Advice: oil pan gasket leak
04-06-2017, 04:09 PM
#61
^^^ thanks everyone. I just tightened I think all but 2 of my pan bolts. Could get other two I think with a box wrench and removing the oil line support bracket, but hopefully this will work..
04-07-2017, 11:27 PM
#62
OK, so that didn't work.
I took it out for one spirited 20 mile drive and had several bolts with fresh oil on them. Everything had been cleaned and it was clear the bolts were leaking directly... I have had a side main bolt back out once and so I was careful to check those first, they are all dry. They are on the side and above the pan bolts, fyi. There are ten total...
So the oil pan bolts (2008 Z06) leaked after re-torquing, so I bit the bullet.. I have no lift and was planning to do this by jack standing one side then the other, but actually did it just with ramps.. I'm a small guy and it was tight. Took 4 hours! I made up some new words along the way... Didn't have to remove anything other than the 15 bolts and the three oil line holder bolts to move them a bit to get at the pan bolts per below:
I took one out at a time working front to back. sprayed CRC green brake cleaner on the bolts and up into the block, then blew it out with compressed air, then loaded the bolt with permatex "the right stuff" black. I needed to remove the three cooler line (to tranny and diff I presume) holder bolts, this was no issue. Three bolts were very tricky to get to , one above the oil sump lines, and the two above the crossmember. But with a combination of basic wrenches I was able to get to them, and torque by guess on those. There are 15 total. But the two rear-most are smaller and take 1/2 the torque the others did (12 not 25NM).. They also don't seem to need sealing because they will simply leak into the bell housing(?) anyway. The others, it was hard to determine where to put the stuff, initially I did the whole bolt, but this could effect torque specs, so I did them about 3/4 to the tip, putting enough on to seal the pan flange because there is about a 2mm gap around the bolts in the pan below the threaded section in the block - I assume you have to fill this gap, so I used plenty of stuff. I could tell (by the oil on about 1/2 of the bolt toward the head) that the leak is due to too narrow of a seal and bead originally (due to the design) around the bolt, not the bolt being loose (even though all tightened about 15 degrees initially). There is a picture of an LS oil pan I found that shows the bead of gasket (or thickness of the solid gasket) is really small around the bolts.
Anyway, I will post back if this works or not. With a lift this would be an easy job. No oil leaks out when each bolt is removed as I had feared.
I took it out for one spirited 20 mile drive and had several bolts with fresh oil on them. Everything had been cleaned and it was clear the bolts were leaking directly... I have had a side main bolt back out once and so I was careful to check those first, they are all dry. They are on the side and above the pan bolts, fyi. There are ten total...
So the oil pan bolts (2008 Z06) leaked after re-torquing, so I bit the bullet.. I have no lift and was planning to do this by jack standing one side then the other, but actually did it just with ramps.. I'm a small guy and it was tight. Took 4 hours! I made up some new words along the way... Didn't have to remove anything other than the 15 bolts and the three oil line holder bolts to move them a bit to get at the pan bolts per below:
I took one out at a time working front to back. sprayed CRC green brake cleaner on the bolts and up into the block, then blew it out with compressed air, then loaded the bolt with permatex "the right stuff" black. I needed to remove the three cooler line (to tranny and diff I presume) holder bolts, this was no issue. Three bolts were very tricky to get to , one above the oil sump lines, and the two above the crossmember. But with a combination of basic wrenches I was able to get to them, and torque by guess on those. There are 15 total. But the two rear-most are smaller and take 1/2 the torque the others did (12 not 25NM).. They also don't seem to need sealing because they will simply leak into the bell housing(?) anyway. The others, it was hard to determine where to put the stuff, initially I did the whole bolt, but this could effect torque specs, so I did them about 3/4 to the tip, putting enough on to seal the pan flange because there is about a 2mm gap around the bolts in the pan below the threaded section in the block - I assume you have to fill this gap, so I used plenty of stuff. I could tell (by the oil on about 1/2 of the bolt toward the head) that the leak is due to too narrow of a seal and bead originally (due to the design) around the bolt, not the bolt being loose (even though all tightened about 15 degrees initially). There is a picture of an LS oil pan I found that shows the bead of gasket (or thickness of the solid gasket) is really small around the bolts.
Anyway, I will post back if this works or not. With a lift this would be an easy job. No oil leaks out when each bolt is removed as I had feared.
Last edited by 80atez; 04-08-2017 at 09:24 AM.
04-09-2017, 09:52 PM
#64
I understand. CN's reply was to the real fix, that's why I did my lazy version (or lack-of-lift version)..
I simply could not leave a leak like I had due to fear of it being worse when hot and high RPM, and causing a fire on a track. You cannot track a car that leaks oil. Mine was getting slowly worse too.
While I cannot get my oil temp above 200F in my climate without track time, I can say there is no evidence of oil anymore on the pan bottom. So for those of you with a few hours free and fear of someone cracking open your oil pan, this seems to work, as others have stated.
I simply could not leave a leak like I had due to fear of it being worse when hot and high RPM, and causing a fire on a track. You cannot track a car that leaks oil. Mine was getting slowly worse too.
While I cannot get my oil temp above 200F in my climate without track time, I can say there is no evidence of oil anymore on the pan bottom. So for those of you with a few hours free and fear of someone cracking open your oil pan, this seems to work, as others have stated.
Last edited by 80atez; 04-23-2017 at 06:58 PM.
05-07-2018, 12:20 AM
#65
Correction... Seems to work, for about a year... ; (
correction correction, I cleaned the bottom after a new oil filter, and now it looks like I had a bum Mobil 1 filter leaking, now I'm back to a dry bottom... at least on my car... ; )
correction correction, I cleaned the bottom after a new oil filter, and now it looks like I had a bum Mobil 1 filter leaking, now I'm back to a dry bottom... at least on my car... ; )
Last edited by 80atez; 05-17-2018 at 10:48 PM.
Same thing happened to me. GMPP paid everything less the deductible.
05-08-2018, 08:54 AM
#68
Race Director
I replaced my pan gasket a couple of years ago. It took me about eight hours after figuring it out as I went. Not hard at all, it just takes some time. there are several posts here on the Forum on how to do it. I think the gasket was about $60 and the Permatex black sealer around $5. 
05-08-2018, 09:58 AM
#69
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Oct 2005
Location: Left Coast, San Diego
Posts: 6,654
Received 2,093 Likes
on
1,207 Posts
I replaced my pan gasket a couple of years ago. It took me about eight hours after figuring it out as I went. Not hard at all, it just takes some time. there are several posts here on the Forum on how to do it. I think the gasket was about $60 and the Permatex black sealer around $5.
08-01-2018, 10:23 PM
#71
Just fyi, I thought I had started to re-leak, but it was a mobil 1 oil filter!! Switched to K and N and no issues now, no drops at all, over one year with the shade tree approach I followed above.
08-02-2018, 12:24 AM
#72
Safety Car
Member Since: Aug 2006
Location: Port St. Lucie West Florida
Posts: 4,115
Received 438 Likes
on
397 Posts
I have been putting it off but when I drive there is no smell. I park it in my garage after a run and I may not use it for a week. I check every day for a leak in the garage ( it sits for a week) and on the 4th day it drips a little on the garage floor. Sometimes I do not drive the car for 2-3 weeks. If I drove everyday it probably would not leak. 07 with 29k miles on it. Eventually I may bring it in. I tried to tighten the screws but they were tight.
08-02-2018, 06:53 AM
#73
Be careful with the K&N. Just just replaced the K&N on my 2008 Base like a week ago. It was leaking from the tiny hole in the bottom or top depending on how you look at it. It also looked like it was leaking around the seam of the oil filter. K&N had some issues with some of their filters. I was thinking that I had an oil pan leak. Thank God it was only the filter. Hopefully your filter will be ok.
09-30-2022, 09:51 PM
#74
OK, so that didn't work.
I took it out for one spirited 20 mile drive and had several bolts with fresh oil on them. Everything had been cleaned and it was clear the bolts were leaking directly... I have had a side main bolt back out once and so I was careful to check those first, they are all dry. They are on the side and above the pan bolts, fyi. There are ten total...
So the oil pan bolts (2008 Z06) leaked after re-torquing, so I bit the bullet.. I have no lift and was planning to do this by jack standing one side then the other, but actually did it just with ramps.. I'm a small guy and it was tight. Took 4 hours! I made up some new words along the way... Didn't have to remove anything other than the 15 bolts and the three oil line holder bolts to move them a bit to get at the pan bolts per below:
I took one out at a time working front to back. sprayed CRC green brake cleaner on the bolts and up into the block, then blew it out with compressed air, then loaded the bolt with permatex "the right stuff" black. I needed to remove the three cooler line (to tranny and diff I presume) holder bolts, this was no issue. Three bolts were very tricky to get to , one above the oil sump lines, and the two above the crossmember. But with a combination of basic wrenches I was able to get to them, and torque by guess on those. There are 15 total. But the two rear-most are smaller and take 1/2 the torque the others did (12 not 25NM).. They also don't seem to need sealing because they will simply leak into the bell housing(?) anyway. The others, it was hard to determine where to put the stuff, initially I did the whole bolt, but this could effect torque specs, so I did them about 3/4 to the tip, putting enough on to seal the pan flange because there is about a 2mm gap around the bolts in the pan below the threaded section in the block - I assume you have to fill this gap, so I used plenty of stuff. I could tell (by the oil on about 1/2 of the bolt toward the head) that the leak is due to too narrow of a seal and bead originally (due to the design) around the bolt, not the bolt being loose (even though all tightened about 15 degrees initially). There is a picture of an LS oil pan I found that shows the bead of gasket (or thickness of the solid gasket) is really small around the bolts.
Anyway, I will post back if this works or not. With a lift this would be an easy job. No oil leaks out when each bolt is removed as I had feared.
I took it out for one spirited 20 mile drive and had several bolts with fresh oil on them. Everything had been cleaned and it was clear the bolts were leaking directly... I have had a side main bolt back out once and so I was careful to check those first, they are all dry. They are on the side and above the pan bolts, fyi. There are ten total...
So the oil pan bolts (2008 Z06) leaked after re-torquing, so I bit the bullet.. I have no lift and was planning to do this by jack standing one side then the other, but actually did it just with ramps.. I'm a small guy and it was tight. Took 4 hours! I made up some new words along the way... Didn't have to remove anything other than the 15 bolts and the three oil line holder bolts to move them a bit to get at the pan bolts per below:
I took one out at a time working front to back. sprayed CRC green brake cleaner on the bolts and up into the block, then blew it out with compressed air, then loaded the bolt with permatex "the right stuff" black. I needed to remove the three cooler line (to tranny and diff I presume) holder bolts, this was no issue. Three bolts were very tricky to get to , one above the oil sump lines, and the two above the crossmember. But with a combination of basic wrenches I was able to get to them, and torque by guess on those. There are 15 total. But the two rear-most are smaller and take 1/2 the torque the others did (12 not 25NM).. They also don't seem to need sealing because they will simply leak into the bell housing(?) anyway. The others, it was hard to determine where to put the stuff, initially I did the whole bolt, but this could effect torque specs, so I did them about 3/4 to the tip, putting enough on to seal the pan flange because there is about a 2mm gap around the bolts in the pan below the threaded section in the block - I assume you have to fill this gap, so I used plenty of stuff. I could tell (by the oil on about 1/2 of the bolt toward the head) that the leak is due to too narrow of a seal and bead originally (due to the design) around the bolt, not the bolt being loose (even though all tightened about 15 degrees initially). There is a picture of an LS oil pan I found that shows the bead of gasket (or thickness of the solid gasket) is really small around the bolts.
Anyway, I will post back if this works or not. With a lift this would be an easy job. No oil leaks out when each bolt is removed as I had feared.
==
update fwiw 4 years later, there is still no oil leak! I do want to mention, I had coilers and no front leaf spring when I was able to do this job on jack stands...
The following users liked this post:
JackDidley (10-01-2022)
