Author Topic: Everything you wanted to know about oil pan gaskets, but were afraid to ask! (Read 1549 times)

H8PVMNT · « **on:** Dec 19, 2017, 10:31:09 AM »

I am starting up this thread because we had a tangent spin off in my engine build thread. I am persnickety about cluttering up my threads these days but I though this topic was worthy of discussion on it's own, since it is one of life's universal problems.

Here is some text I brought over based on my experiences and opinions on the subject. Please post your own experiences sealing up the oil pan for the good of humanity

.

Here's what I have had happen. When I have used RVT only, I inevitably have to drop the pan before my next rebuild. Then I have such a tough time getting the pan off it's ridiculous. I could never get the second time around clean enough for the RVT not to leak after replacing the pan. Time after that I used a cork gasket with ultra-black on both sides. That never leaked and I sold the truck after about a year and a half.

The next time I tried a dry cork gasket just for kicks, and yes, leaks in maybe 4 or 5 months. Not terrible but irritating. So on then on the 22r build I tried a cork gasket slathered with some grease, torqued carefully so as not to squish the gasket. This never leaked until I had to drop the pan to get cam gear shrapnel out of the pan. It came off easy which was nice. I put on a fresh cork with some grease but this was a field fix so cleanliness was compromised so it did leak after this. Not bad, but still irritating.

When I did my head gasket I used "the right stuff" on the pan side of the cork gasket and nothing on the block side so it would seal one surface but still come off easy. This leaked a little bit. It came off easy though and last night I cleaned it off and put a bit of Toyota black on the block side and intalled it on Caleb's truck for a quick fix of a smahed pan. This is kind of the advantage of the cork, you can take it on and off as long as the gasket hasn't ripped. Less than ideal sealing, but great for the emergency field fix.

This time around on the 20r I chose the cork with the Toyota black on both sides because it yielded pretty good performance in the past and it is easily removable later on. Also I wanted to use the early pan with the big drain plug, which has the protrusion in the middle made for a cork gasket. The later pan had a flat flange with a recess in the middle designed for RVT. I don't think the early pan would work as well with just RVT unless you used emsvitil's method above. There just isn't enough surface area of the flange for the RVT unless you really built it up.

My personal conclusions are this:

#1 best is probably RVT, Toyota black or other comparable, with crazy clean surfaces, on the later style flat flange pan designed for RVT, but it's a pain in the rear to get the pan off.

#2 based on my experience is the cork with sealer on both sides for the early pan designed for a gasket. Not quite as sealed as RVT but works good on the early pan and comes off easy later for timing chain or HG jobs and the odd emergency field fix.

#3 the greased up cork, carefully torqued. If surfaces are clean it works pretty well, can be disassembled and re-assembled in a pinch. Pretty much guaranteed to leak a little after disturbing it though.

I suspect the best method is the one described by emsvitil, where you let the RVT set up on the pan the day before so it doesn't squish out and then apply a bit more to install. When I have had RVT leak a lot, it was because I didn't let it tack up enough and I applied too much twist on the bolts so it sweezed the RVT out of the flange. That and oily surfaces...

If I have the time I may take the pan off and try this one after all.

One question: does anyone make a rubber pan gasket for the 22r? That would be the best of both worlds I would think.

Gnarly4X · « **Reply #1 on:** Dec 20, 2017, 03:41:20 AM »

Thankfully it's been rare for me to have to drop the engine oil pan, but if I have to drop the oil pan again, I'm going to try this:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cgt-c4834

Gnarls.

H8PVMNT · « **Reply #2 on:** Jan 03, 2018, 08:08:19 AM »

Now your talking, that's something new to me.

Author Topic: Everything you wanted to know about oil pan gaskets, but were afraid to ask! (Read 1549 times)

H8PVMNT

Everything you wanted to know about oil pan gaskets, but were afraid to ask!

Gnarly4X

Re: Everything you wanted to know about oil pan gaskets, but were afraid to ask!

H8PVMNT [OP]

Re: Everything you wanted to know about oil pan gaskets, but were afraid to ask!

Related Topics