oil pan gasket

[rangermike5353]

hello everyone. i have a 2.3l 95 ranger 2wd. all the mechanics i talked to say you have to raise the engine in order to replace the gasket. If your careful and dont bump the pickup tube your fine .It will slide quite a bit to the rear of the engine. my question is i have a molded rubber gasket that slides in the groove of the pan dont you still have to use rtv sealant at each end? Is it possible there could be leaks where the plugs on the engine block are just above the the rear oil seal? any advice would helpful Thanks Mike

 

[tomw]

rangermike:my question is i have a molded rubber gasket that slides in the groove of the pan dont you still have to use rtv sealant at each end?

My understanding is rtv is used where the gasket has 'corners', such as where the round bearing cap meets the flat of the bottom of the block. A dab is smushed into the corner, and the gasket will seal when the pan & gasket are pushed up into place.

quote:Is it possible there could be leaks where the plugs on the engine block are just above the the rear oil seal?

If you have removed the transmission and flywheel, you may see plugs on the back of the block above the rear seal. If any are leaking, they'd show seepage. If you have an oily mess and cannot tell, then clean with brake cleaner or other, and also make sure your cam cover gasket is tight and in decent shape. A cam cover gasket can allow oil to leak down from the back of the cylinder head, and really confuse any attempt at finding a leak. There is a LOT of oil flying around inside the cam cover. It will rustproof your engine bay in about 3 seconds if you start the engine with the cam cover removed. Really big mess will result if you do so. The cork gaskets seem useless, and will compress and allow leakage soonly. Were I replacing, I'd go with the rubber gasket, it can be re-used, and should last the life of the truck, and you'll never have to mess with it again.
I would worry about getting the new oil pan gasket dipped in oil as it is threaded past the oil pickup screen & tube. You have to let it drop down to get past the pickup, and it will likely get oiled in the process. You want it to be as close to clean and dry as you can keep it to assure best sealing. It can be done, I think, but I'd for sure want to clean it very well before final installation. If you do this, after you dab the RTV, let is set up for a few minutes to get a bit 'firm', so when you put the pan in place, there's a bit of tension between the RTV and the gasket surface. You do not want it 'fresh' and you do not want it 'set up', but somewhere after 'fresh'...
tom