Leaking Oil Pan Gasket Repair

[Don87]

Go ahead correct me

This wasn't directed at you personally..............don't take it that way.

I've been working on engines since I was 12 years old............I'm 51 now.

I posted this because the 'blanket statement' , that was made was incorrect.

[Don87]

I was just calling it that be cause the OP was, I thought you were disagreeing about using it on a gasket
How about RTV silicone

I have made oil pan gaskets, and valve cover gaskets from RTV silicone................it's hard, but can be done.

I also used a 'corn flake' cereal box to make carb gaskets for a motorcycle.

[94BULLITT]

I have made oil pan gaskets, ane valve cover gaskets from RTV silicone................it's hard, but can be done.

You are fine doing that just don't use it on a gasket. It is also okay to use if you have a 4 piece oil pan gasket, just a dot in each corner, or on the cross over of a intake manifold.

[Don87]

Now, we'll go to the OP............several fatal mistakes were made.

First, OP knew he had problem holes............and totally ignored problem until installation was almost complete............

Second problem...............when installing an oil pan gasket..............I've always used the 'yellow Adhesive". Looks and feels like snot........but if applied to a cork gasket..........sparingly, and consistant.............will hold the gasket to a 'propery cleaned' pan.......if you put the bolts back into the holes 'upside down'.

OP appears to have use the wrong compund.

[Don87]

You are fine doing that just don't use it on a gasket. It is also okay to use if you have a 4 piece oil pan gasket, just a dot in each corner, or on the cross over of a intake manifold.

I'm a 'one fingered pecker' I type with one finger.......so I'm a litte slow...............but you really need to stop using 'blanket statements'.

RTV silicone is just fine for use on any cork gasket(and some others, such as water pump, thermostat housing), but there are 2 rules.......

Rule 1: if putting on a gasket..............use just enough so you can just see that it's there.

Rule number 2............if leaving the gasket off..............use less than rule number 1.


EDIT: I'll add rule 3, that I've found out over the years.

Rule 3: If leaving out a cork gasket and replacing with RTV...........use the tube that comes with the silicone, make a continuous line around the pan and all holes, making sure it is all even..............no guesswork, it's gotta be done this way. then after it sets good..........install pan.

[JJZ 109]

I've also used this Permatex product. Works pretty good to secure a gasket from slipping around during installation.

[94BULLITT]

I'm a 'one fingered pecker' I type with one finger.......so I'm a litte slow...............but you really need to stop using 'blanket statements'.

RTV silicone is just fine for use on any cork gasket(and some others, such as water pump, thermostat housing), but there are 2 rules.......

Rule 1: if putting on a gasket..............use just enough so you can just see that it's there.

Rule number 2............if leaving the gasket off..............use less than rule number 1.

EDIT: I'll add rule 3, that I've found out over the years.

Rule 3: If leaving out a cork gasket and replacing with RTV...........use the tube that comes with the silicone, make a continuous line around the pan and all holes, making sure it is all even..............no guesswork, it's gotta be done this way. then after it sets good..........install pan.

That stuff is called gasket maker for a reason. If you need it on a gasket why don't you ever see the OE's using RTV on gaskets?

[Cpjlube]

That stuff is called gasket maker for a reason. If you need it on a gasket why don't you ever see the OE's using RTV on gaskets?

Two reasons: Use of new materials in a clean environment. The OE has new parts that do not have any imperfections and are installing them while the machine is still waiting on assembly. I'm sure the oil pan is installed before the engine is bolted in.
And cost. Because of reason number one RTV is not absolutely necessary. A little RTV takes up the imperfections and helps seal parts that may be slightly warped. When used properly it will work with a gasket just fine and may help seal a trouble area like corners of an oil pan.
Modern stuff doesn't use a material gasket at all. Some OE s have gone to stuff like Permatex Ultra Grey. If I was sealing to cast parts. That may be the solution.

Chuck

[mmranch]

Howdy everyone! Sorry it's taken awhile to get back to this... forgot to subscribe to my own thread and have been very busy. Thanks to all for the ideas!!


An update on my oil pan repair. Basically, all is working fine now.

When I pulled the pan off, as each bolt was removed I found that many of them were very loose and gave almost no resistance as I un-torqued them. The more bolts I removed, the more I realized that the basic leaking problem was loosening bolts. (This was probably due to the severe vibrations the area takes because the backhoe forward mount lives right near the oil pan... and I've been digging a large pond). I could have simply re-tightened them all but went ahead and removed the pan. Before removing the pan bolts, I removed the two large bolts on the bell housing that the dealer did not remove when originally replacing the gasket (and thus stripping the threads on two pan bolt holes).

After I had the pan off, I could see that the gasket was totally intact and I could have probably just rebolted it and been good. But I scraped off the gasket and used a new one with high temp Permatex again. I had purchased some new pan bolts previously and when I tried them in the holes, they seemed to fit better and more snuggly compared to the old bolts which were looser in the threads. I went ahead and purchased all new bolts with bigger lockwashers. On the two problem bolt holes... since I could now get a straight shot at each, I ran a bolt into the holes about 4 times to clean the remaining threads a bit. I then bolted in the pan again using Loctite blue on all bolts. The two bell housing bolts needed some slight filing on the heads in order to clear the oil pan and get back in their holes. Finally, I put a glob of high-temp Permatex on each of the 30 pan bolt heads and let everything cure for 24 hrs. It's been holding fine with no leaks during the remainder of pond digging.

Thanks again!

[mmranch]

One other thing I should note.

(By the way, thank you for the oil pan replacement instructions document.)

On this particular tractor, there is a 4WD driveshaft that travels straight through the oil pan area. So this is not a standard box type oil pan but rather is a saddlebag style pan with a lobe hanging down on each side of the drive shaft and with a drain plug on each lobe. This tells me that at the TYM factory, the saddlebag style pan was probably installed replacing the standard CAT pan.

Thanks again.