garagelu

Do you do the final torque when the rtv is still wet? When the RTV is still wet, I usually just hand tighten or snug it up and then I just let it sit for about an hour or two depending on the ambient temperature. Then I do the final torque after it cures for a little.

When you torque the joint down fully with the rtv still wet, it pushes a lot of it out. But still, its weird that its still leaking after so many attempts. Is it leaking in the same spot every time?

jonnybonds84

Yes, I waited an hour, then I torqued it. It went from the the middle, to the left, and now right (front of the pan). Don't know what it could be.

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jonnybonds84

Talk to my old school mechanic buddy, he suggested to take a look at the PCV system. He said if its clogged up the pressure will start popping gaskets.

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240SXREX

just like with rear main seals, sometimes it takes a second try or three. I replaced my oil pan gasket and it leaked on the front so on the second time i double checked in sequence and found that after final torque some of them needed to be tightened to specs again using torque wrench in sequece again. I guess it takes care of some warpage on third torque and it didn't leak and with using RTV just put enough to hold the gasket in place, not on both sides.

om3ga

put it on a flat surface, use a socket extension and pound all the holes down. Use a cork gasket and Ultra black on both sides, tighten all the bolts correctly and let it dry overnight.

Norty

Are you sure that the front cover doesn't have a small crack or that the front seal is good? Not doubting your skills or anything but it is really unusual for a oil pan just to start leaking right after start-up unless there is like a big gap/hole or something. I mean i've done like really horrible jobs before putting oil pans on before (being in a hurry and really just half ass cleaning and knowing it is prolly gonna leak) and it be at least a couple days of driving before anything.

PoorMans180SX

First off, it really wasn't necessary to rough up the surface with sand paper. The bottom of the front cover is machined on purpose so it has a perfectly flat surface to seal with.

Secondly, I never use cork or any other kind of gaskets on my oil pans. They always get off the holes and push RTV everywhere.

Black RTV, everything super clean, put a nice bead around the pan and all the holes, put them together, tighten bolts finger tight. Let set for at least a couple hours. Come back, torque to 5ft-lbs, moving around the oil pan bolt by bolt (front, rear, left, right, repeat or whatever). If that doesn't seal your pan, then you have other problems.

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yukon

is the a 1990 s13 we are talking about?

the following is for dohc

aznpoopy

where exactly are you leaking from? are you sure it's the oil pan?

the front cover is just bolted onto the engine with a silicone gasket of its own. if you are leaking from the bottom of one of the sides where the cover meets the engine, it may appear to be a leaky oil pan, when its really the cover.

or it may be the front main seal.

jonnybonds84

Yeah, Im sure it's the oil pan. Here's the break down.

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jonnybonds84

So bringing this back from the dead. Big update I think everybody might be interested in. Pretty much REALGASKETS.COM is making a reuseable oil pan gasket made of a rubber compund like the Felpro rubber gaskets. It looks like they are going for $26.95 plus shipping ($7 or so shipping i would assume). I know there are alot of people that might be interested so spread the word. I would say the more people buy the cheaper it might be.

Hers is the main thread.
www.ka-t.org :: View topic - Oil pan leaking in same spot after reseal.
Hera is the poll and interest thread.
www.ka-t.org :: View topic - Reusable Oil Pan Gasket: How many people want one?

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jonnybonds84

And it turned out it was my Front Main seal again................

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VRAQ

Damn...that sucks. Do you know how/where the Front Main Seal is???
I think I'm gettin oil leaked from there as well. It's definitely not from my oil pan. I've drained the oil out from there and its been over a week now, yet i still have oil slowly drippin.

Do you mind takin pics when you re-seal your front main seal?

NiSilS14

The front main seal is behind the crank pulley on the lower timing cover. For anyone that needs to do their oil pans again. This is the only stuff I will use from now on. It's pressurised too so it'll lay perfect beads.

jonnybonds84

Pretty much what happened with me is the first and second time it leaked on the front seal becuase I got a horrible suggestion to put some silicone on the seal to prevent leaks but when you put silicone on the seal it prevents the oil to come in contact with it. The seal got too heated and eventually failed. DON'T APPLY SILICONE TO THE SEALS!!!! lol. I learned the hard way...The third time it was because I had a crack on my pulley.

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