Oil Pan and Rear Main Seal
05-13-2010, 08:58 PM
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Oil Pan and Rear Main Seal Alright, my clutch went out Sunday so I tore the car apart, cleaned everything up, and now I'm waiting on parts. Since I've got the trans out, I'm doing a rear main seal and an oil pan gasket because mine leaks. (big surprise right?) So my question is, how big of a bitch is this going to be and are there any tricks to get the pan gasket to seal?
05-14-2010, 06:07 PM
#5
The FelPro 1 piece oil pan gasket has the metal collars in it, so you can't crush the gasket and squeeze it out. "Tightening the **** out of it" will only distort the pan. The 3/8" hex bolts get 106 in./lbs., which is around 9 ft./lbs, and the 4 corner 1/2" hex bolts get 15 ft./lbs.
Be careful to make sure that the front and rear ends of the gasket are firmly in place in the locating grooves of the front cover, and rear main seal adapter. With the engine still in the car, it can be awkward to do, and see clearly that you've got the seal properly in place. Also, you actually need to slip the gasket in place first, as the oil dipstick tube has to go through the hole in the gasket, and you need to twist and slide the gasket around the tube. I also use the factory pan rail "stiffeners", and use 4 of the wire "twist ties", that you get from a loaf of bread, or the "bulk" produce department in the grocery store, to hold the rails in place, until I get the corner bolts in loosely. Then slip the ties off, and install the rest of the screws.
I just did this job yesterday, took the car for an extended test ride a couple of hours ago, and I'm hoping not to see any oil under the car tomorrow morning. Good luck!!
Be careful to make sure that the front and rear ends of the gasket are firmly in place in the locating grooves of the front cover, and rear main seal adapter. With the engine still in the car, it can be awkward to do, and see clearly that you've got the seal properly in place. Also, you actually need to slip the gasket in place first, as the oil dipstick tube has to go through the hole in the gasket, and you need to twist and slide the gasket around the tube. I also use the factory pan rail "stiffeners", and use 4 of the wire "twist ties", that you get from a loaf of bread, or the "bulk" produce department in the grocery store, to hold the rails in place, until I get the corner bolts in loosely. Then slip the ties off, and install the rest of the screws.
I just did this job yesterday, took the car for an extended test ride a couple of hours ago, and I'm hoping not to see any oil under the car tomorrow morning. Good luck!!
05-19-2010, 06:21 AM
#6
The FelPro 1 piece oil pan gasket has the metal collars in it, so you can't crush the gasket and squeeze it out. "Tightening the **** out of it" will only distort the pan. The 3/8" hex bolts get 106 in./lbs., which is around 9 ft./lbs, and the 4 corner 1/2" hex bolts get 15 ft./lbs.
Be careful to make sure that the front and rear ends of the gasket are firmly in place in the locating grooves of the front cover, and rear main seal adapter. With the engine still in the car, it can be awkward to do, and see clearly that you've got the seal properly in place. Also, you actually need to slip the gasket in place first, as the oil dipstick tube has to go through the hole in the gasket, and you need to twist and slide the gasket around the tube. I also use the factory pan rail "stiffeners", and use 4 of the wire "twist ties", that you get from a loaf of bread, or the "bulk" produce department in the grocery store, to hold the rails in place, until I get the corner bolts in loosely. Then slip the ties off, and install the rest of the screws.
I just did this job yesterday, took the car for an extended test ride a couple of hours ago, and I'm hoping not to see any oil under the car tomorrow morning. Good luck!!
Be careful to make sure that the front and rear ends of the gasket are firmly in place in the locating grooves of the front cover, and rear main seal adapter. With the engine still in the car, it can be awkward to do, and see clearly that you've got the seal properly in place. Also, you actually need to slip the gasket in place first, as the oil dipstick tube has to go through the hole in the gasket, and you need to twist and slide the gasket around the tube. I also use the factory pan rail "stiffeners", and use 4 of the wire "twist ties", that you get from a loaf of bread, or the "bulk" produce department in the grocery store, to hold the rails in place, until I get the corner bolts in loosely. Then slip the ties off, and install the rest of the screws.
I just did this job yesterday, took the car for an extended test ride a couple of hours ago, and I'm hoping not to see any oil under the car tomorrow morning. Good luck!!
update.... it's been a couple of days of driving so far, and I haven't seen any leakage on the garage floor yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed......
05-19-2010, 09:50 AM
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Alright, my clutch went out Sunday so I tore the car apart, cleaned everything up, and now I'm waiting on parts. Since I've got the trans out, I'm doing a rear main seal and an oil pan gasket because mine leaks. (big surprise right?) So my question is, how big of a bitch is this going to be and are there any tricks to get the pan gasket to seal?
The rear main seal and rear main housing gasket are a piece of cake. Just a matter of unbolting them, cleaning the **** out of the surfaces and putting in the new seal and gasket. For the seal, I actually ran a small bead of black RTV around the outside lip (not the inside lip for obvious reasons) before I pressed it into the housing. Be gentle with the seal as not to bend it while pressing it into the housing. Then just lightly wet the inside lip of the seal with motor oil before you press the rear main housing itself back over the crank shaft. Go slow- make sure the inside lip of the seal doesnt fold or crease as you're sliding it and dont forget the new housing gasket. Also, make sure you use a torque wrench when tightening the 4 rear main housing bolts to the block.
As for the oil pan gasket, it can be a bit of a pain in the *** if the motor isn't unbolted from the mounts and lifted up a bit or out of the car completely. Unbolt the oil pan and let it sit on the k-member. It'll only fall about an inch or two before it hits the k-member, that'll give you just enough room to cut out the old gasket and clean up the surfaces with some kind of degreaser. Just make sure when youre ripping/peeling out the old gasket that none of the junk falls into oilpan itself. The new gasket will stretch a bit, just enough to get it up around the outside of the pan and into place. Use some kind of sealer like black RTV on the top and bottom of the gasket just across the front and back of the motor (from corner to corner) and bolt the pan back in place. Use a torque wrench for this unless you're confident enough to do without. Can't remember the numbers but the corner nuts get a bit more torque than the rest of the bolts. Make sure you don't over tighten too much because the gasket will distort and leak on ya again.
Good luck
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05-19-2010, 10:03 AM
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The FelPro 1 piece oil pan gasket has the metal collars in it, so you can't crush the gasket and squeeze it out. "Tightening the **** out of it" will only distort the pan. The 3/8" hex bolts get 106 in./lbs., which is around 9 ft./lbs, and the 4 corner 1/2" hex bolts get 15 ft./lbs.
05-19-2010, 05:25 PM
#9
Did this sucessfully last spring with the Felpro gaskets/seal.
The rear main seal and rear main housing gasket are a piece of cake. Just a matter of unbolting them, cleaning the **** out of the surfaces and putting in the new seal and gasket. For the seal, I actually ran a small bead of black RTV around the outside lip (not the inside lip for obvious reasons) before I pressed it into the housing. Be gentle with the seal as not to bend it while pressing it into the housing. Then just lightly wet the inside lip of the seal with motor oil before you press the rear main housing itself back over the crank shaft. Go slow- make sure the inside lip of the seal doesnt fold or crease as you're sliding it and dont forget the new housing gasket. Also, make sure you use a torque wrench when tightening the 4 rear main housing bolts to the block.
A couple of things to keep in mind here. The two lower bolts on the rear main housing get a dap of pipe sealer on them. If you use the "old" style Viton seal, yes, you "pre-oil" it. If you install a "new" style teflon seal, you install it "dry".
As for the oil pan gasket, it can be a bit of a pain in the *** if the motor isn't unbolted from the mounts and lifted up a bit or out of the car completely. Unbolt the oil pan and let it sit on the k-member. It'll only fall about an inch or two before it hits the k-member, that'll give you just enough room to cut out the old gasket and clean up the surfaces with some kind of degreaser. Just make sure when youre ripping/peeling out the old gasket that none of the junk falls into oilpan itself. The new gasket will stretch a bit, just enough to get it up around the outside of the pan and into place. Use some kind of sealer like black RTV on the top and bottom of the gasket just across the front and back of the motor (from corner to corner) and bolt the pan back in place. Use a torque wrench for this unless you're confident enough to do without. Can't remember the numbers but the corner nuts get a bit more torque than the rest of the bolts. Make sure you don't over tighten too much because the gasket will distort and leak on ya again.
Good luck
The rear main seal and rear main housing gasket are a piece of cake. Just a matter of unbolting them, cleaning the **** out of the surfaces and putting in the new seal and gasket. For the seal, I actually ran a small bead of black RTV around the outside lip (not the inside lip for obvious reasons) before I pressed it into the housing. Be gentle with the seal as not to bend it while pressing it into the housing. Then just lightly wet the inside lip of the seal with motor oil before you press the rear main housing itself back over the crank shaft. Go slow- make sure the inside lip of the seal doesnt fold or crease as you're sliding it and dont forget the new housing gasket. Also, make sure you use a torque wrench when tightening the 4 rear main housing bolts to the block.
A couple of things to keep in mind here. The two lower bolts on the rear main housing get a dap of pipe sealer on them. If you use the "old" style Viton seal, yes, you "pre-oil" it. If you install a "new" style teflon seal, you install it "dry".
As for the oil pan gasket, it can be a bit of a pain in the *** if the motor isn't unbolted from the mounts and lifted up a bit or out of the car completely. Unbolt the oil pan and let it sit on the k-member. It'll only fall about an inch or two before it hits the k-member, that'll give you just enough room to cut out the old gasket and clean up the surfaces with some kind of degreaser. Just make sure when youre ripping/peeling out the old gasket that none of the junk falls into oilpan itself. The new gasket will stretch a bit, just enough to get it up around the outside of the pan and into place. Use some kind of sealer like black RTV on the top and bottom of the gasket just across the front and back of the motor (from corner to corner) and bolt the pan back in place. Use a torque wrench for this unless you're confident enough to do without. Can't remember the numbers but the corner nuts get a bit more torque than the rest of the bolts. Make sure you don't over tighten too much because the gasket will distort and leak on ya again.
Good luck
05-19-2010, 09:38 PM
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Ya know I never knew you weren't supposed to pre-oil the newer teflon seals. Glad you mentioned that. My Felpro was the old style, but I believe the AC Delco seals from the dealerships are teflon these days.
As for 2 lower bolts on the rear main housing, how come you have to put pipe sealer on them? I haven't had any problem so I probably got lucky. What's the purpose of the pipe sealer?
As for 2 lower bolts on the rear main housing, how come you have to put pipe sealer on them? I haven't had any problem so I probably got lucky. What's the purpose of the pipe sealer?
05-20-2010, 06:41 AM
#11
Ya know I never knew you weren't supposed to pre-oil the newer teflon seals. Glad you mentioned that. My Felpro was the old style, but I believe the AC Delco seals from the dealerships are teflon these days.
As for 2 lower bolts on the rear main housing, how come you have to put pipe sealer on them? I haven't had any problem so I probably got lucky. What's the purpose of the pipe sealer?
As for 2 lower bolts on the rear main housing, how come you have to put pipe sealer on them? I haven't had any problem so I probably got lucky. What's the purpose of the pipe sealer?
From what I could see, as I removed these two bolts, there was a fair amount of oil on them. They apparently go into some sort of oil gallery. If I remember correctly, the enclosed instructions from FelPro (on the sheet that you immediately throw away...) said to apply some thread sealer to these bolts.
I didn't know about not "pre-oiling" the teflon seals either....that's why I had to do the job again, this year...
06-23-2010, 09:59 AM
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From what I could see, as I removed these two bolts, there was a fair amount of oil on them. They apparently go into some sort of oil gallery. If I remember correctly, the enclosed instructions from FelPro (on the sheet that you immediately throw away...) said to apply some thread sealer to these bolts.
I didn't know about not "pre-oiling" the teflon seals either....that's why I had to do the job again, this year...
I didn't know about not "pre-oiling" the teflon seals either....that's why I had to do the job again, this year...
06-23-2010, 02:27 PM
#14
As long as it's the "old style" seal, yes. However, if it's the newer teflon seal (it's packed with a clear plastic protective collar on the ID), then no, as the teflon seal goes in dry, they remove the plastic collar after you have the seal in place.
