Best oil pan gasket

[anlauto]

DUMB QUESTION: Is that the "gasket bulging out" or did they use some sort of gasket silicon as well as the gasket, which is a no no....

Everybody I've ever talked to about those gaskets absolutely loves them.

[edison1970]

Sorry to hear that you had trouble.  Looking at the picture,  it appears that maybe they torqued the bolts too much.  I don't have any leaks. The ribs on the gasket shouldn't squeeze out like that.

[blown motor]

@edison1970 thanks for the picture. Mine's not like that at all. They must have done something really wrong.
@anlauto I believe that's the gasket. The bulge at each bolt is to perfectly round to be sealant I think.

[Chryco Psycho]

Did they flatten the pan lip before trying to install it , often the pan lip gets pushed up as the gasket compresses , you have to flatten the lip around the bolts !!
Did they cut out the baffle inside the oil pan also if so they owe you a new pan too .
Poor work at best !

[blown motor]

@Chryco Psycho Are you referring to the the baffle that is at about the top of the sump? I have to check on that. I think they said something about that but I'm not clear on it now. What's it's purpose? Is it needed with the new windage tray?

[blown motor]

More studying today and here's what I noticed. The pan is slightly smaller width than the block, pic 1. The gasket has a much bigger corner than the pan almost gauranteeing that the rib cannot seal. You can see the rib around the corner in pic 2. Are all pans the same for big blocks? Is it possible the pan isn't absolutely correct?

[Scooter]

^^
Pan looks correct.

Installation of the gasket or gasket itself does not.

Willing to bet it'll be obvious once it's off the car.

[blown motor]

@Scooter  But how can installation be incorrect? The bolts have to go through the holes, no other option. I'm tempted to buy a new pan to see if that helps. I don't want to be doing this over and over.

[Cudamike]

What do the 3 other corners look like?

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Murray, can you check the tq on the bolts in the last pic?  Maybe things were way over tq(??) Granted you will still need to drop the pan to fix this issue

[Scooter]

@Scooter  But how can installation be incorrect? The bolts have to go through the holes, no other option. I'm tempted to buy a new pan to see if that helps. I don't want to be doing this over and over.

I should have been more clear.. sorry.

The rubber gasket is pliable, if the holes did not line up perfectly you could distort it a bit to get the bolts through.

With the amount of gasket material sticking out of the corner in that bottom photo you just posted it's pretty clear something is up.

The top photo of the pan looks just as it should IMHO.

[blown motor]

Murray, can you check the tq on the bolts in the last pic?  Maybe things were way over tq(??) Granted you will still need to drop the pan to fix this issue

Torque spec is 15 and my wrench only goes down to 20. I'm scouting for a lighter one but this farm country. Not many whimpy tools in these parts, lol.

What do the 3 other corners look like?

Other back corner is the same. Front corners are darn hard to see because of the K member but I think they look ok.

@Scooter  But how can installation be incorrect? The bolts have to go through the holes, no other option. I'm tempted to buy a new pan to see if that helps. I don't want to be doing this over and over.

I should have been more clear.. sorry.

The rubber gasket is pliable, if the holes did not line up perfectly you could distort it a bit to get the bolts through.

With the amount of gasket material sticking out of the corner in that bottom photo you just posted it's pretty clear something is up.

The top photo of the pan looks just as it should IMHO.

The gasket is part of the windage tray which is rigid. It would be pretty hard to distort it.

[edison1970]

I read some older threads on Moparts and there were some that had sealing issues. One other member here mentioned to make sure your pan sealing surface is flat. I remember putting my pan over a block of wood and hammered them flat. It's common for them to be warped from over tightening or just from being installed.

[blown motor]

Ok, thanks for the tip. That's why I'm debating just getting a new pan and being done with it.

[Chryco Psycho]

Yes the baffle inside the pan needs to be there under hard acceleration or cornering the oil cannot run away , the windage tray prevents the wind from the crank from lifting the oil in the sump even if the car is not moving & there is no slosh