a lot of steps, but I've had almost 100% success.

 

And I've never used a cork gasket. Not that I've been actively purposely avoiding them, but I've just never had one of them show up on stuff I'm working on.