anyone use sealant on a 1pc oil pan gasket?
 

my oil pans been leaking like hell, started with a small drip and got worse and worse. ive got a felpro permadry on it.

when i pulled the pan this evening, both sides of the gasket were just covered in oil. im thinking about just piling a couple gallons of RTV onto both the block, dropping the gasket ontop, and then covering it with more.

im getting really damn sick of these leaks.

Walk away from it for a week.
Then arm yourself with some brake cleaner and rags.
Crawl under there and clean the hell out of the entire mating surface. Wherever gasket meets metal.
Verify that you have the correct front seal thickness. There are two types. Don't quote me on this, but I think all 75 and later stock pans and almost all aftermarket pans take the thick seal. That's for SBC. I have no idea about BBC.
And to finally answer your question. Yes, put a little dab of RTV at each corner of the half loops front and rear of the gasket.
Good luck.

thankfully i can cheat a bit. ive got the motor on a stand and upside down right now. ive also got acetone and a wire brush.

Well now. You've got it made then. :thumbs:

You might consider some locktite (blue not red) on the pan bolts. I've found they seem to get a little loose now and then...

Have a close look at the pan rail. If they have been overtightened in the past, they may be dimpled towards the block. If so, It will be very hard to get a good seal. Simply take the round side of a ball peen hammer to each bolt hole and gently :smash: them out the other way.

:iagree:
You also need to determine if you have the correct gasket. There are two different gasket designs for small block chevy's. Most earlier engines use the one with the thin front (between the timing cover and the front of the oil pan). There was a later design that used a thicker gasket at the front. If you have the thicker gasket and you are trying to use it with a timing cover and oil pan designed for the thinner gasket you will never get the side rails to seal.

im going to say i have OS34509T, as thats the only one autozone lists. i have no idea if thats the thick or thin one.

The thick v/s thin timing cover seal is a big difference. If you mismatch those, it either won't go together at all or it'll leak like crazy. Most of the time when those pan gaskets leak it's from overtorqueing. You either end up over compressing the gasket or like CA-legal said you dimple out the pan around the bolt holes and screw up the flatness of the mating surface. When you put it back together, use a inch-lbs torque wrench. You might be surprised at how little torque they take.

i actually did that when i installed it for the first time. even torqued in sequence, just a little at a time. kept going round and round till they came up to spec.

My $.02
 

For what it's worth... I've been using fel-pro blue gaskets for some time now. I've even had to re-use one in a pinch once. I think they're definitely worth the $35. Also, I like to use a Permetex product called the Right Stuff in the corners. It usually runs around 8 bucks a can

My $.02 on a well-spent $43 :cheers:

Good deal but that doesn't guarantee the last owner did the same. :lol: Put a straigedge along the pan lip and make sure it's as flat as it can be. :thumbs:

well, i think i found several problems... click on the images to go full sized.

Gasket -
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3064/dscf0143v.th.jpg http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/2...cf0144b.th.jpg http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/1...cf0146z.th.jpg http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/7...f0147wz.th.jpg http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/4...cf0148e.th.jpg

Pan Bolt Holes - i cant tell if these are over torqued, or made this way. im going to say over torqued.

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/3...cf0150y.th.jpg http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/6...cf0155x.th.jpg http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/8...cf0157z.th.jpg

and the pan sitting on the gasket, looks like it doesnt seal for crap just sitting on there.
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/1...cf0160a.th.jpg http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/6...cf0159m.th.jpg

Yeah, the pan bolt holes look dimpled. Try reworking that like others have said. Then you could try checking it with a feeler gage after its torqued down, maybe a .004" or .003". I did that with a transmission pan that I had my doubts about, reworked a corner till the feeler wouldn't go in as far, and that pan doesn't leak.

The gasket you have looks like it has inserts at the holes to prevent overtorqueing, but your pan definitely needs some work. You could look into buying a new one.

Just to make things interesting there is also a 3rd Medium thickness Gasket for SBC. Its in between the Thick and the Thin. I'm not sure if its made anymore, its usualy not listed in Parts Books anymore. I think it was for use with a 69 block and front cover. Thats what my last Motor was and I needed it.

Check The Pan
 

Try sitting the pan on without a gasket and see if it is warped , It should sit flat to the block on both sides . Be sure not to over tighten the bolts when you install the gasket . I lightly snug the 4 larger corner bolts first and then the side ones starting in the middle and doing 1 at a time on each side working to the ends . Just tighten them lightly and move to the next one . I do it 3 times and Do Not Over Tighten them !

Good Luck

Bill

And Another Thing !
 

While you have it on the block without a gasket put the 4 corner bolts in snug and take the big end of a punch and tap down the bolt holes in the pan . This is caused by over tightening the pan bolts .
Bill

i use a butter thin coating of permatex ultra grey on both sides. leak free !